you're not taking that. you're not taking that. mom, i'm taking the subaru. don't be late. even when we're not there to keep them safe, our subaru outback will be. (vo) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. good day, everyone. i'm alex witt here in new york where it is high noon here in the east. 9:00 a.m. out west. we begin with breaking news. moments ago president trump wrapping up his first commencement address as president at liberty university in virginia. but on the plane heading to that event the president making some headlines telling members of the press about his time line for nominating a new fbi director. the very latest on the president's address in a moment. but first let's get to kelly

o'donnell. a good saturday to you. let's talk about what new we have leshd from the president this morning. >> reporter: to give you the scene this is a case where the president is on a smaller version of air force one to make the short trip to lynchburg, virginia, and he wandered back to the press area of the cabin and had a conversation with the journalists and the traveling pool, the rotating news organizations that share that duty, and talked with them. there were questions asked, of course. one of the big topics is where do things stand with choosing an fbi director to succeed james comey. and the president talked about some of the qualities and the time line for his decision. do you think you might make a decision or announcement before you leave? >> people that are very well known, the highest level, so we can make a decision. >> reporter: next week before the trip possibly? >> that is possible. almost all are well known. they've been vetted over their lifetime essentially.

but very well known. highly respected, really talented people, and that's what we want for the fbi. >> reporter: so what we've learned is today there are four interviews of potential candidates to lead the fbi. the list is longer than that in terms of those under consideration, about a dozen names. there you see the people being interviewed today. the interviews are we go conducted by the attorney general and deputy attorney general. they'll had help to give recommendations to the president who will ultimately make the decision. and the references to the trip that you heard and the questions at the end of this coming week the president will embark on his first foreign trip, the first stop is saudi arabia so you heard that in the question as well. the idea of could a decision be made prior to leaving for that more than a weeklong trip and the president suggested that was within the realm of possibility that he could have a decision that quickly. there isn't a necessity to do it because there is an acting fbi

director in place but that just gave us some new information about his thinking about the kinds of -- the kind of person he would like to see in that role and how quickly he might make a decision. alex? >> in terms of his thinking or the administration in general, you know it's being reported today that james comey will not testify on his firing unless it is in some sort of a public hearing. how likely is that to happen and is the white house concerned about it if it does? >> reporter: well, the white house hasn't commented on the prospects for now private citizen comey speaking. in terms of how we have seen james comey in his role testify both publicly and then have private sessions where classified information could be talked about on capitol hill, those things have happened routinely. and so one of the questions will be if submits to giving testimo he can't be compelled to in terms of his office, is there something he can say that will

be sufficient for the committee. for example, they may want to know some information that is classified and could not be discussed openly. perhaps at this point the reporting that says comey will only speak publicly is in part about the fact that he doesn't want there to be any questions about what he is saying in one venue versus another and now as private citizen if he chooses to speak out he can do that on his own terms. alex? >> what was the president's message there at liberty university and let's talk about the reception? what kind of reception did he get from the grads and their families? >> reporter: this was friendlier territory than donald trump was having in washington for the unexpected firing of jim comey that kelly was just talking to us about. a lot of his message here hinged on bashing washington. a little clip of that to give you a sense of what we heard here today. >> in my short time in washington i've seen firsthand how the system is broken.

a small group of voices who think they know everything and understand everyone want to tell everybody else how to live and what to do and how to think. but you aren't going to let other people tell you what you believe especially when you know that you're right. >> reporter: and that gives you a little bit of a sense of what trump was saying here to the graduates today, that we don't need washington to tell us how to live our lives, repeatedly saying he knew how to challenge a broken system. he's seen it firsthand. he urged graduates here to embrace the label of an outsider which is something we've been calling trump from the beginning of his political rise and he pushed them to embrace that as well as stand strong in their convictions and, of course, in their religious convictions as well. it wasn't all politics we were talking about today. he did shine some light on the religious liberty executive order he signed last week which gave religious institutions like churches more freedom in their political speech, something that

