kenneth starr, obviously unlike bob mueller -- and i think that was a wonderful appointment. i am very not only impressed by that, but bob mueller deserves a lot of credit. this is say man with a great career behind him, a great job that he's got in the private sector. he's put himself on the line. he knows as a result of this, he's going to get unfairly demonized by somebody or other. >> right. >> and i admire bob for willing to step up and do that. i also want to say people talk about prior experiences. i remember him as a man who helped deal with the whole question of fair treatment for lgbt fbi employees, and i spent one very memorable gay pride day at the fbi with bob. and he set up a task force. so i'm a great admirer of his. the thing is this, and people forget this. the republicans did throw a whole barrage of charges against bill clinton. sadly they were revived with not enough refutation against hillary. kenneth starr, ultimately after the election n a question i asked him, he reported to us, yes, clinton had had sexual relations with monica lewinsky and lied about

he reason that the old statute, if you will, the kenneth starr statute expired was because of that tendency to turn over rocks even without being asked. i don't think the american people or our president should be concerned. i think that this is somebody who's done a lot of investigations and, yes, he's going to find things beyond the scope that the narrowest interpretation of either republicans or democrats would want. but i think the american people deserve the scope to be as broad as necessary to regain confidence in our elected officials, in our appointed officials, in our elections. all of those -- the deputy a.g. said it very well. his reason for doing this appointment is as much about returning public confidence. he was asked about the details of criminality which some of you are asking and i think he anti-it extremely well that isn't classified part of this briefing that the public deserves confidence. the statute was used to gain confidence and i think for all the members of the press, you're all about getting public confidence back. without an independent and decidedly trustworthy

>> i think it is peer-to-peer to the iran-contra, of course the independent counsel, kenneth starr under the clinton administration. these folks are here for a reason. they're here to make a name for themselves. it's not so much a search for just this is perhaps the natural this time and money have accomplished in need. here is one good aspect to think about. robert mueller has a name for himself utes established former director of the fbi and if he looks into this case and finds there is nothing there, he's going to say i'm not going to put forth the crime of potential cause situation on trade prosecution. what harm just as. at least i'm not worried about him trying to politicize this any worse than it rdas. lauren: will be investigation exposed the leaks? >> i sure hope it does get over 60 people at the national security council were appointed by president obama were a lot of these leaks coming from. they need to stop this one is the dvd. trÈs tres good to you, ron. trade the stock market market ticket no-space-on investigations in washington would come that could derail the trump agen

the classic example of that is the so-called whitewater investigation by kenneth starr of the land deal in arkansas wound up being about monica lewinsky. things can go in many directions. >> that is the concern. that's why they did not like the legislation. that is why congress did not renew it. >> among other reasons. the key thing is it is up to mueller now to define his jurisdiction. it is not -- it is out of the white house hands. it is out of the justice department hands. that is a vulnerable feeling to be investigated by someone with no limits. >> true. it is never about collusion. one of the political problems is the president has been denying the existence of russian interference. in his mind, it equated with him doing something wrong or artificially installed as president. that was never the case if fact. we have never seen him on the canvas before. the president has been on the canvas this week in the fight that he is waging. maybe what are you hearing about that created any shift in perspective? >> it is an interesting point. you saw his speech yesterday in connecticut before

kenneth starr was very much associated with the republican party and with republican policies, so theort to demonize him by clinton allies had a lot more traction mueller is a very tough target. if he starts picking on mierl and saying mueller is not doing a good job and mueller is partisan and mueller is out to get him, that's going to be a much tougher sell given mueller's very long record of non-partisan, highly-qualified, highly-honourable service. so this is going to be a long process, but attacking mueller is unlikely to generate much traction beyond trump's core supporters. >> brianna keeler is with us as well. this is how the president defended his decision today to fire the fbi director james comey. listen. >> i respect the move but the entire thing has been a witch hunt, and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always speak for myself -- and the russians -- zero. i think it divides the country. director comey was very unpopular with most people. i actually thought when i made that decision, and i also got a very, very strong recommendatio

