more are injured after a car drove into a group of pedestrians. the driver of the car is cuss dwi. authorities say he has two previous arrests for dwi. we'll keep an eye on that story and will bring you updates as we get them. but first in the news dominating washington and the word of the day. well, actually two words today. "witch hunt." >> looks like president trump may want to go to war with robert mueller. >> that is a nonstarter. robert mueller has a rep pew ta reputation going back to vietnam. >> couldn't be a better choice. >> he will put his country first about that t . the president is his own worst enemy. he will basically hang himself with 140 characters at a time. >> we'll tell you why witch hunt is the word, but that was the hill reacting to the appointment of rob be bert aboert mueller a

counsel. the man who made that call will visit the capitol. rod rosenstein will brief senators behind closed doors. and next hour at the white house, president trump will take questions for the first time since mueller are's 's a point. but this morning on twitter, shear where we get to the word of date. he blasted the investigation as a wuitch hunt and deflected throwing out words like clinton and obama. and if all of that news wasn't enough, there is this. new report that fired national security adviser michael flynn told trump's transition he was under investigation on january 4th. a week before the inauguration. it is a very different picture from the one painted by trump's ner circle. >> michael flynn has filed with the department of justice as a foreign agent to making more than $500,000 as a lobbyist essentially for turkey. >> hearing that story today was

the first i heard of it. and i fully support the decision that president trump made to ask for general can flyflynn's resi. >> are you saying the president was not aware that flynn was anlgting acting as a foreign agent? >> correct. >> our panel of reporters joining us. let's start with mike viqueira on capitol hill. deputy rudy giuliani rod rosenstein will appear before senators, a closed door hearing. but what are they expecting? >> reporter: well, i think a lot of what they were going to ask has been diffused when you think about the genesis of this briefing and behind me you will o occasionally senators coming through to go into the briefing. every senator, republican and democrat, remember, it was last tuesday if you can believe it when the firing of jim acomey ht washington like a thunder clap. chuck schumer the next day demanded that rod rosenstein who

had been confirmed a couple weeks earlier come before the senate and explain in a closed session exactly how it went down. twhoo what happened to jim comey and what was the justification and what was rod rosenstein's role in all of this. comeso fruition today. the briefing will start in about 30 minutes in aecure roomn the visitor center of the senate just below the senate chamber. but rosenstein is going to be coming in and speaking to all senators. remember, democrats were going to hold up the fbi nomination to succeed jim comey unless they got that special down on sell. items been diffused now to some degree because that is what the surprise announcement was last night. rob mueller take over as special counsel almost universally accepted here by members of both part advertise and both sides of the capitol. >> and we got an update from the senate intelligence committee on their investigation. what did we learn?

>> reporter: richard burr is running that committee. michael flynn had asked last week, there was a deadline for him to submit documents part of their investigation into russian meddling in the lelelection. they subpoenaed him. initially it was a bit confusing that flynn republican had missed the deadline and then people were talking about if he refuses, what is the recourse. they took it back, walked it back a little bit about later after that, said there is still time for flynn to comply. so that too has been diffused at least for the moment. >> kelly o'donnell, yelled we got a pretty are measured response from the white house when it came to the appointment of this special counsel and today donald trump tweeted not quite the same style of response we should say. >> reporter: it sort of went from boiler plate to boiling mad. the first response on the official white house letter head, if you will, was the more predictable kind of response

about the appointment. today the president using his twitter feed to be much more direct about how he feels projecting that this is somehow a witch hunt and that no poll tesch be shan, so now describing himself as a politician, has been the subject of a witch hunt like this in american history. he also goes on in a separate tweet to take a knock at the clinton campaign and the obama administration making allegations that crimes there that at the sahe says were committed never rose to the level of needing a special down unsel. so maybe be some anger from the president over this circumstance where it's now a bit more out of their control here at the white house. also from talking to advisers and people who are viewing this trying to be more positive about what it could do, there is a theory that as bad as it is on its face, if alt also gives som room for the trump white house to say it's under investigation and not comment any further. >> that is unless donald trump decides to tweet about it.