he turned to jerry falwell, the president of the university here, and said, see, jerry. i told you i would do it and i did. he was celebrating that accomplishment and pushing back. >> i was prepping the show. i wasn't able to keep my eyes glued on everything in the broadcast of this, but were there standing ovations? was there thunderous applause? was it the kind of reaction you think he had either hoped for or expected to get there? >> reporter: well, of course it was primed for that when jerry falwell got up to the microphone and said it was a record setting crowd. the stadium was, in fact, packed here. there were thousands of people and they did cheer for him when he got on stage. there were applause lines when he started talking about you how we worship god and not government. those were big applause lines. it was a friendly reception. they were happy to see him, excited that a sitting president was here. you did have that here today, alex. >> thank you very much, ali there in lynchburg, and kelly o'donnell at the white house.

of course the decision to fire james comey is turning out to be publicly unpopular so far. in a new poll in survey monkey more than half of americans say it was not appropriate. another 55% say they worry the russia investigation will not be handled fairly now that comey is gone. let's bring in a democrat in washington and head of the intelligence committee. congressman, you heard the president say the decision about nominating a new fbi director would be quick and there are potential nominee that is are well known. we have four being interviewed today. how does that square with what you've heard, and do you think it needs to be quick? >> i would prefer quick, but i would prefer painless and that's what i'm worried about. he actually had a pretty fine director of the federal bureau of investigation and he got rid of him. what's important going forward is that whomever he selects be of absolutely unimpeachable character and integrity and frankly the most important quality, be willing to speak truth to power. he evidently didn't like that under director comey.

he desperately needs it. >> you're on the intel committee from everything that you have heard, congressman, should james comey have been fired? >> of course not. it is only in the theater of the absurd that you would fire the direct or of the fbi while the fbi was investigating you and your campaign operatives. absolutely not. >> there is a constitutional law expert i know you're familiar with that says the president may also be at some sort of legal fault here. here is his take. take a listen. >> my loyalty is to the law and to the constitution in which case, again, trump is guilty of attempting to suborn obstruction of justice. either way, as with the first article of impeachment against richard nixon, this is a series of high crimes and misdemeanors all by itself. >> high crimes and misdemeanors. do you agree? has he really hit that level? >> well, i'm not a lawyer and i

don't play one on tv, alex. whether or not we're in a constitutional crisis, i don't know, but we're heading to the biggest test of our republic since the civil war. it gives me no joy to say that. but i believe that's the case. here is my worry. the president is becoming increasingly angry and isolated and the evidence of that is he shut down the visitors' log, he shut out the american press to the oval office and, my goodness, let in russian television. lastly, of course, he's threatening to cancel daily briefings, a staple of modern institution of the presidency. i've seen this movie before, alex. it doesn't end well at all. >> what do you make of the report that came out overnight the deputy attorney general does not believe a special prosecutor is necessary for the srussia investigation? >> i believe the deputy attorney general was as wrong-headed in that statement as he was in l d lending his name to the action or the letter that ended in

director comey being released and discharged. very wrong-headed. we need a special or independent counsel. you and i don't need it. the federal bureau of investigation needs it to restore any perception of compromise in their approach to this. the hard-working men and women at the fbi will continue this investigation but it has -- all taint has to be removed. i'm a belt and suspenders guy. i think we ought to get back to an independent commission for the overall examination of russian interference. i've been calling for that since december. >> yes, you have. >> within the fbi comey's firing is reportedly not gone down well inside the bureau. do you think that could turn out to be a real problem for the president going forward? and if so, how? first that comes to mind are leaks. >> my mother taught me the only way to stop bullying behavior was to stand up to the bully. and i frankly think the president now in his threat, his tweet threat to jim comey has

taken on the wrong long, tall drink of water that jim comey is. he's a man of integrity and strength and a laser focus on what's best for america and the institution of the fbi and law enforcement. i may not have agreed with his judgment in every regard but that is his star. i believe the president will rue the day he attempt ed to bully comey. >> the dinner where president trump reportedly asked him to pledge his loyalty. does that ring true to you? if it does, how unare precedented would that be for a president to ask that question of an fbi chief? >> it is highly precedented in our adult lifetime and it's known as watergate. if mitch mcconnell and paul ryan were the congressional leaders

