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the best you can buy starting under $25. unbelievable quality. unbeatable prices. only at the home depot. good morning on "msnbc live." president trump will deliver the commencement address to the graduating class about 2017. about 7,000 families will be in attendance. it's good to have you with me today. i'm thomas roberts in new york. we're going to take you back to liberty university in just a moment. we did see the president leave air force base or andrews air force base in the last 30 minutes. on his way there. we have new reaction from president trump denying reports he asked former fbi director james comey for his loyalty during a january tin -- dinner at the white house.
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here is what the president said in an interview that will air in the entirety this evening. >> i don't think it's inappropriate -- >> did you ask that question? >> no. no, i didn't. i don't think it would be a bad question to ask. i think loyalty to the country. loyalty to the united states is important. you know, i mean, it depends on how you define loyalty. number one, number two, i don't know how that got there. because i didn't ask that question. >> meanwhile, new reaction from house intel ranking member congressman adam skiff on why the russia investigation matters. hoo -- here is the congressman on with bill mar last night. >> if there was no there there, james comey would still have a job. >> so for more on the white house, let's bring in nbc's kelley o'donnell who joins us from the lawn. what can we expect from the president's speech today? i understand it's going to be more about economy and jobs. >> reporter: well, we have been
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told by white house advisors that the president will say some of the things you would expect in a commencement address. it's his first as president and liberty university is a place he visited as a candidate. and they've told us to expect to hear him talk about the support he received from them during the campaign. we've heard that a lot of his publish speeches where he reaches back into the campaign year. he'll offer congratulations. he'll encourage students to live up to the values of liberty university that they've been taught. of course, it's the largest christian university in the u.s. so that will be a big part of today. i don't think we'll hear any of the controversies, specifically, sometimes the president gets into that when he's on the road, but in a commencement setting, perhaps he'll stick more to his prepared remarks. but there has been so much controversy in the last 24 hours, in particular, where the president appeared to sort of lash out at james comey after he fired him. comey hasn't spoken publicly but
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his associates said things that contradicted the president. that appeared to drive this issue of the president suggesting there are taped recordings. now the white house won't say one way or another, but it is an issue, a controversy that isn't going away soon. >> one tweeted word from the president set off a new controversy. "tapes." >> i've talked to the president. the president has nothing further to add on that. >> reporter: the president already implied a threat. james comey better hope there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press! reporters pemped the white house. >> are there recording devices in the oval office or the residence? >> as i said for the third time, there's nothing further to add on that. >> reporter: and the president ducked the question himself in a fox news interview. >> what about the idea in a tweet you said there might be taped recordings -- >> that i can't talk about. i won't talk about that. all i want is for comey to be honest. >> reporter: at issue what was
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said between the president and then fbi director over dinner on january 27th. just one day after the white house counsel was warned about michael flynn's false statements by then acting attorney general sally yates. in an interview with nbc's lester holt the president said comey cleared him. >> we had a nice dinner. and at that time he told me he you are not under investigation. >> reporter: comey has not spoken publicly but the accounts are disputed. and mr. trump asked comey for the loyalty. the president denies that. >> no, no i didn't. i don't think it would be a bad question to ask. i think loyalty to the country. loyalty to the united states is important. i don't know how that got there because i didn't ask that question. >> reporter: today in washington the search for a comey successor begins. with job interviews lead by jeff sessions. sources identified these four candidates including acting director andrew mccabe and texas
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senator. >> let me tell you we're looking at candidates now what would be spectacular. that's what i want for the fbi. >> reporter: and, of course, when the president said in that interview that loyalty to the country is a good thing. seemingly forgetting that not only has the president taken an oath but so did james comey in his role as fbi director and to serve the constitution and be faithful to that. it's not like it's an open question about loyalty. today that interview process that i alluded to there. the first four interviews, there may be as many as a dozen names on the list of consideration to be the next fbi director or possibly even an interim director until a permanent replacement can be selected. those kind of options are still on the table. but maybe as many as a dozen names under consideration by the white house and the justice department. and comey, who as i mentioned, hasn't spoken publicly has told the senate intelligence committee that he would be willing to appear. they have invited him as a private citizens to testify.