we're also learning that michael flynn the national security adviser, fired national security adviser, told the transition a week before the inauguration that he was under investigation. that doesn't jive with a lot of what we heard out of this white house on. >> reporter: new details for sure. january 4th is the date. january 20th when the president took the oath of office. and part of what the reporting that was generated out of the "new york times" mcclatchy and others is in a mithat michael fs projecting that by saying that he was under investigation, that this was somehow a hold over from the obama era. he was fired from a position, that kind of thing. the normal alarm bells that should go off if someone is the subject or in any way swept up in an investigation did not go off and we see that the president obviously moved forward, something that we don't yet know if the president even really regrets. he has been so publicly

supportive of flynn in the days since his firing in february. >> and ken delaney, walk us through the new report nag centers around paul manafort, former campaign chairman, and national security adviser michael flynn. the investigations seem to be centering around athem? >> that's right. my colleague tom winter and i were reporting that flynn and manafort are now the prime focus in the early stages of this sprawling fbi investigation into rush railrosian csian collusion. they are formally considered subjects of the investigation. both deny wrongdoing. what is interesting is no public evidence has surfaced suggesting that these men colluded with the russia interference campaign, instead it's their other financial dealings. flynn as was discussed failed to

register as a foreign agent for turkey, and he also failed to disclose that he was 235id fopa trip to moscow to appear at a dinner sponsored by russian state television and alleged to have lied about contacts with the russian ambassador. man m both of these men under pressure. and typical playbook would be to charge some of the conspiraf of conspiracy ters with crimes. and there is new reporting that says fwlin continues to support donald trump and in fact received a message from trump recently urging him to stay strong. >> so flynn initially under investigation because of his ties to turkey. i believe that is what first alerted the doj back when the transition was taking place.

what more do we know about the influence that michael flynn's turkish relations had on this administration or his decision making? >> we know what michael flynn did. and that ishat he vetoed a decision to armed kurds. and tur kikish state was payingm through a dutch company. but we don't know why he did it. and yes, he might have had a pro turkish be position. but he might have done it just are simply to review what the obama administration frankly deliberated on for quite some time. and the issue was always do you arm the kurdish factions inside syria, also in iraq, do you directly arm them so they can go against isis aggressively and more quickly. the charge that has been out there today is that flynn rejected a proposal by the obama administration, the obama administration ran it by flynn as a courtesy because it was the waning days of their administration, and that he rejected it because he might

have wanted to do his own review. but because of his funding stream, because of his not registering after a foreign national for the turkish are state, it's called into question. and what obama former officials say that that decision delayed the eventual assault on raqqah. all that being said, a couple week bs al go the trump administration did decide to directly arm the kurds and the kurds will play a role in the dl will i be rafliberation of raqq. >> and there is new reporting that there are renewed strengths in syria. >> and there is a reminder of just how comp colicated the battlefield is. the main fight in syria is the u.s. going against isis. but you also have the assad regime which is closely linked with russian forces. a militia that has alignment to

the as ssad regime was getting o close to american special operators. american forces warned them, they didn't heed the warnings, so these american special forces because the u.s. military thought danger, they struck the militia allied with the assad regime. again, not direct forces. and we don't know the number of casualties. no americans were injured. but these are special operations forces in a very comp licated neighborhood and the strike bes that happened earlier this morning just an indication of how quickly that battlefield could get even more complicated. >> no doubt about that. appreciate all of your time. michael isikoff is the chief investigative correspondent at yahoo! news and charlie savage from the "new york times." michael, you have new reporting out today talking about how donald trump suggesting that he and national security adviser

flynn are still in contact. i just got a message from the president trump to stay strong flynn said you reported. after the meal was over according to two sources close to flynn and familiar with the conversation which took place on april 25th. yore talking about a meal that flynn had with those who were close to him last month. characterize your sourcing on that and what more do you know about the relationship that trump and flynn may continue to have. >> first of all, the timing is interesting because april 25th is the day if you remember that chairman jason chaffetz and elijah cummings both accused flynn of failing -- having reviewed classified pentagon documents, of failing to disclose his foreign payments from russia and turkey. so this was a tough day for him. it was his legal woes were deepening, both chaffetz and

cummings suggested that he may have violated laws that would have required him to disclose these payments when he was getting his security clearance renewed. he had this dinner with close friends and people he was trying to reconnect, saddled with very steep legal bills. he was briainstorming about possible business opportunities and after the meal he mentioned to two them there that he had gotten this message, just gotten this message he told them, from the president trump, stay strong. now, look, there were a lot of people who after flynn's lawyer just a few weeks earlier had floated the idea that his client flynn would have a story to tell if he could get immunity, there was a lot of speculation that he might be willing to say something about the president that might be damaging, that might help investigators.