during watergate, nixon would have never re-signed. what is needed more than anything is the majority of the party to put country above party and have the courage to speak truth to power. it's been six days since the french held their election. and the buildup was a lot of hype about macron versus le pen. clearly backed by donald trump. macron was the moderate. in his crushing victory, which was not anticipated to the extent he actually achieved it people were trying to understand that and they said, well, they got warned by trump's behavior. they didn't want that. they were warned and ready to go on that. that's not, in my opinion, one of the reasons why macron won so big. he won so big because center/right politicians in france put country before party. they would be more naturally

aligned with le pen except she was unacceptable to them. they came out in support of macron because they put country above party. that's what republican lead eer in congress need to do and are overdue in doing. >> all right. washington defensemmocrat, a mef the house intelligence committee, thank you so much. always good to see you, sir. >> thank you, alex. there's a new article that claims this week is a clear snapshot of all of donald trump's leadership troubles. what does that snapshot look like? i'll speak with the author next. companies in the country. after expanding our fiber network coast to coast. these are the places we call home. we are centurylink. we believe in the power of the digital world. the power to connect. and that's what drives us everyday. ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine.

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we don't need a lecture from washington on how to lead our lives. >> all right. and that is the president spe speaking just a bit earlier at liberty university at their graduation and commencement ceremonies. the president echoing a campaign theme there.

this was amid the firestorm in d.c. after the dismissal of fbi director james comey. joining me now "time" magazine director and "new york times" political writer john harwood. good to see you both. we'll start with ladies first. are there any better answers you've heard that give us some clarity on the comey firing? >> alex, i think it's all speculation in washington at this point. it really is striking that everybody in washington is talking about this. you hear from republicans and democrats alike, both privately and publicly real concerns how this could play out in the 2018 elections and how it could affect governance in terms of pa passing policy. it's striking that it's not seeming to have an impact out in the homeland amongst trump supporters. you look at polls out today and even over the last week and his approval ratings are remaining steady and he remains popular among the base. it isn't permeating the sense of outrage you feel here in washington on both sides of the

aisle out into trump land, trump supporters, and voters. >> and, john, looking at your latest article, it is titled this week gave us a clear snapshot of all leadership troubles. you break it down into three categories, legal, political, managerial. so what does this say about the current state of the trump administration? >> it says, alex, he is in deep trouble, deeper trouble than i think the rest of the country and financial markets which have been buoyant have recognized. just to go over it quickly, it all comes out of president trump's own words and actions. first of all, he fired the guy who was leading an investigation of his campaign and his associates. that's problematic on its own. secondly, he explained in an interview to our kcolleague lester holt that he had the russia investigation on his mind when he did that. and then the following morning he tweeted out a threat to the fired fbi director about statements that he might make. all of that is relevant in case

he finds himself on the wrong side of a prosecution or an impeachment circumstance. politically he has entered this crisis with poor credibility with the american public and our last nbc/"wall street journal" poll, 25% of the people rated him highly for being honest and trustworthy. now he has undercut the rationales given by his aides and shredded their credibility as well. and finally, as a manager, by doing this so abruptly, he left his team unable to competently respond to it. and even more suddenly than that, he gave an interview, alex, with "the economist" this week he said something about china and its currency values that was false. and then his treasury secretary who ought to know better repeated that falsehood. either the president has appointed someone who doesn't know what a treasury secretary ought to know or he feels the need to humor the president rather than speak directly to him.

all that have is problematic for the trump administration. >> yeah, no kidding. let's take a look at the president right now, everyone. that is air force one. he's just landed there at andrew's air force base having returned from lynchburg, have virginia, and commencement ceremonies of which he was the speaker for liberty university. as was noted earlier by kelly o'donnell, that isn't the regular big 747 plane. it was sort of a puddle jumper, if you will, from washington down to lynchburg so they didn't fire up the big 747. again, the president having deplaned from air force one. it will always be called air force one regardless of the type of plane being used when the president is onboard. back to that question. let's take a listen to sean spicer from yesterday. here he is. >> did president trump record his conversations with former fbi director comey? >> i assume you're referring to the tweet. the president has nothing further to add on that. >> why did he say that?

