comey has said. comey will read from his opening statement. we don't know if he's going to go through the entire opening statement. all members of this committee will get a chance to question. they will go republican, democrat, republican, democrat based on the level of seniority. the question will be whether there is multiple rounds of questioning. that is a question richard burr will have to answer later on, but it could take several hours as lawmakers start to explore these key questions, anderson. >> explain why his opening statement was released yesterday. i understand he actually wanted it -- he wanted it -- the senators to have it so that they could prepare questions. >> yeah. and that's incredible unusual, particularly for such a high profepr profile hearing. typically they don't come out until the morning of. but mr. comey, according to our sources, wanted to give the senators on a committee a sense of what he was going to say, give the public a sense of what he was going to say. and also unusual, anderson, comey himself often does no

comey makes clear and comey knows what he is doing.e makes clear he felt that was a request that was to drop an active investigation. that is affirmative case. there is more to go. i don't go as far as some saying the case is proved. open and shut. cut and dry. no. we have miles to go to turn that affirmative case into something more. >> jason miller, what do you think? >> chris, if director comey wanted to say obstruction of justice, he would have written in the opening statement obstruction of justice or gone to attorney general sessions oregon to white house counsel don mccabe. don't take it from me. look at respected legal scholars like jonathan alan dershowitz. the only thing we heard about russia yesterday was the fact that president trump was proven right. three different times he was told by comey he was not under investigation, but still director comey would not lift the cloud. >> what do you make of that? that is about politics, not legality. ambassador, how do you respond? >> first of all, it is not the director's place to m

i think we might see mr comey in the senate ain! might see mr comey in the senate again!a hot ticket today. just to get into the building there was a long queue and security but when i got inside i saw hundreds of people queueing through the corridors to try and get one of the corridors to try and get one of the public seats. most of them were interns. a group of them managed to get in and i asked them how long they had been queueing for and they said that they started at liam, so they could witness history. another young man who wasn't as lucky said that the last time he had queued up like this was to get an iphone and he was successful on that count. in the room i was struck by how composed james comey was when he was taking questions. i was about three rows behind him. he didn't seem to hesitate when he was asked questions, he seemed relaxed, there we re questions, he seemed relaxed, there were no notes on the table in front of him. even though he had to talk for a couple of hours, answering questions, but he barely drank any of the glasses of water in front of him. th

the president allegedly saying to comey, i hope you can let it go. comey pressed on that today. the president saying i hope, not i order you let it go. here's the moment comey was pressed on that point. listen. >> i hope you'll hold back on that but when you -- when the president of the united states in the oval office says something i hope, i suggest or would you -- do you think that as a directive? >> yes. >> well, look, i think that the way james comey took it is fairly clear, he took it as a directive, an order from the president, and it's an order that he said that he would ignore. why didn't he do something about it? he said he didn't want to derail the russia investigation. a bit of a bombshell, they specifically left open the possibility of investigating the president himself for that comment down the road. >> and dan, on this notion of james comey leaking his own memos, he hoped an independent counsel which would happen. the white house now targeting comey about the leak, does he face anything for this? >> well, he'll certainly face criticism from some, secretly leaking

saying to comey, i hope you can let it go. comey pressed on that today. the president saying i hope, not i order you let it go. here's the moment comey was pressed on that point. how do you take it, dan. >> well, look, i think the way james comey took it is fairly clear, he took it as a dire directive, an order from the president and it's an order that he said that he would ignore. why didn't he do something about it? he didn't want to derail the russia investigation. a bit of a bombshell, they specifically left open the possibility of investigating the president himself for that comment down the road. >> on the issue of james comey leaking his own memos, it happened. the white house now targeting comey about the leak, does he face anything for this? >> well, certainly face criticism from some, secretly leaking to someone. it's not a crime that it wasn't classified. he specifically wrote these memos that they would be unclassified in case he ended up in this exact situation in front of which exact committee. >> dan, thank you >>> here on capitol hill, rea