about fact having talked to multiple friends and soerlg ass of flynn, he has begin no indication of that and if anything he has remained steadfastly loyal to the president, thank god trump is president he told one of them after he was fired as national security adviser. and the fact that they were still in contact suggests there is a very close bond there and that could be problematic given that trump's request as we now know to fbi director comey in february to let the flynn investigation go. >> there is no doubt that they had a close bond. general flynn was with him by his side for a good portion of the campaign. we know he got the role inloyal. but he disclosed that he was under investigation a little

more than two week before the inauguration. what about the vetting of michael flynn, should not there have been more information from the team, more red flags about his relationship with turkey and potentially his conversations with the russian ambassador? >> you're absolutely right that there is a growing focus on that transition period and what transition officials including vice president pence, vice president elect pence at that point, and d mcgahn white house counsel were told or knew ifhey were properly carrying out their responsibilities to vet people who were going to become extremely powerful and itch good access to extremely sensitive information starting on january 20th. and you are hearing chatter about mike pence's role and how that was this slipped through the cracks despite what seems to

have been some warning signs. >> and vice president pence was head of the transition. we'll talk more about the other big story of the day, will there are there are big stories of the day, bob mueller being appointed special counsel. but for now, thank you both. we're watching our live stake outcam. senator blumenthal heading to that meeting with rod rosenstein. we'll bring you all the details that we can get as soon as they happen. remember, this is a closed door hearing. so it will all depend on how much senators want to divulge. next though, more on that breaking news out of times square and what we know about the 26-year-old man taken into custody.

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back to that breaking news in times square. at least one person is dead and 23 others are injured after a car drove into a group of pedestrians. >> the car coming toward to us along 7th avenue. >> did you have to jump out of the way? >> yeah. >> you had to physically jump out of the way? >> jump to the right. >> was everybody doing that? >> yeah, a lot of piof people r. ing. >> the driver was richard rojas, a 26-year-old u.s. citizen from the bronx and former member of the armed services. he has two previous arrests for

dwis. rojas made a wrong turn and plowed in tto pedestrians befor about his honda came to a stop on the northwest corner of west 45th street where the vehicle hit a blockade. there is no indication that this was an act of terrorism. kristen dahlgren is live in times square. what is the latest down there? >> reporter: they still have the streets here blocked off about a two block radius around where the accident happened. let me set the scene for you. 26-year-old richard rojas driving down 7th avenue. he came to 42nd street and did a quick u-turn on to the sidewalk. and for 3 1/2 blocks drove down the sidewalk at a high rate of speed, one of the busiest areas in the world striking pedestrians as he went along. he struck an 18-year-old are girl, she was killed. he also hit her 13-yeaold

sister, she survived. but is now being treated at the hospital. i can't imagine what that family is going through tonight pep then went on 23 people in all were struck, four rekaimain in critical condition. they are expected to survive. so a horrific scene here during the lunchtime hour. we heard from cory johnson, here's what he had to say, new york city councilman. >> are this is a horrible incident. in may be the most densely populated area. not just in the city of new york, but everywhere in the united states. so for this to happen here today, the young woman to lose her life forks dozen, for dozen injured, a horrific day. >> reporter: both the mayor and police commissioner said immediately their mind went to terrorism because of where it happened, but again, they say now they believe this was an accident and they are looking at dwi as perhaps the leading cause. .driver according to police

appeared to be under the influence. he is now being tested in police custody. >> kristen dahlgren, thank you very much. eugene o'donnell is professor of law and police studies at the john j. college of criminal justice and he joins me now. also former nypd officer. thank you very much for joining us. certainly is scare write situation. immediately people's minds jumped to terrorism, but dwi, lot of folks kill people because they are driving under the influence. >> and this looks purposeful. so the idea that this is an accident, we have to wait with and see. three blocks -- >> because he drove for so long? >> for so long. interesting toee what e witnesses have to say, but seems that he trove until he could t dri anymore, he hit a barrier. >> and give us a sense of the area. this is highly populated. the area that he was driving down, is is that one of the pedestrian walkways? they expanded the walkways in times square a few years ago to