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the "new york times" is saying he'll only do so if his hearing can be in public. so far the committee is telling us that they had invited him for tuesday. that's not going to work out. they're going to try to find another date. imagine, thomas, the interest in james comey speaking in public on capitol hill. >> at lot of interest. nbc's kelley o'donnell. thank you. former fbi director james comey declined that invitation, as kelley is talking about, to testify, and it leaves open the questions of when it will happen. this public conversation he wants to have. and whether or not a later date can be provided. so we all remain with bated breath whether or not it will happen. you have gripping testimony that a lot of us witnessed and you have given us a lot of insight into the fbi post with donald
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trump and his campaign being under an open investigation. the country didn't learn about that until march from comey. if we think back at the timeline here, if they had a dinner in january, after the white house is informed that the nsa director mike flynn is potentially comprised for lying to mike pence, how does that change the wording of what "tapes" means. >> i think the idea that the president would allude to the conversations possibly being surveilled. he's surveilling one much hof h is extremely dangerous to the country. you're basically saying i don't trust my own leaders inside my own government. and what president trump doesn't understand with the loyalty pledge or whatever he's claiming is that law enforcement is not a team sport. this is not about republicans or democrats. the fbi director has a tenured term. he can push through the political pressures back and
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forth. we've seen it with director muller before and director comey now. by the way, they work for gop. these are republican nominees to the department of justice. so they are following the rule of law. they're trying to main their independence. you can look at director comey. he was invited by president obama to play basketball. he would not do that because he didn't want to give off the impression he was being influenced, coerced, or biassed. he was trying to maintain his independence. >> we know from the first images that came out from inside the white house when the president and the vice president were greeting folks in there. and jim comey happened to be in the black. he called him up. people were a little uneasy at that image when it came out. not understanding much of the context that was going on behind the scenes but for director comey, did he leave himself too isolated, basically? did he make himself vulnerable by having integrity to a fault.
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a fault of which got him fired? >> i think he did the right thing for the american people. you know, even if you go back to last summer, he was trying to buffer, essentially against the doj he thought didn't have good standing to talk about the clinton e-mail case. he's trying to pick between two poles that are bouncing him back and forth. i believe he probably thought an fbi director will be vindicated if they stay the center course they'll survive. it's interesting that the president can't seem to think that anybody in the u.s. government works for the people they should work for him first. that his. the intel community, the military veterans, the law enforcement people there. they work and serve for the country first. and i think he's going to continue to run into trouble if he keeps trying to coerce people. >> one part of the "washington post" is saying when it comes to jim comey that president trump was not happy with the most recent congressional testimony. so i want to play a part of
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that. take a listen to this. >> but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. knowing there was no good time to do it. and, in fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself. i said, you know, this thing with trump and russia is a made up story. it's an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election. that they should have won. >> so if he is admitting that the russia story he feels is made up, the actual burden with the fbi now in terms of looking into this and it remains open. is the president showing his hand he got rid of him to make it go away? >> yes. it's a stunning development for a president to make that statement right there. essentially i didn't want this around. i don't believe in it. it needs to go away. what we found out consistently about the president is he doesn't really know who his advisors are. they didn't vet paul manafort or mike flynn. they're on the hook for these people they were working with.