. >> is statute was launched a dozen times most famously kenneth starr investigation into president clintonill clinton signed a re-authorization of the original law in 1994 with several alleged scandals brewing. >>> if the president is looking to ease concerns about his campaign's ties to russia today's meeting with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov may not help in that capacity. the white house confirming the sit down in the oval office later this morning after lavrov meets with secretary of state rex tillerson. they are expected to cover a wide range of issues including syria and ukraine. it will be the highest level of meetings between the u.s. and russia since president trump took office. we should note we have not seen the president in recent days. no public events in five days. this will be day six. this lavrov meeting was previously planned. the timing here strange to say the least. >> sean spicer yesterday said the president has been preparing for his big international trip. he's been hunkered down with his aides and national security adviser. >> if he doesn't speak publicly ab

. >> kenneth starr adding his voice. >> if you're looking into this case works you be demanding tapesite house if indeed they do exist? >> oh, absolutely. the investigation has got to be thorough. and that means you go where you think the truth is. >> meanwhile, candidates for the fbi's top job continue to be interviewed. >> it's now time to pick somebody that comes from within the ranks or of such a reputation that has no political background. >> comey, who took his family to the theater over the weekend has indicate head would like to speak out at a public hearing. richard cantu, abc news, new york. >>> hollywood and marvel movie and tv fans are mourning the death of a veteran character actor tonight. powers boothe passed away in his sleep of natural causes in his l.a. home. he was 68. boothe came to fame playing jim jones in the 1980 tv movie about the deaths of hundreds of his followers at jonestown, guyana. in later years he starred in the big screen movie "sin city" and the series "agents of shield." a private memorial will be held in his home state of texas. >>> united airlines

. >> and the classic example of that, kenneth starr, independent counsel appointed to investigate whitewaterwhich turned out to have no criminal involvement by the clintons. that, of course, led to monica lewinski and bill clinton's impeachment, which was a very -- whatever else you think about it, it's very different from a land deal in arkansas, but it just shows, when you set a prosecutor with an unlimited budget, unlimited staff, loose, you don't know where they're going to go. >> and no one -- is anyone going to tell bob mueller how to do anything, based on what you know of him? >> absolutely not. and you know, technically, the law allows for him to be fired by rod rosenstein. i think it would take some sort of earthquake for him to do that, but you know, i think we are talking about a truly independent prosecutor who's just going to follow the evidence where it leads. >> jeffrey toobin, great to have you with us. thank you very, very much, sir. so, what will president trump say today, as we've been discussing, he holds his first news conference where he answers questions from reporters

i believe the special prosecution needs to be along the lines of kenneth starr. i think there is a reason why this statute was allowed to lapse because they didn't really challengene who would the status quo. i am listening to all the people trying to speak and i think the issue is that most americans are not even aware of what their rights, what their laws are. they literally advocated learning and understanding what the laws and governance is. you have laws to protect people rights anding our from colluding and doing other things. the fact that the current administration will not divest his business holdings presence a a clearsue -- presents issue, a clear problem and we are not addressing those types of things. whether you are a fan of the last eight years or not a fan of the last 80 years, we understand the house in the senate were adamantly and the heavenly -- vehemently opposed. sayingre not shy about it and we had a dysfunctional government when you had democrats in charge and a republican in office, they did the same. the fact of the matter is until peopl

kenneth starr had taken over that, linking the probe to include president clinton's involvement withhich he denied in an address to nation. >> i want you to listen to me. i'm going to say this again. i did not have sexual relations with that woman, ms. lewinsky. >> clinton remained in office after being impeached by the house but acquitted by the senate. that brings to our next pulse question for you. do you trust special counsel mueller to get to the truth about russia's meddling in the election? joining us former cia analyst tara maller and matthew nass balm and an opinion column innist -- columnist from "the washington post". this is the world thing for the white house, is this the worst thing for the white house? >> it's the worst thing for the white house if they did anything wrong. and the reporting so far suggests that they did. and that at the very least trump may have been trying to quash the investigation into looking into whether there had been any wrongdoing. previous presidents have said and you showed us clips to this effect that look, we want someone unimpeachment, who