take down one of the lanes and create a pedestrian plaza for a few blocks. how are those areas protected in the city to make sure people can't jump a curb and incidentally or intentionally run people down? >> we'll have to up our game in the light of what is going on in london and france. we'll have to deal with this issue. how do you stop somebody? sooner or later, it will be a terrorist attack. we still have to find out what the guy's motives were, whether there was in grievance, whether he had some issue, whether he could have been radicalized. i wouldn't rule it out on the face of it pipts's . it's an odd time of the day for a dwi accident on one block, but to have driven this long a distance, i'd be interested to hear the narrative that the witnesses give. >> 11:55 a.m. police say that they don't believe this is terrorism as of this moment at least, but they say it is preliminary and they will have to continue to get their investigation going.

eugene o'donnell, thank you very much for stopping by. and right now on capitol hill, we're a waiting deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, he will be participating in a closed door briefing for on all senarsn the firing of former fbi directorames comey. next, who is robert mueller and can americans trust the outcome of the investigation he is now heading? and also as we head to break, the death of roernlg ailand i also roger ailes, he was credited with essentially creating fox news as we know it. that is before he was ousted over sex scandals earlier this year. today george h.w. with bush who ailes worked for in the 1980s tweeted he wasn't perfect, but roger ailes was my friend and i loved him. not sure i would have been president without his great talent, loyal help, rip. roger ailes was 77 years old. roger ailes was 77 years old.

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reminder we're on capitol hill, senator orrin hatch walking into the briefing room

where deputy attorney general rod rosenstein will brief senators on the status ofhe investigation and the firing of james comey. mike viqueira has been standing there for some time. have you been able to stop any senator, find out what they want to hear from rod rosenstein? by announcing bob be mueller yesterday, he took the wind out of the sails for any argument that he might be acting in a partisan manner. >> yeah, i think greeted with open arms was the appointment by mueller by democrats in about plaurp i thought t particular. i think privately republicans are happier about it than in public, ensuring that the investigations, four now in both the house and senate side, were going to go forward. a lot of people have question withes about that so that they are not stepping on each other.

we do understand that rod rosenstein is in the secure meeting room here below the senate.subterranean meeting room. it hasn't started yet. it is due to start at about 2:30. so in just a couple of minutes. incidentally, we were talking earlier about the senate intelligence committee and mike flynn, they had asked documents from flynn last week on a voluntary basis, he did not give them. there was some confusion about whether he would refuse or not. a subpoena has been issued, the deadline now next wednesday. the committee has still not received those documents from flynn. >>ike viqueira at the capitol. thank you. as a lawyer, who may one day end up in the highest ranks of judicial power, may advocate to for those in need or set ground breaking precedent, but in the end, it is not only what we do but how we do it. and as the saying go, if you

have integrity, there is nothing else in a matters. and if you don't have integrity, there is nothing else that matters. >> that was newly named special counsel for the russian probe robert mueller speaking fwhback 2013. lawmakers are in rare agreement. >> all of us have known direct are todirector mueller and are happy he is there. >> i have a lot of respect for counsel mueller. i think it was a good choice when i first heard it. >> everything we know about his portfolio thus far, i mean i think there is confidence that he may be able to get to where the facts lead him. >> with me now, clinton watts and tara maler. clint, you worked under mueller.

do you believe he's the right guy for this job? >> he's definitely the right person. by picking him, you're bringing in a stalwart who was asked to extend by the obama administration, usually it's ten years, he stayed 12. so they made the right choice. you are picking someone that is fair and balanced. notice first thing he did was he got the rid of his connections to his law firm, he separated himself out. >> what is he like? >> he is a very deliberate person. he works long days. during my time at the bureau when i saw him in the headquarters, he was there first, he left last if he left at all. he was known to really push people and stay on message. and he could make transformations that other direct are tors probably couldn't have made. >> and detail oriented, rit? i heard stories about briefers and at the end of it he would say what color was the car you guys were following. >> that's exactly right. not only details, but structure, staying on message and staying,

you know, as a tight team. he ran a very tight ship. it was not loosely run. he held people accountable. he put in a lot of the metrics systems that are there, he reform the the entire intelligence function. if you remember after 9/11, they wanted to take counterterrorism and intel basically away from the fbi and it's because of mueller are's success that that actually stayed. >> and he started just a couple days before 9/11.are's success actually stayed. >> and he started just a couple days before 9/11. tara, the one criticism that some have are is that ultimately he can can still be fired by the president. >> well, i think that is perhaps a legitimate criticism as can sort of many officials in government. but this is a good choice for three main reasons. what this individual needs is bipartisansh bipartisanship. he has people on both sides of the aisle praising him without even orchestrating talking points. you know you made a good decision when both parties are supporting it.