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it's stunning, too, he said, oh, this is the democrat's story. the only reason we're talking about the russian investigation now is because of senate republicans john mccain, lindsey graham. they are the people that brought this to the forefront. had it not been republicans come in with our country's interest first, we wouldn't have that discussion now. >> when it comes to where the fbi goes from here, there is a short list for people potentially being considered. but is there a chill that is sent down the spine of people working within the fbi seeing what happens to jim comey, knowing that the white house is not open to wherever the facts may lead for the russian investigation. does it halt any progress into either proving conclusively there was some type of conclusion or the benefit of the white house proving conclusively that there wasn't? >> i think it goes beyond the russia investigation. if you're an investigator, whether it's the fbi or any of
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the law enforcement agency, if you're doing a case or looking into investigations that the white house doesn't want you to. you better double check everything. you know, how can you know it's a white collared case, for example, that has some sort of connections to businesses not vested under the trump team? you better be really careful, you know, that you don't feel this blowback. and the other part we need to look at that i think the public doesn't understand is the fbi investigates but the department of justice prosecutes. and so is the department of justice truly independent? are they following the rule of law? if an fbi investigation wants to go for charges, they have to take it to a u.s. attorney or to the national security division in the case of the russia stuff. are they going to let it come forward even if the fbi finds things? how would we know as the public whether it was suppressed or not? >> all great questions. hopefully we'll find out the answers to these things as we continue to vet whether or not jim comey is going to be showing up or not. do you hope he testifies?
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>> i would be thrilled for him to have a public hearing. i would like to hear his version of it. and i think the smartest thing i've heard all week is saying i'll show up but only do it public. he's smart not to be in a closed hearing on the matter. >> thank you. great to see. happening now president trump is on his way to virginia. this is where roughly about in the hour, 45 minutes or so, he'll be delivering the commencement speech at liberty university. so there we see the president aboarding air force one. it happened in the last hour. and he's in motion flying through a little bit of a nor'easter. bad weather today along the eastern sea board. let's talk about the mood. folks seem like they packed in a little bit more. what are people saying about seeing president trump today? are they excited in light of the fall out that seems to surround his administration this week? >> reporter: well, you're right that we're talking about the fall out. of course, washington is still reeling from that surprised firing of james comey, and lot of questions on our end about why not now if trump was
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planning on firing him as fbi director. here where i am, and the people i'm seeing, are wearing their make america great again hats. we saw one of the graduates that had a sign that said "mr. trump can i take a picture with you?" we're seeing that despite the political storm back in d.c., trump is coming to a largely friendly crowd. when we were here in january, we were talking last hour about some of the gaffes he made, but the crowd even then was largely behind him. i think that one of the things that we should be looking at is really the reception that he's going to get here. he's coming to friendlier territory. even amid the controversy. and jerry fallwell, the president of this university has been one of his long time supporters. i think you'll see more of a friendly atmosphere. people seem to be getting excited. the sun is starting to come out. we're a little bit out from the ceremony, but the make america great again hats and that general vibe is definitely here, thomas. people are excited to see president trump. >> all right. keep us posted on when we know
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the president arriving there. we'll be taking people back for part of the speech today. we'll talk about the new study why trump voters picked him last november and why economics might have nothing to do with it. phone with our allstate agent, and i know that we have accident forgiveness. so the incredibly minor accident that i had tonight- four weeks without the car. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is worth it.