why did he tweet that? what should we interpret from that? >> as i mentioned, the president has nothing further to add on that. >> are there recording devices in the oval office or in the residence? >> as i've said for the third time, there is nothing further to add on that. >> does he think it's appropriate to threaten someone like mr. comey not to speak? >> i don't think -- that's not a threat. he stated a fact. the tweet speaks for itself. i'm moving on. >> is the president of the united states currently recording conversations taking place in the oval office? >> i think the point i made with respect to the tweet is the president has no further comment on this. >> so i guess we can define that as a cagey response there. but what does that tell us about the taping question and how does it matter? and i want to say i did look up legally speaking, you can within the district of columbia have a private conversation taped as long as one person is aware of that taping is happening whether it's the white house or anywhere else. but let's talk about how this matters. >> absolutely, alex. so it is the rule, the law of the land at least in columbia

that as long as one person, in this case donald trump, agrees to the taping that it can be taped. some states require both parties to know and to allow for the taping in which case it would then become illegal if donald trump is having phone calls across state lines into states that would require every party being notified and that -- and if he's actually taping them. he does have a very long history of taping calls back when he was a ceo of his own corporation, his private secretaries talked often about how they would transcribe calls, tape calls, and he has also had a long history, a fascination with richard nixon. in this case it's almost nixonian. he had henry kissinger in the oval office. there is almost these illusions and links back to the idea of being taped of having those conversations, but what does it mean? it can mean a lot of things and

certainly it sounded like a threat, like you'd better be careful what you say because i have tapes to prove what you did and did not say. and that's the case, then it would be pretty unprecedented. that was essentially what nixon was impeached for was trying to get the head of the fbi to back off on an investigation into watergate. and it would seem that there could potentially be some case be made on obstruction of justice which were the charges against nixon that donald trump is trying to obstruct whatever investigation the fbi might be doing into russia and into him. but that all remains to be seen. and comey is not talking about it. he refused to speak to the senate this week. we'll see what happens. with the investigation once they point a new head of the fbi. but all of this, there seems to be a lot of smoke here and the question is, is there a fire underneath. >> good question there. john, here is senator dick durbin, of course the democrat, raising an important question you touched upon. let's take a listen to that. >> president trump is dangerous, dangerous because he may be

obstructing justice in terms of the investigation that really goes to the heart of our democracy. >> john, how many questions of that type realistically might never get answered given republicans control both houses of congress? >> reporter: a lot of them, alex, but the behavior of the president in recent days increases the likelihood that democrats could take back the house. and if that happens, all bets are off in terms of the continuation of the trump presidency. i've got to say with respect to senator durbin's comments one of the things that president trump is a danger to is himself. if there are tapes in the white house that he is keeping, first of all i find that surprising, but even more surprising if they do exist is that the president would call attention to them. why? because when you consider the behavior, the way they talk, what we know about the character of president trump and james comey, if it james comey says he

was asked for a loyalty pledge and refused and donald trump says, no, i didn't ask him that, i think the safe bet would be that jim comey's version is more accurate than the president of the united states. and when the president by his own acknowledgement has said he asked if he was under investigation and says that james comey said -- he said, no, you're not under investigation, we haven't heard from comey directly on the point but his associates said he wouldn't say something like that. there is a strong prumgs if you're going to weigh the credibility of those two men that james comey is more likely to be giving an accurate story and tapes have the potential of affirming that. >> and the president giving that kind of attribution to james comey three times, reassured him of that. good to see you both, john, jay. thank you so much. appreciate it. a rocky reception for one trump administration official at a commencement. >> i am honored to become a wildcat.

>> yikes. betsy devos endured a cascade of boos there. i will ask one education reform leader if she should have even tried to deliver the address at a historically black college. what's that?