he bring are s trustworthiness you need someone of high intelligence and his background is impeccable with regards to that. so i think they made a really goods all three components. obviously he can be fired just you as department officials can be fired, but i think trump would find himself in a diicult sition if any firing of more officials leading this investigation occurs in the upcoming weeks. >> we saw senator john mccain head into breefting room. deputy attorney general is the one that decided to pick possible be mueller, and also who bob mueller will be answerable to at least in some respects. clintd, wh clint, there are multiple investigations going on. what if the congress on alvess disagree with the ruts found by the bob mueller investigation? >> i think it will be the

mueller investigation there are take precedent for several reasons. he has more resources and more experience investigative-wise. as compared to the two being be run in congress right now. he also understands the financial angles, the cyber ang angles. and more importantly, he will be staffed. he will be working sort of hand-in-hand with his old fbi team. these were the old deputies of his deputies that are running the fbi today. he's had good working relationships with them. they will run this down in a much more comprehend then suffer way than either of the congressional commit titees wil. >> will it slow the investigation down? >> i don't think it will slow it down. there has been a lot of back and forth and i think now mueller is on top of it in the key role and you will still have the houses a and senate investigations, but i think there will be a little bit of time to staff up and make sure he's up to speed on

erything that has occurred to date, but i think this is aood move. i think that it willerhaps help the efficiency of it, he will be able to coordinate with what is going on on capitol hill. and it will also hopefully prevent leaks now that it will sort of fall under his domain and perhaps people will be more on respectful of this ongoing situation because now they trust sort of the person at the helm. >> thank you both for joining me. reminder that we are still watching senators arrive for that closed door briefing with deputy ag rod rosenstein. we'll keep an eye on that and bring you developments as they happen. maybe a senator will come up to our microphones and talk to us for a moment. we will see. it's time now meanwhile for today's microsoft pulse question of the day. with robert mueller as special counsel, do you believe the investigation into russia's meddling in the u.s. election will be fair? so far 99% of you say yes. that jives very closely where what we've been hearing from our other polls. that a majority of americans did want to see a special counsel,

they wanted it taken out of politics and into the hands of somebody that they trusted. you can still cast your vote as well at pulse.msnbc.com. next up, could the white house soon be nixing the daily press briefing? i'll speak to the politico reporter who is revealing how sean spicer's role could be changing. >> they are saying that you will replace me with sarah. >> sean, come on, i would never do that. she doesn't have your special spice. salt and pepper. a little bit of sugar. >> stop. >> you like when i do that? if. >> no. it just tick les a little. no, i'm married.

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♪ i'm dr. kelsey mcneely and some day you might be calling me an energy farmer. ♪ energy lives here. as if you didn't need more breaking news, we have more for you. president trump is saying on the record that he is, quote, very close to choosing an fbi director. that is according to savannahli a senior are administration official says joe leaieberman i among the top picks. odds at better than 50:50. and if you're a loyal viewer of ours here at 2:00 p.m. and we hope that you are, you know that you usually are watching me wrap up sean spicer's daily press briefing. not today and perhaps not much more in the future. president trump may scale back his press secretary's public

role according to plit dough whi politico which reports that the briefings most agreeded parts of the president's day. and he didn't want spicer publicly defending and explaining the message anymore. let's bring in politico white house reporter who co-wrote that story. josh, is it true? i feeli like we've heard it before. >> president trump has told folks that he doesn't want fewer on camera briefings. he doesn't think that will helps the administration's message and that he didn't think sean spires is t spicer is the best surrogate. of course he could come tomorrow and say sean spicer will have two briefings every day. but by all accounts in the white house with and outside the white house, the president has said things are going to be changing. >> and y. does he not like sean spicer now?