comey. here is comey's first-person account of his meetings and conversations with the president. i've got it right here. it's six pages. these are contacts laid out in this document that comey felt "gold document" something he had not done in the past. he said there were nine one-on-one conversations with the president in four months which, by the way, compares to two conversations with president fwhoim three and a half years. comey writes about a dinner with the president. comey expected other guests but it was just the two of them. at that dinner comey writes that the president made an effort to have me ask for my job and create some sort of patronage relationship. he said trump made things awkward, his words when the president said "i need loyalty, i expect loyalty." one senator says comey's testimony rises to almost watergate level but the president is also claiming victory tonight. trump's personal lawyer representing him in the russia investigation mark kasowitz says -- and i quote hi

comey:. no doubt >> any doubt the russian government was behind the cyber intrusion in the state voter files? mr. comey: no. >> any doubt officials of the russian government were aware of these activities? mr. comey: no doubt. >> are you confident that no votes cast in the 2016 election were altered? mr. comey: i am confident. when i left as director i saw no indication of that whatsoever. >> director comey, did the president at any time ask you to stop the fbi investigation into russian involvement in the 2016 u.s. elections? mr. comey: not to my understanding, no. >> did any individual, including the justice department, ask you to stop the russian investigation? mr. comey: no. >> director, from the president go,"sted you "let flynn had an unreported contact with the russians. which is an offense. if press accounts are right, there might've been a and sees between facts and his fbi testimony. , in your estimation was general flynn in serious legal jeopardy? the eu since the president was try

jim comey, mr. justice with a capital "j," the guy who took on the previous bush administration in defense of proper justice department procedure. why did he never tell him, mr. president, what you're doing is inappropriate, and you've asked me on several occasions for my loyalty. you don't have my loyalty one on one here. i'm independent of you, and that's how it should be. now, he was put in a difficult position, but the way that this carries out is, in his notes, indicates a lot of subtlety in these exchanges back and forth. and overall, it wasn't just comey. why didn't the intelligence chiefs, if they were asked to make this investigation go away, why didn't they say, mr. president, no, don't ask me that question, not appropriate? >> okay, panel, please stick around. we're going to need you during these next hours as we ramp up to the comey testimony, because there are seven pages of this riveting testimony. and now that senators have had a chance to digest it, what questions do they have for ja

comey acknowledges that.e says in the statement historically presidents have done that to the justice department. we've had a few years of separation. that tradition doesn't create crime. remember what the president could have done. he could have said to comey, stop this investigation. i am now pardoning flynn. that's what president bush did. in the beginning of the investigation of casper weinberger, which could have led back to the white house to the first president bush, president bush on the eve of the trial pardoned casper weinberger, pardoned six people, and special counsel said this is outrageous, he's stopping the investigation. nobody talked about obstruction of justice. you cannot have obstruction of justice when the president exercises his constitutional authority to pardon, his constitutional authority to fire the director of the fbi or his constitutional authority to tell the director of the fbi who to prosecute, who not to prosecute. so let's get out of the weeds and let's look at the big consti

what i'll say about director comey. it's fairly regular for a former government official to try to shape outcomes and benefit themselves. what is unique here is the degree to which we saw a former f.b.i. director try to incite a special investigator and potentially a criminal investigation of the president. very skillful political machinations. howie: some political commentators are saying what donald trump did was horrible and it doesn't matter if it leads to impeachment or not. francois hollande it seems people aren't letting the facts. it does seem -- it does seem people aren't letting the facts lead what they report. he was telling the truth when he wrote in the firing letter that jim comey told him three times if he wasn't under investigation. something comey's close friends told us was not true. comey who was supposed to be a boy scout gives testimony that shows him as a government operator leaking documents for government purposes. howie: it's true that some of what james comey said was helpful to the president b

comey, quote, let flynn go, closed quote. >> comey had already laid out the details of his encounters with the president in written testimony released yesterday, there was still perhaps surprisingly, plenty of news from today's hearing. we learned, for example, that comey himself was responsible for leaking one of his memos to "the new york times," which resulted in this story days after comey's firing about the president's request to end the investigation of michael flynn. we learned that while comey was still at the fbi, flynn was under criminal investigation involving his contacts with russian officials and his conversation with fbi investigators. we learned that the president himself was not a subject of the fbi's counterintelligence probe while comey was in charge though he may now be under investigation by the special counsel. at the same time, what comey felt he couldn't say about russian collusion, attorney general jeff sessions, and the infamous steele dossier in an open session was just as revealing. much more on that coming up. the former fbi director did answer detailed qu