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all right. we have been following this look this morning of liberty university. this is where people are gathering for the commencement that is going to take place in lynchburg. president trump is the commencement address speaker. it will start in roughly an hour. a turn out of some 40,000 are expected there. including the 7,000 graduates. we'll have more from liberty university coming up minutes from now. we did see president trump leaf in the last hour, taking off
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from on air force one down to liberty. here is msnbc contributor -- and political reporter -- it's great to have you with me. as we know, the president is heading to the commencement address and there's a lot of reaction this week after the departure and firing of james comey. what is the latest you're hearing from d.c. about the reason? or is it just as honest what the president described? he was tired of hearing about the russia story? >> i think it's it was -- it's really the fact that -- it's what president trump told lester holt. i think at the beginning of the week, we saw the president and the white house going with these two story lines. one that, of course, the doj's recommendation that they thought that director comey had to go. then you saw it turn into he's been thinking about this for months. what you saw when he sat down with lester holt was a coalescing of that and him being honest, i think. saying, look, i i didn't like
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the guy. i wanted to fire him. i didn't like the russia thing. i think it's made up and i want it to go away. at the end of the day, even though there was a lot of different messages it came down to the fact that donald trump didn't like that director comey was taking the russia investigation seriously. as a result he lost his job >>well, and the issue with this, kaitlyn, is the investigation. it remains open. it's not over. the tweets from president yesterday essentially threatens the former fbi director in talks of hoping there are no tapes of our conversations. what are your sources saying about this and the likelihood that something like that exists? >> well, i agree that the president's words were important in the interview. and you take that and add to the tweets the following morning. if you were trying to kind of head off any controversy involved in this firing, these
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tweets do the exact opposite of that. in fact, they raise even more questions about the president's intentions and the president's behavior. this has frustrated republicans on capitol hill who, as you mention, are conducting investigations into the russia meddling of the election and also possible ties to the trump associates and russian agents. remember that chairman burr of the intelligence committee republican from north carolina has not ruled out the fact -- has not ruled out the potential for collusion. they have not reached conclusions. i think that's really important to note here. that the president is kind of making this an even bigger issue. if you were a supporter of the.if you voted for him, i think you can look at this and wonder with so many other issues at stake, with so many other concerns that the country has in the economy, tax reform, health care, and so forth.
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this serves as a distractions that threatens, i think, to imperil his agenda. >> and to that point, doesn't the president deserve what it means to not live under the specter of this shadow of suspicion or ak cue suggestion or innuendo and it needs to come to a conclusion at some point. isn't that fair? >> it needs to come to a conclusion, but donald trump himself is in some ways now inserting drama into what is already a cloud over his administration. so if he fired director comey on the first day in office or fired him in a way that was -- having a private conversation with him or sending him an e-mail or letter and to the fbi instead he fired this man basically on tv while using the media. while he's talking to his agents. then it turned into this. i mean, i was floored, of course, as everyone else was. you go to the live shot of director comey's motor candidate
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going through l.a. you're thinking it's a spectacle and this is what the president of the united states wanted. he created it. in some ways -- and the timing of it is so weird. when you go back to the idea that the house had just finally passed the health care bill. the republicans were looking as though they were finally getting an agenda through -- the stories and the narrative was about what is the senate going to do to -- to pass health care. all the stories are starting to get written about. the fact that president trump was going to maybe go to the tax reform infrastructure. and then he does this spectacular firing. that's all we talk about for a week. and as someone in d.c., i'm talking to so many republicans who are frustrated they're not getting anything done in the white house. and in the capitol, essentially. >> it's may sweeps. so we have to consider that. you know, this white house is trying to leave us a cliff hanger before they go on summer hiatus in the fall season. but it was fascinating to see the aerials of the motorcade.
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the interview that donald trump gave with lester is fascinating. judge janine has one. he's alluding to changing his accessibility or the accessibility of the daily press briefings. how would that hurt him? >> well, the president has certainly been assessable in a variety of different interviews. one of the most striking, i think, most inciteful in terms of the trump presidency is the time magazine piece" inside the white house." what is interesting here is that, you know, to the earlier point is that there have been contradicting statements given by the kmous communications team and by the president. at the end of the day, the president is the commander in chief. he's the president. the buck stops with him. he's the one that is, you know, not only contrasting with what his white house is saying, but a lot of times contradicting and making their job harder. but at the same time we have to take him at his word and so the things that he's been saying are really important to watch here.