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welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt here at msnbc world headquarters in new york just past the half hour. here is what we're monitoring for you. a nor'easter is soaking the eastern seaboard. some places expected to get a couple inches of rain, a threat of damaging winds and coastal flooding. the system should clear out with only light showers expected off

and on for mother's day. new today we're learning more about how former fbi director james comey reacted to his very public firing with indignation. joining me now nbc's ken del delaney. with a welcome to you, comey was furious about this, about how it all went down. do you think he's anxious to talk about it? >> alex, his associates tell us that he is. although he's concerned about how anything he might say will affect the fbi and that's his biggest concern they say at this point. of course he was upset with the way it all went down, you know, learning about the firing on tv screens as he's addressing fbi agents out in l.a., but, more importantly, people close to him are telling us he really wants to correct false statements according to him and his people that were made by the president. that he assured the president he wasn't under investigation. people who know him are telling us it's very unlikely he would

have put it that way. >> so the president tweeted comey should worry about tapes, not the but tapes implying their conversation. comey would welcome a taping of their talks, you tweeted out yesterday. what are you getting from your sources on that? >> they believe that, of course, any such tapes of that dinner in january of this year. >> he didn't skr for the dinner as was indicated with the president, right? >> in fairness trump said he believed comey asked for the dinner. james clap earp said to andrea

mitchell this week that comey told him that night that he had been summoned to the white house and he was reluctant to go, he was uneasy about it because he thought it created a bad appearance. >> okay. all right. thank you very much, as always. we'll see you again. to the very latest from the rnc after its spring meeting wrapped up. game planning for the 2018 midterms and spirits were high. a video played during the meeting. >> i'll be going around to different states. for the people running for the senate, we can pick up a lot of seats especially if it all keeps going like it's going now. joining us from coronado, california, a very beautiful part of the country there just outside the hotel dell. vaughn, this meeting took place in the firestorm surrounding comey's firing.

how did the rnc respond to the news? >> reporter: it's supposed to be the reception period. they won the house and the senate. this is the rnc's first meeting since inauguration. they have a new rnc chair, all 168 members, the political a apparatuses of the congressional committee, the trump campaign is he here. to your question, the russian investigation is ongoing. there's the aftermath of the comey firing and talking several rnc members here, a sentiment i continual ly heard was, do you remember october of 2016, a month before the election when the media, including the campaign themselves, thought it was doomed to a certain extent and within a month suddenly there was a trump presidency. this is one of the gentlemen from alaska. take a listen to what he said. >> most of us realize it has no lasting input. it will go away. there are much more important matters to focus on, matters

that president trump and his staff is focusing on. i think i and everyone here that's been here we're all very upbeat. it all looks good from our perspective. >> reporter: you heard the gentleman say they were upbeat. this week was an opportunity to begin to look at what the strategy was going towards 2018. alex? >> so on another topic here this meeting comes, vaughn, as you know some gop congressmen are facing angry constituents at town halls over the new health care bill. did you hear any concerns about how potential voter backlash to the bill could come during the midterm elections? >> reporter: with their messaging before this week even began on the health care bill, the house passed it with just a 21% approval rating in the united states and suddenly you're looking at a republican party trying to figure out, i talked to a congressman from

virginia after his fiery town hall and he said it's a big issue. republicans have not presented to the american people what their message is and haven't pr provided concrete legislative victories even in washington, d.c. alex? >> vaughn hillyard, thank you very much. tough crowd for education secretary betsy devos. why she got a rough reception at a commencement ceremony. in the next hour the view from the cia of the james comey firing. you'll hear from a former acting director of the agency and get his take on how the intelligence community is viewing all of these developments. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything,

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from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. learn more about better breathing at mybreo.com. a victory lap for students at texas southern university upon learning school officials canceled republican senator john cornyn's speech at their commencement ceremony today. the "houston chronicle" reports school officials at the hbcu feared a confrontation amid a student petition started because of cornyn's support for the trump administration. now this comes days after education secretary betsy devos,

you're hearing it there, she was booed during her speech at another hbcu, about half of those students turned their backs when she got on stage and then at one point the boos grew so loud the school's president threatened to cut the ceremony short. joining me now the founding board member of the african federation for children. a big welcome to you. i want to play what one of the tsu students who started the petition said. it's the american federation for children that you are. i'm sorry i mispronounced that. i do want to get your reaction on the other side to all of this so here it is. >> senator cornyn and his policies and the policies he supports and the politicians that he supports continuously harm these communities and other minority and marginalized communities and it doesn't align with our values.