comey. >> not only said it once, several times, kushner lingered and reince priebus popped his head in. >> that's because the president knew what he was going to be discussing had extraordinary significance, otherwise it would be part of meeting. i think that makes it hard for the president to argue, well, i didn't really intend it and it was a casual conversation. the other thing making a point of was jim comey should have done something either in that moment or gone to congress or to somebody to warn, to raise a red flag. i don't think that's an illegitimate point. comey conceded that. in 20/20 hindsight i should have gone. he did talk to the upper echelons about it. he did share that information with the leadership of the fbi. he didn't share it with the attorney general because he was concerned, i believe, where the attorney general stood in all of this. he did share it with the fbi. you can say in 20/20 hindsight he should have perhaps resigned or gone to the attorney general directly.

comey's statement does support the president's claim that comey assured him he was not personally under investigation three separate times. >> comey says the president brought that subject up over the course of multiple conversations. today marks the first time comey has testified publicly or spoken out at all since president trump fired him last month. our manu raju begins this morning's coverage from capitol hill. >> reporter: in just a matter of hours, james comey will finally take the seat before the senate intelligence committee after weeks of anticipation, this coming after he suddenly released his testimony that he's going to deliver in his opening statement, laying out in vivid detail his interactions with president trump, some interactions which he said, frankly, caused him some alarm, made him uneasy, as the president asked for loyalty from the fbi director, a director of an agency that is, of course, supposed to act independently and one of which is investigating the trump campaign connections, any that may have existed, with russian officials during last year's elections. pr

comey comey -- >> bret: comey ss the reason he was -- the investn that was ongoing.leadership agreed with me it was not -- it was important to not infect the team. we concluded given it was a one-on-one conversation, there was nothing available to corroborate my account. we concluded that it made little sense to reported to attorney general jeff sessions. this is what he writes, but i played them a three sound bite where he suggests he hasn't seen any pressure. it would be wrong if there was pressure to drop an investigation. >> that's probably the hardest question for comey in this whole business. if it was so terrible, why didn't you take it up the chain? i interpret that statement to mean it's an extremely complicated explanation as to why it would've been more trouble than it was worth to take this up the chain even that it would've been a he said-he said situation. this comey statement from today does not resolve this matter. it's going to be viewed through a partisan lens on the hill. i think it is marginally helpful to the president. there is no endorsement of

view of comey wholistically, he doesn't know comey or government.ide government. he watched james comey interject himself into the campaign, the first time he's reading him this crazy memo. jim comey is interjecting himself in donald trump life. it's a question worth asking, is it possible donald trump thought, maybe i'm supposed to be meeting with this guy, he keeps interjecting himself into my life. >> michael, is that an excuse? >> not if he has a good white house counsel because there are clear justice department guidelines about the manner in which the white house, the president in particular is to communicate with the fbi director. you don't have to be insider in government to know that that's the proper way to proceed. i think the other thing though, don, that's important about this memo and the relationship that comey is setting out is that he's saying that the president wanted some sort of patronage relationship, and you remember, and it's not in the memo itself, that the comey documentation says that he was very concerned when the presiden

in the case of comey.ailure to do so is a crime punishable by three years in prison. >> sean: stay right there. we are going to come back. whether or not comey could have committed a felony. more with sara, jay, and gregg. right after the break. and later austan goolsbee will join us. more, when we come back. this summer, bass pro shops wants you to take someone fishing. and there's no better place to get started than the bass pro shops' gone fishing event. plus, get up to a $2000 gift card with purchase of select sun tracker, regency and tahoe boats. i need the phone that's where i happen to be... to be the one that rings. i need not to be missed phone calls... to not be missed. i need seamless handoff... canyon software. from reception, to landline, to mobile. i need one number... not two. i'm always moving forward... because i can't afford to get stuck in the past. comcast business. built for business. ♪ >> sean: welcome back to "hannity." we continue with jay sekulow, sara carter, gregg jarrett. i want