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and what the people watching at home should take away from this we talk a lot about process. but process here really matters. because if you have -- it's a credibility issue. right. and that matters in terms of not only promoting policy here domestically, but what it means abroad. and when other members of the trump administration are dealing with other people, the credibility issue here really matters. >> all right. so finally, i want to show this new study that has been published by "the atlantic" it looks back at what drove people in november to the polls. their basic foundation of why they voted for trump. saying fear and societal and cultural change. not so much economic was their motivation for the white working class voter to elect him. and let me ask you, is that just -- we've seen white houses change hands from party to party. but do you think it was a big issue? we thought we moved on as a country, and had become more
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equal as a nation. and it seems as if that's true, this election took us the other direction. >> i think this election, 2016, much as i would say the history of america was all about race. it was all about the idea of who is winning, who are the people going to be the future of america? what do people want? how do people want the definition to change. as someone out on the campaign trail, both for bernie sanders and trump, these were crowds overwhelmingly white. these are people overwhelmingly while they were talking about economic anxiety. black working class and white working class women are paid less. even after the election i was interviewing so many people that say even though that the program donald trump wants to cut aren't going to affect me personally. i won't get my house repaired. at least he'll build a wall on the border of mexico and keep
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the other people out in my community where there are so many immigrants showing up and going to school with my kids. that's going to maybe stop, as well. i think the idea it was a cultural anxiety. it's a great it's a story being written about in may. i would say reporters out there, especially reporters like me that covered race for years now, i think a lot was about race. we write a lot of stories as though we can talk about evangelicals or talk about women or we can talk about white college-educated people voted for trump. i think that we sometimes want to run away from the fact that when we think about the fact that who are the women that voted for trump. they were white women. i don't think that'sing? we need to shy away. i think that's a fact and there are other things going on in their minds. i think race is one of them. >> great to have you with us. thank you. stay tuned. we'll take you back to lynchburg, virginia coming up. the president is set to give the commencement address at liberty
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welcome back. i'm thomas roberts at msnbc world headquarters in new york. new this morning, sources telling nbc news that former director james comey is hoping there are tapes of his dinner conversation with president trump. this is something that the president tweeted about the other day. almost an intimidating threat. a lot of people reading it that way. nbc ken is joining me now. he's been working sources close to comey for his side of the story. you've been reporting that the former director was furious about the way he was fired. but the reaction he has to the description of the dinner, the type of conversation he had with lester where he asked for the, you know, president to keep him in this post. does any of this sound logical from a comey perspective? >> right. i want to be clear, thomas, i haven't spoken to jim comey. i don't know any reporter has. pete williams and i have been
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speaking to people close to him. who have talked to him. the way he was fired. learning about it on television cameras while he's talking about to fbi agents in los angeles. that's being viewed in a negative way. one official described it as being down a thuggish and humiliating way. designed to send an message to fbi agents on the russia investigation. comey is said to be, you know, disturbed about the mischaracterzations, as he views it, coming out of the white house and president trump's mouth about the dinner he characterizes in a different way. particularly the idea he was asking for his job and he assured the president he was not under investigation. people i've talked to close to comey say that's inconceivable those things happened. of course, they weren't at the dinner. but, you know, we'll i have to wait to see what comey says. >> he said he said. it's going to be who do you believe? who do you believe most honest on what it means. ken, thank you. you've been working sources
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along with people and doing great work for us. thank you. >> thanks. the fbi and the search for a new director. the one question attorney general jeff sessions is going to be asking every candidate. we've got a short list after this. boost. it's about moving forward, not back. it's looking up, not down. it's being in motion. in body, in spirit, in the now. boost® high protein it's intelligent nutrition with 15 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for when you need a little extra. boost® the number one high protein complete nutritional drink. be up for it the uncertainties of hep c. wondering, what if? i let go of all those feelings. because i am cured with harvoni. harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c.
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so today the search for a new fbi director begins in washington, d.c. with sourcing telling nbc that jeff sessions will lead this round of interviews to replace former director james comey, who was fired by president trump on tuesday. joining me now is our founder of the center on national security. and karen is the -- good to have you here. she's the brain we need to talk about this to figure out the biggest question that the ag wants to ask. i want to start with you about from a legal perspective and the president's own admission with interviews in that moment with our lester holt and saying he wanted comey gone because of russia. kind of over it. is that obstruction of justice in case court? >> it's beginning to seem like obstruction of justice. or continuing to seem like on
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jux of justice. if you read the statute scarefully, did he have the intent and the will to obstruct justice. we're in the middle of that now. that's what the country is going to have to decide, both legal individuals and other individuals that throughout the government. >> because we know the fbi investigation does involve counter espionage. they feel there was russian foreign hostile actors hacking into the election. questions about the possible connected tissue to the campaign now in the highest office in the land. we had senator richard blumenthal ask comey about this. take a listen. >> so potentially the president of the united states could be a target of the ongoing investigation into the trump campaign's involvement with russian interference in our election? correct? >> i don't want to answer that. because that seems to be unfair speculation. we will follow the evidence -- we'll try to find adds much as we can and follow the evidence wherever it leads.