>> so give me your understanding of why students would protest cornyn. >> this is a tough time, a polarizing time. there are many issues many would have with the trump administration. i have a problem with what i see coming out of the white house. with respect to governor cornyn i think it's more than just the trump administration. i've heard tapes from other students and his own policies. when you compare that to betsy devos, her policies are being shaped. i think in spite of all the challenges education should be the great unifier during this time. there's no democrat or republican teaching a kid to read, write or count. it was good of her to extend herself to constituents that wouldn't normally be reached out to by this administration.

education is the way to bring us together. it's a tough row to hoe but should be done. >> this was, as you say, a tough road. for those who haven't seen this, let's look at what betsy devos faced here. list en. >> i am honored to become a wildcat. and it's a real honor and privilege to be with you as we celebrate the class of 2017. congratulations to all of you. >> okay. that was a lot for her to face, and i know that you have supported her. you support her mission. but what is your reaction to this? >> look, it's it tough. i understand where the students are coming from. i'm an hbcu graduate, but there's a little known fact out there. if you talk to any black college president, they will tell you, and had is sort of a crazy re

reality but it's true, that the obama administration tried to cut funding to black colleges and they tried to limit the way the funding was accessed. i think it's good that the current education secretary is reaching out in spite of all of that because black colleges should play a role in the education of black children particularly because of some of the socialization challenges they face when they go to college. i will analogize it to ferguson when he brought leaders together with police chiefs who didn't even want to be in the same room together and after they met over a period of months they found some common ground. we need more healing in this country. i know it's tough. the onus is on her. the students will be hostile

until they feel there's receptivity. it's on her to continue to do things like this in spite of the boos. >> in that regard the secretary has tried to walk back her comments made early in the administration, the pioneers of school choice. what are you hearing about what more she did do to educate herself. >> she was introduced to the world through president trump, has never held public office. i think she's learning a lot on this job. she should continue to reach out. she meads to go to more traditional public schools that are working.

we need to have more openness from her and others in this administration to make america a part of the solution as opposed to the limited approach. i know it's tough but the more we have this dialogue the more healing there should be. education needs to be front and center. the only way this democracy would survive is if we change some of the negative trajectory we see, particularly kids of color and to draw attention on that is a good thing. >> i am right there with you, my friend. the founding board member there of the american federation for children. you said it. thank you very much. is fast a good thing? breaking down president trump's comments about finding a replacement for james comey. ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business,

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decision or announcement before you leave for saudi?

>> these are outstanding people very well known, the highest level. we could make a fast decision. >> before the trip next week do you think possibly? >> even that is possible. >> and that was president trump onboard air force one just a short time ago hinting that he could name a new fbi chief within just days. let's bring in republican strategist noelle and peter emerson, who has worked for two democratic administrations. with a welcome to you both, peter, i want to reach out to you first because you've worked in the white house. can the decision making process, all of the vetting, can that realistically move that fast? >> certainly. the problem is before we even get to that we have the condition of perhaps obstruction of justice. so even though the white house office of vetting, the office of presidential personnel and the legal office, could move very, very quickly and in this white house just by a stroke of