that was appropriate what comey did? >> director comey that point was a private citizen. that was never privileged information. never classified information. he decided to do that to protect himself and justifiably so. now we know how the trump administration aktsd wh administration acts when they have their backs to the wall. they are willing to lie and disparage anyone's career. but according to what i understand from the law, that's not a leak. he was entirely within list right do it and any efforts to classify a leak or to try to prosecute him for that is more a kin to trying to intimidate a witness than to rectify a situation. >> congressman, stand by. we will continue the interview. we have to take a quick break. there are new developments n unfolding. wee will we will be right back. will you be ready when the moment turns romantic? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hyp

comey gives him that. comey does say to him no, you are not being investigated. the demand for loyalty continues and the most important meeting which is february 14th in the oval office, he clears the room and gets rid of vice president pence and the attorney general and it is just the two of them alone and this is his request, he said "let flynn go," let it go, and at that point, comey does not know what to do and he ignores the request. the investigation continues and days later he's fired. that's the story in each piece fits together if you believe comey's testimony. >> clearly, the president's attorney flatly denied president trump -- what do you think of his statement that he read later in the day? >> what's so interesting about marc kasowitz's statement is he embraces part of comey's testimony. the part where comey says yes, i did tell the president three times that he was not under investigation, marc kasowitz, says that's exactly right but he says no, comey never was asked for a pledge of loyalty and he was never asked by trump to drop the flynn investiga

>> mean the firing of comey. >> excuse me, the firing of comey. >> obviously not. i mean, the president's bright enough to know that the firing of comey had zero effect on the investigation and he knew it -- there are thousands -- >> he thought it was going to go away presumably. he said the next day in that meeting with the russians a lot of the pressure has been removed because i fired comey. >> he didn't say -- that's not -- i don't interpret that as being a statement that it's going to go away. this thing was going to go on. anybody in that white house would've told him it's going to go on. there's thousands of people at the fbi. there was a team working on this. the only thing that the director had was a general oversight of it. the day-to-day operations went on, they're still going on. >> the president says through his attorney, his private attorney, that comey is lying. comey says the president is lying. who do you believe? >> i'm not going to get involved in those two. the one thing i want to put in perspective is, is what you're looking at is a very small

comey stop investigating anyone. the president also never told mr. comey, "i need loyalty.xpect loyalty," close quote. >> reporter: kasowitz did say comey's testimony vindicated the president's assertion that he was not under investigation. he then portrayed comey as part of a government-wide effort to undermine the administration with leaks. >> mr. comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers. >> reporter: comey testified that he told his friend to leak his memo to the "new york times" after this may 12th presidential tweet, "comey better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations." while the president himself did not tweet today, his son d comey's testimony put his own character on trial." during an off-camera briefing at the white house deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders was asked if the president was a liar. >> i can definitively say the president's not a liar. i think it's frankly insulting that that question would be asked. >> reporter: sanders would not say if the president tapes oval office conversations. this was her response when asked

to comey directly? i think they're apples and oranges. and if anything, he decided -- comey decided to go one on one because the whole group of intelligence officers who went in decided this was a better way, it wouldn't embarrass the president. i think what's interesting about this is of course he was -- comey became suspicious right from the first conversation, right from this initial conversation. his testimony goes on and to point out. but, comey also came in -- came in, there's a context with this, and that is, he did watch trump. all the way through the election season. he saw our volatile he was, and he also had this information on this dossier, and so you must imagine that he was wondering, how do i handle this so i was good relationship with the president, but it's really important to tell him? and it's also true, trump may have been grateful to comey when he first walked in because remember, a lot of democrats were blaming comey for hillary's loss and the victory. >> david axelrod, this testim