quote
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>> unfair speculation, as he said, in the termination letter where the president fired comey he said you told me on three separate occasions i'm not under investigation. >> right. and i think one of the big issues here, and it's going to be an issue for the new attorney general, whoever that is. where does the line between trump and the people around trump? how are they going to draw the line? because you now have four individuals, at least, who are under suspicion. whose materials have been subpoenaed. materials being subpoenaed as opposed to individuals hasn't happened in decades in the united states at this level. where will they draw the line? my guess is trump and sessions and those around them would like to see if there's a way to separate them and to create some distance. >> and you would think that as ag sessions said he would recuse himself from being involved in the russia investigation. >> he said he would recuse themselves but then he went ahead and was one of the letters that lead to the firing of
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attorney general -- fbi director jim comey. and that's not recusing yourself. and so i think that the kind way to say this is the lines are blurred between who is investigating who for what. the unkind way to say it is that they don't intend to stick by those recusal. i think there's some muddy waters going ahead. >> when it comes to jeff sessions and conducting these interviews, what do you think the one question, the first priority question is going to be for the ag to hear the answer to? >> i think it's going to be a question very much along the lines of how narrowly are you willing to define this investigation into the russia trump thing. as trump likes to call it. i think they want to -- my guess if it's defined narrowly and not allowed to get broader and broader it'll be put to an end. i think they want it not linger on forever. they want it to come to an end. i think it's going to be extremely difficult to get
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somebody who has been in the justice system, who has been in the fbi to sign off on what they're going to ask them for. >> also, again, if the president is not under any type of investigation, which he says he's not in this letter, but at the same time is doing things that would thwart the proper investigation. how is that not some type of cover up in the eyes of folks administrating the law? >> here is the thing that caught them off guard, i think, at the hearing where sally yates and jim clapper testified earlier this week. you went into the hearing, those watching thinking we're going to find whether or not russia. there's some validity to the russia story. you came out without question that there was something going on with russia. it wasn't if. it was what and the degree of it. i think it caught them off guard. it was there from the beginning of the hearing and by the time over. this is the waters they're in.
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>> we're in them together. karen greenberg, thank you. sean spicer and sara huckabee-sanders. a look at the growing gap with the president contradicts on twitter almost in real time of their press briefings. coming up next hour one congressman starting to use the word "impeach" when talking about president trump. dear predictable, there's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony.
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welcome back. we know within the hour the president is going to be there at liberty yooufrlt to give the commencement address to folks that are graduating on the way aboard air force one. kelly o'donnell reported via twitter that donald trump has told reporters he could make a fast decision on a new fbi director, possibly before his foreign trip. we know his attorney general has lined up and will be conducting interviews with a sure list of con tenders today. back in a moment.
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he said it once at dinner and then twice during. >> did you call him? >> one case i called him and one case he called me. >> did you ask him am i under h did you ask him if i'm under investigation? >> i did ask him. he said you are not under investigation. so there we have president trump in this exclusive nbc news interview this week with my colleague lester holt, where sources close to the president dispute those details. with president trump appearing to back away from a tweet that threatened the former fbi director. here's clips from a new interview. >> you said there might be tape recordings. >> that i won't talk about. all i want is for comey to be honest. i'm sure he will be, i hope. >> he won't talk about it, but will tweet.