ashley park from the "washington post" reported that he was really happy with him because he was getting such great ratings. >> well, i think the ratings part were one reason that he likes spicer, but i think the president watches coverage of his briefings every day and he reads coverage of them in the newspapers. and he sees it as not helping his message. and i think sean to his credit has a very difficult job. his team are often given pretty precarious situation to defend a president who changes his comments every day, advisers say different things. lots of leaks within the white house. and i think they have a tough job and i think president trump is not going to take the blame for mis assachusetis steps. >> is this anything really going to change if the president trump is still tweeting and contrad t contradicts his staff in

interviews say with lester holt? >> and that's what a lot of the people in the white house have said to me and other reporters, as well. you know, the president often contradicts his own team. people encourage you him don't tweet, we want this to go away, we want this to die down a bit, he tweets anyway. you know, the president is often his best messenger and he thinks he's always his best messenger and sometimes he's the worst. i don't think the president will change. i think he will continue being the way he is. and i don't know that any other press secretary no matter who it is will do any better of a job corralling it. >> the president hasn't changed from the campaign this idea that he would become somewhat more presidential or turn into a new person when he took the oval office i think has been thoroughly ruled out. josh, sarah huckabee sanders, is that who we will see more often? >> i think we will see hr more often. what we're hearing there may

sdwr just you be fewer on camera believings, period. i don't think he cares that much about the tradition of those happening every day. i could see of a territory foreign trip you see more exposure from the president during press conferences and fewer briefings. if the briefings do continue, i think you will see various faces including sarah huckabee sanders, probably her primarily at the podium. but i also think one of the things we should get ready for is the possibility that there just may be fewer of them overall. >> josh, it will be sad to see them go. >> they are fun, aren't they. >> you could say that. maybe fun, interesting, confusing. all sorts of adjectives you could say. we have a lot of breaking news. we're watching the senate, the capitol where senates will be talking to deputy ag rod rosenstein in a closed door briefing. also the president of the united states is, quote, very close to

picking a new fbi director. he told that to savannah guthrie. we'll find out more about that right after the break. look closely. hidden in every swing, every chip, and every putt, is data that can make the difference between winning and losing. the microsoft cloud helps the pga tour turn countless points of data into insights that transform their business and will enhance the game for players and fans. the microsoft cloud turns information into insight. brtry new flonase sensimists. allergy relief instead of allergy pills. it delivers a gentle mist experience to help block six key inflammatory substances. most allergy pills only block one. new flonase sensimist changes everything. parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what?

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back to that breaking news, president trump saying on the record that he is very close to choosing an fbi director and joe lieberman is among those at the top of the list. kelly, what more have you learned? i was under the impression that there's a lot of influence, people trying to tell the president they wanted someone nonpolitical. >> reporter: which is why this pick, if it is the choice of the president, we're learning the president describes himself as being close, but others say joe lean among four who were interviewed by the president is a front-runner, described as better than 50/50. and some of my own sourcing says he is a favorite among some of those involved in the process. that brings you to where we are in the conversation. but he clearly has spent the bulk of his professional life as an elected official.

he was a democrat in the u.s. senate for connecticut for many years. he was the vice presidential nominee for al gore. then he took some hits because of the iraq war. he held a much more hawkish view and that ultimately led to trouble for re-election for joe lieberman and he ended up getting out of the democratic party and went on to win re-election and then ultimately chose not to seek another term in 2012. this is a ten-year term for the fbi director as we've all been brought up to speed on since the dismissal of james comey. joe lieberman has been out of public life since 2013. would he be a place holder? one of the candidates who would have to confirm him, of course he has long relationships, of course he is long respected.

would this be a hurriedball the divide over explicit law enforcement experience other candidates have had more of? he was attorney general in the state of connecticut a few decades ago. widely viewed as a man of great integrity, personal character. those are great traits in lightest political climate of the moment. my reporting is tell me that he is among those the president is hearing a great feel about but not a final choice until we hear from the president. >> what about the timing of all this? this after all deputy ag rod rosenstein is going to the comment to talk to senators. this comes after the firing of james comey. >> reporter: the president wants to change the conversation. one thing he can do is a proactive step. and there would be a lot of attention paid to a new fbi director for all the obvious reasons. it has been a huge story. this person whoever the final choice is would be a big part of russia investigation. and other matters that could