the independent counsel law, which kenneth starr filed a report, lawrence welch fired a report on iran contra. it is possible that he could file a report based on his investigation. >> u.s. attorneys have been much criticized for doing that. the job is to indict or not to indict. and what i'm concerned about, is that mueller has so much credibility, he may actually tell some of these congressional committees, please, limit your investigation, don't mess around with our investigation. >> don't people have the right to know if the president of the united states tried to stop an investigation? >> i think they do. and that is why even though it has the potential to really hurt a president in their own party, republicans, who run these key committees on capitol hill, particularly in the senate, were trying to get james comey and still are trying to get james comey to testify in public, and the pub thing i think we should underscore, which we mentioned a little bit, is how close james comey is to robert mum mueller, and the folks likes lindsay graham and the subcommittee chair were not able

you know, the reason that the old statute, if you will, the kenneth starr statute expired was becauseer rocks, even without being asked. but i don't think the american people or our president should be concerned. i think that this is somebody who has done a lot of investigations. and, yes, he's going to find things beyond the scope that the narrowest interpretation of either republicans or democrats would want. but i thi the american people deserve the scope to be as broad as necessary to regain confidence in our elected officials, in our appointed officials and in our elections. all of those, you know, the deputy director or the deputy a.g. said it very well. his reason for doing this appointment is as much about public confidence. he was, he was asked about the details of criminality, which some of you are asking and i think he answered it extremely well in a way that isn't part of the classified. part of this briefing that the american people deserve public confidence. the statute was available to him to use, to regain public confidence. and i think for all the members of the press

back to the clinton days, that is what happened with bill clinton over his various problems with kenneth starr fired. i don't think that's going to happen any time soon. what people will be looking at is who is the next big for fbi director and, crucially, what is there for you, what did they say about this ongoing russian investigation. does it disappear, does it fade away, or do they promised to pursue it wherever it goes? thank you, gary o'donoghue, in washington. an 11—year—old girl who died after falling from a water ride at a theme park in staffordshire yesterday has been named as evha jannath from leicester. she was on a school trip to drayton manor park when she fell from a boat on one of the rides. our correspondent phil mackie reports. evha jannath had come to the park on a school trip. the emergency services arrived quickly. staff and paramedics tried to save her, but she was pronounced dead after being airlifted to hospital. today, investigators are examining the splash canyon ride and are trying to work out how she fell into the water. there is a height restriction that means that

you know, the reason that the old statute, if you will, the kenneth starr statute, expired was becauseto turn over rocks even without being asked. but i don't think the american people or our president should be concerned. i think that this is somebody who's done a lot of investigations. and yes, he's going to find things beyond the scope that the narrowest interpretation of either republicans or democrats would want. but i think the american people deserve the scope to be as broad as necessary to regain confidence in our elected officials, in our appointed officials, in our elections. all of those -- you know, the deputy director -- or the deputy a.g. said it very well, his doing this appointment is as much about returning public confidence. he was asked about the details of criminality, which some of you are asking, and i think he answered it extremely well in a way that isn't part of the classified part of this briefing that the american people deserve public confidence. the statute was available to him to use, to regain public confidence. and i think for all the members of the pres

when it comes to the special prosecutor, we saw in the kenneth starr case that it started with white water and ended up plying about sex. sohe scope can change while the investigation is going on and at the same time a special prosecutor -- what robert mueller is doing now it's not his job to tell the public what he finds. this is where there's a tension between what congress is doing and what he's doing. his job is to run a counterintelligence investigation and to seek out whether there are any criminal issues and to prosecute. if there are no prosecutions, he's not under obligation to tell us everything he's found. with all these scandals overlapping, the american people really only has congress to count on to give a full public accounting. >> we're going to take another look at lester holt's what will now be historic interview with president trump and may find it quickly in the files of the special prosecutor. for a section we haven't concentrated on much before. this is lester holt talking to the president about michael flynn and his security clearances and who's to blame for mic

. >> remember, we all watched that can kenneth starr, who was extremely aggressive and very much a right way, wrong way kind of guy who went from paula jones. he went from whitewater, which was nothing, but he did find some pay dirt when he found monica lewinsky and he got the president to take an oath during discovery so he could catch him with perjury. what would be the tangent you could spot? is it a financial relationship between trump's empire and the russians that's been ongoing? what would it be? >> well, i've heard lots of speculation. i'll just say again this is not just pertaining to jared kushner but to others and maybe the president himself. new york real estate business is not the cleanest business in the world, right? we don't know of any wrongdoing right now. we've heard lots of speculation. there was during the campaign. but you tell me that they start turning over every real estate transaction the president and his son-in-law and people related to him has ever engaged in, looking for stuff, telling me they can't find things that look intriguing? maybe no ill legality. we