trump's pen there are some real issues of whether or not a new fbi director will get confirmed on capitol hill particularly on the senate side. >> what about the timing here, noelle? do you want a quick pick to head up such a vital and sensitive agency? what is more important that the choice is fast or that it's correct? >> well, of course, alex, you want a correct pick. you want to take time and think about the pick that's appropriate but i think that what he said, he actually said this today. he walked in the back of the plane and he told the press corps that he feels like this could be done very quickly because of the quality of the type of people that he is looking at. we're not really sure who exactly he has pinpointed. i think when he walked back there and he told the press that, i think that he has some people in mind that he feels that, you know, may be able to pass confirmation quickly because i would assume they will

be extremely qualified. i would go out on a limb to say that i would hope he would look at somebody. this is very important, alex, that he get somebody who is not a trump supporter croney or somebody that's, you know, aligned on either side that somebody is very much straight in, more independent line. that could be key and key to quick confirmation. >> you have a senator, you have a judge for the new york state court of appeals, and you have a former top justice department official. a good chance they've had a certain amount of vetting thus far. but i want to get to congressman adam schiff, the ranking member on the house intel committee who weighed in last night on comey's ouster. here is his take. >> what do you say to the no there there people. >> james comey would have a job.

>> with the firing of comey, doesn't it give the appearance of greater like lihood of a there-there? >> yes, absolutely. >> i'm going to give this to noelle first. >> alex, this is hard. i've been doing pundit work for a long time. you've put me on the spot here so i have to tell you that i really think that if you ask a republican, they're going to say, you know, the talking points are as follows. he was going to fire him anyway. maybe the way it was handled, maybe the way he fired him wasn't the best way. they're going to say of course there's something there. of course there is something to it. i have to take this back to the beginning. i didn't think the democrats were too high on comey anyway. this is one person i'm puzzled about why the left is so exasperated, so upset about his firing because a lot of people feel like, alex, that it was

because of comey hillary clinton lost her election. >> well, you have a point, certainly sentiment that has been echoed. >> well, i'm happy to step in and say that i think comey should have been fired, but that's not the point any longer. >> and you're not alone, i might add. >> and that's not the point anymore. the point is not that comey was fired any longer. for those of us involved in the watergate investigation, we were always surprised that, in fact, it was the cover-up -- it was the cover-up, not the actual act, that ended up with nixon having to resign. we have now moved past the act. we're now into the cover-up phase. the department of justice is likely going to have to, by either force or hopefully just patriotism convene a grand jury and look at what simply the president's statements have been. >> peter, when you talk about the potential after cover-up, which part? >> the cover-up? >> mm-hmm.

>> the cover-up starts with trump contradicting himself on why he fired comey. second, the cover-up also exi existing within the department of justice. there have been contradictory statements about the time line of whether the request came from the white house or whether it was initiated at the department of justice. and finally we now have some confirmation that at least in the trump business dealings he taped calls. he's now indicated by threatening or intimidating comey there was a taping system within the white house. i don't know if that's true or not. so we have a lot of variables here that suggest there may be some covering up of what the actual truth is. it could be much broader than russia. when you have the president of the united states contradicting himself, now not willing to answer whether there is a taping system or not, and his propensity for lying, which everyone agrees with left,

right, center. there's a problem here. >> noelle, i will put you on the spot again because you're so good at answering these questions. >> love it. >> do you think there's a chance there's been obstruction of justice here? >> we don't know. i don't want to lie or make up something for your viewers that's not fair. we don't know. i listened to my counterpart, i'm on with him a lot and enjoy the banter back and forth. we don't know. i will say the left wasn't that crazy about comey. the right either way. i think it's better. how trump handled it was bizarre. we need somebody with a fresh slate, a fresh start that will look at things and get something done.

let's get out of the tainted past and move forward. >> a lot of members are very supportive of him and are having a difficult time. let's leave it at that. we've all expressed the opinions and perspectives. i'll see you back again. thank you so much. it is a comment that has gotten comments, if liberals hate him, then trump must be doing something right. the author joins me to talk about it. thanks, man. imagine if the things you bought every day earned you miles to get to the places you really want to go. with the united mileageplus explorer card, you'll get a free checked bag, 2 united club passes... priority boarding... and 50,000 bonus miles. everything you need for an unforgettable vacation. the united mileageplus explorer card.

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