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a source close ko chromie says the fbi director hopes there are tapes, but he's not breaking -- declining the offered to testify in a closed session on tuesday. he would prefer to do so in a public session. he wants everybody to see and hear his testimony. i want to bring in kerri lucas, jonathan alter and jonathan, first your reaction and the implications of that tweed whether the types exist? >> we don't know if we have another nixon situation. we have a lot of evidence to be subpoenaed, or whether he's bluffing and making everything unsure. there's a history of trump taping people and taping phone calls with reporters and others. so we're going to have to wait on that.
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it's yet another development in this astonish iing week of fast-moving events. certain house democrats have been asking for the copies of the tape. do you think the president has boxed himself into a corner over there? >> yeah, he do think, regardless of why the president made this decision, it has been a rough week, and a lot of this is not the way the white house should have wanted this to roll out. certainly the implication there might be tapes brings a lot of questions, as jonathan said, we need to wait to see what happens. i hope we hear more from mr. comey so we can get some resolution on this. it's been a terrible distraction, and it's a terrible thing for the american people to be won't eric what's going on. >> i think so too. yes, if comey could testify and do so for everybody, it could be great for everybody, clear up a
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lot of disputes. jonathan, the deputy attorney rosenstein's office saul there will be a full brief next week. how much do you think he'll be able to offer up, to product the fact that the president didn't really need because he had already decided to get rid of comey anyway. >> this would be the most interesting element next week, though we shouldn't predict anymore. on tuesday he's going to go before apparently a very rare joint session of congress that's in secret, although because there will be so many members of congress there, it won't stay secret, right? we'll find out not long after that session. i believe it will be on tuesday, what po he has to say for himself, but there are reports he threatened to resign, so were later designed, overed fact that
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his memo on the abuses by james comey in the hillary clinton case was used as a pretext. he didn't believe apparently this was the purpose for which his memo would be put. so he will answer questions about that next week, and we're going to see whether he was being set up as a patsy to blame on this. for people scoring at home, he is a very important character. >> and hopefully his testimony will clear things up. do you agree that a special prosecutor shoos put in place? >> i think both there are investigations in congress and that's really important and they are being bipartisan and these are the people's representatives.
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they're supposed to do the heart work, but we absolutely need to make sure moving forward the people have an fbi director those can trust. >> do you agree with the special prosecutor then? >> i think we should wait and see. i think congress is doing their jobs right now. we need to see if that progress can move it forward. democrats have a reason to be concerned right now, but i feel like it's been for a long time we've had concerns about what's going on with the fbi. this isn't something new. as a conservative we were frustrated during the obama administration, with things like the loretta lynch meeting with bill clinton. the i.r.s. scandal where an answer was never given, the media wasn't -- let me finish, jonathan. again, maybe you thinks those scandals are silly, but a lot of conserve didn't. it was they thought it was a problem that the i.r.s. was
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targeting conservative groups, and the media accepted that all the evidence was destroyed, the director could take the foist, but conservatives felt like justice wasn't being served. it's a problem -- >> let jonathan jump in. donnell filibusters you have got evening on three different tangents. >> it's a nice trip -- you understand that democrats should be concerned. >> no, all americans need to be concerned. >> you're right. >> about the russians interfering and possibly undermining our election. >> yeah, but jonathan, you're right. >> the idea that the president of the united states doesn't seem to care about getting to the bottom of that is one of the many things that are alarming right now. this isn't about score settling and say that the democrats didn't investigate. >> right now we're talking about, jonathan. >> this is what happens, carrie. conservatives rather than addressing the -- they're going back to the obama administration. that's a huge distraction.
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what everyone thinks about what happened in the obama administration. >> carey, five seconds. i'm going to give you the last word. real quick. >> we're talking about the idea of a justice system that's not partisan. that should have been true, and it needs to be true now. >> that's true. a nonpartisan justice system where the ag recused himself from russia, but is overseeing the departure of the fbi director. that stinks. thank you both so much. stay tuned, "am joy" is coming up next and we'll take you lived to liberty university where the president has a commencement address. do you play? ♪ ♪ use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever before.
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