. >> reporter: former independent counsel kenneth starr, who investigated the monica lewinsky scandale clinton administration, adding his voice. >> if you were looking into this case, would you be demanding tapes from the white house if indeed they do exist? >> oh, absolutely. the investigation has got to be thorough. and that means you go where you think the truth is. >> meanwhile, candidates for the fbi's top job continue to be interviewed. >> it is now time to pick somebody that comes from within the ranks or of such a reputation that has no political background. >> reporter: comey, who took his family to the that is rigeater weekend, has indicated he would like to speak out at a public hearing. richard cantu, abc news, new york. >>> president trump's revised travel ban is back in the hands of the federal appeals court that he has sharply criticized. three judges from the ninth circuit are set to h arguments today in the administration's appeal of a hawaiian judge's decision against the executive order. in march that judge blocked the president's ban that would have affected travel

we studied and even when kenneth starr wrote "youth in the ghetto," some of us were part of his studies, what he was doing right there. >> now, i get the picture that nyu is just foment of political action of all kinds, big arguments between marxists, socialists, democrats and so on. is that a fair picture? >> that's a fair -- >> just a community bubbling up with ideas and arguments. >> and differences, and you had to learn to know what you stood for. you had to be able to stand up for it, and i found that many a times you had people that wanted you to -- they were trying to indoctrine a indoctrineate you. i think it was good for me but i had a certainly amount of grounding. also, it waebsn't just emotiona that we were studying. we knew the difference between materialism and some other philosophies. it was a rich life, though we were poorer in dollars. i think it was rich in that sphere. i often say to young people today who ask me, well, how do we get in, and i say we have to do like madam washington. she said she got started by giving herself a star. give yourself a star by seeing wha

the reason the kenneth starr statute expired was because of that tendency to turn over rocks even without asked. but i don't think the american people or our president should be concerned. i think that this is somebody who has done a lot of investigations. and yes, he is going to find things beyond the scope that the narrowest interpretation of either republicans or democrats would want. but i think the american people deserve the scope to be as broad as necessary to regain confidence in our elected officials, in our appointed officials, in our elections. all of those -- you know, the deputy a.g. said it very well. his reason for doing this appointment is as much about returning public confidence. he was asked about the details of criminality which some of you were asking and i think he answered it extremely well in a way that isn't part of the classified part of this briefing that the american people deserve public confidence, the statute was available to him to use to regain public confidence. for all the members of the press you are all about getting public confidence back. without an

the last independent counsel was kenneth starr.was the whitewater prosecutor in the clinton administration, but the law allowing the appointment of independent counsels like him lapsed in 1999 partly because congress was concerned that their investigations could be too free-wheeling. as special counsel, as you might guess, he has less independence. for example, if mueller wants to expand the investigation, he will have to get permission from the deputy attorney general, the person who appointed him. and a special counsel can be fired by the deputy attorney general for misconduct or violating justice department policies, but congress has to be told why, matt. >> all right, pete williams in washington. peterson, thank you. >> that brings us to republican congressman jason chaffetz, the chairman of the house oversight committee. he has invited james comey to testify before that committee next week. i know it's early there. thanks for getting up with us. we appreciate it. >> sure. >> let me ask you about the appointment of director mue

period of 1990's in during the the wake of the whitewater investigation, and independent counsel kenneth starr, members of congress grew tired of the lengthy investigation and the inconclusive outcomes, and eventually the law was allowed to lapse. these days, the only way an independent counsel or special --secutor -- pick your label the only way that can happen is through the justice department and executive branch. there has been discussion about that in recent days. since attorney general sessions recused himself from the russia matter, it would be up to the depth need to decide whether or not under justice department rules, a special prosecutor is appropriate. congress could go back to the drawing board and try to create the net -- mechanism again, the one they had before, or something like it by statute. in light of the current political situation, the partisan divide in congress, and having to overcome a white house veto, that is highly unlikely. >> the other option on the table is a special congressional committee. explain the difference, between a special congressional committee and a