reflect on the white house. so if you want to turn the page, picking a new fbi director on a day like today would be a strong way to do that. we know the president is leaving the country tomorrow for a longer than a week four-country tour. so you would not make such an appointment overseas. that would be out of step from tradition, although thfk white house works outside of normal tradition. if you're looking at timing, a lot of work was done over the weekend a series of interviews. so it may be that the president is ready and he has a number of choices. some with more law enforcement and intelligence background included in that. anew mccabe who has been the right arm to james comey and then stepped in as acting director. so perhaps how would washington hear it? joe lieberman's name has certainly risen the. at this hour we're being directed to look at joe

lieberman. >> following up to say that joe lieberman is right now the front-runner for this position. appreciate it. thank you very much. joining me now, the host of the hugh hewitt show and an msnbc political analyst. let's start with you. how do you feel with joe lieberman being the top contender? >> i think that he is a former u.s. senator is the most important part of this whole equation. the club of the senate rarely rejects its own. i think donald trump would have a lot of trouble pulling somebody into that matrix that didn't have the ability to go through that fraternity smell test that joe lieberman will pass. i think he is a highly problematic choice given his age and his status as a democratic politician, but the other factor they're playing to is john mccain who is a very dear deep friendship with joe lieberman

and i think that's the area this is being, why this is being pushed out of there. i had heard this morning that mike rogers was the front-runner. we'll see how this shakes loose. they don't make conventional decisions on the staffing or how they sell the staffing. >> that's the caveat. you never know what donald trump will say deste wha aides may be whiering to you at the time. but i think it is interesting that he might be playing toward mccain. mccain and lindsey graham and lieberman were known as the three of egos. they are the three who have been the biggest thorns in this president's side. they've been the most outspoken at times when they don't agree with him. that being said, the american public needs to find a way to trust the new fbi director and there was a feeling that it should be somebody with a legal back ground, somebody who was a judge, somebody from within the

fbi. talk to me about whether or not this will fulfill expectations of the american public. will this be welcomed by the fbi? >> on that last point, i don't know. i think the list of 14, of whom a couple have dropped out like senator cornyn, all extraordinary americans. my favorite was j. michael ludic, runner up for the supreme court justiceship. however, rick hit it on the nose. joe lieberman left the democratic party to campaign for john mccain in 2012 when he was running for the presidency against, in 2008 when he was running against barack obama. i campaigned with joe lieberman in cleveland. they're so close, it is pretty hard to distinguish between lieberman and mccain. to the the extent you're worried about john mccain going off the reservation, joe lieberman can call him out and talk to him

about that. and i think he brings great counter terrorism chops. he knows isis well. lindsey graham is right. on the other hand, there is a new factor. which of these 14 get along with or can work alongside robert mueller, the very excellent appointment as special counsel, jeff sessions and rod rosenstein? i don't think we should underestimate whoever emerges with the public, i bet before he leaves this trip, has relationship with everyone. not just the senators. maybe most importantly, robert mueller who as i said, a decorated marine in vietnam, former criminal assistant attorney general, 12 years at fbi director. that makes everybody happy. it would be great to get an fbi director that makes everybody happy and maybe they can turn the corner on a very bad week. >> so senator graham and congressman schiff, in this scenario, both said on "meet the

press" that they don't want to see anyone political. no political choice for the fbi director. do you suspect that this choice might be the one exception to senator graham's comments, rick? >> i think that there's a little bit of a safe harbor feeling with joe lean that would not be present with even a mike rogers who has fbi experience and a lot of back ground on this. i do think that it may be a slight exception but i wouldn't necessarily call it a done deal until you see the land scape of the senate. i think the democrats willse this as leverage. eyl bring an awful lot of pressure on this and it won't be a slam-dunk, even if it is joe lienorman, in my opinion. >> thank you for pivoting to this breaking news for us. that wraps things up. a reminder, we'll be hearing from president trump directly this hour. hey there. >> thanks so much. i just got back from a week away and i was wondering whether anything happened while i was gone.

>> nothing at all. you can go away and we promise we won't have any news what so ever. >> we begin this afternoon with another wild day, a fast breaking news from washington, d.c. we've just lesharned that senat lieberman is a top pick for the fbi director. in are a half-hour, the president will hold a press conference. this will mark the first time we've heard from the president on camera following last night's appointment of a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between 2016 trump campaign and russia. former fbi director robert mueller has agreed to take the job. reaction is pouring in from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. >> we're glad that form he fbi director