if the entire structure of the comey testimony was that comey felt he had to re-audition to his job. that's contrary to the statutory regime. the threat hanging over his head during all these conversations was if you don't do what i want, if you don't shut the flynn investigation down, if you don't lift this cloud, you're going to get fired. and guess what? he got fired. so the entire structure of the testimony show as threat. the statutory language of obstruction of justice says whoever uses a threat to influence a federal investigation is guilty of an offense and that's exactly where i think bob mueller is going to go monopoly. >> why put it out today? >> i think it was sent to the committee in advance and often times they put testimony out a day in advance. it gives people an opportunity to hone their question. senator burr is not allowing a second round of questions which is concerning many of the democrats on the committee. >> there was a theory floating ound that it was put out today just in case a truly unpredictable president wakes up in the morning and feels like throwing th

comey, i listen to the testimony, i find that comey is telling the truth. comey is a republican.ald trump is a republican. he would have done that. to -- if wanted america wanted to find out the truth they would want to know that this man is telling the truth. what he said, he agreed on what he said. have was a liar he would -- donald trump denied it. donald trump has been a liar right from time. trump fired comey because he get comey is going to donald trump later. republicans asked the questions, this is america, -- we are not talking republican or democrat. we are talking about america. if republicans think that it is part of republicans do not tell the truth, that is wrong. donald trump should be fired. they should let him go. they should fire donald trump. he is therefore his own interests. look at what he is doing. look at the children. they are doing their business. not here to is govern us, he is here to disgrace america. we will not allow that. he is a liar and he should not be calling other people a liar. anyone who voted for donald trump -- he refuses to sell the -- he

comey. the president also never told mr. comey, quote, i need loyalty. i expect loyalty, closed quote. he never said it in form and never said it in substance. of course, the office of the president is entitled to expect loyalty from those who are serving the administration and from before this president took office to this day, it is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be those in government who are actively attempting to undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications. mr. comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers. today, mr. comey admitted that he unilaterally and sereptitiously made unauthorized disclosures to the press of privileged communications with the president. the leaks of this privileged information began no later than march 2017 when friends of mr. comey have stated that he disclosed to them the conversations that he had with the president during their january 27th, 2017, dinner and february 14th, 2017, white house meeting. today, mr. c

comey.he former fbi director gave his highly anticipated testimony before the senate intelligence committee earlier today. in his opening remarks, he said president trump lied to the american people when he said agents lost confidence in him. >> although the law required no reason at all to fire the fbi director, the administration chose to defame me, and more importantly the fbi, by saying the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. those were lies, plain and simple. and i'm so sorry the fbi workforce had to hear them, and i'm so sorry the american people were told this. i worked every day at the fbi to help make that great organization better. charlie: comey also revealed he turned over memos documenting his conversations with president trump to robert mueller. it is the first public suggestion the investigation will look into trump's firing of comey. during the testimony, president trump spoke at a meeting of faith leader

comey i need loyalty. i expect loyalty. >> the cloud hanging over this administration has just gotten a whole lot darker. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning. welcome to "new day." it is friday, june 9th. 6:00 in new york. two stories shaking up the political world. the cloud of russia looming larger over the white house and president trump's credited bibin the line after james comey said the president lied about why he fired him. he wanted him to drop the investigation into michael flynn. president trump's lawyer disputes that and says the president never demanded loyalty from comey. instead, mr. trump's team said comey's testimony confirmed the president was not being personally investigated. >> the republicans are lining up behind the president arguing he is new to the job. that explains everything he said to james comey. they say it is really about president obama's attorney general loretta lynch and why she tried to obstruct that investigation. that was their big

i guess they agree with comey.and when it comes to james comey, 61% said they believe the president fired the fbi director in order to protect himself. they say they don't think he did it for the good of the country. and we'll be right back. you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done. are made with smarttrack®igners material to precisely move your teeth to your best smile. see how invisalign® treatment can shape your smile up to 50% faster today at invisalign.com and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night,blind. and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. >>> he's a showboat. he's a grandstander. the fbi has been

comey later today. can also tell you that both senator mccain and senator rubio making the case that the effort now needs to be unified, the high lawmaker's ability to target ways to stop russia for meddling in future elections. that is where the politics here in congress are for -- rae headed, whether the president will support increased russia sanctions as bills are coming forward as we speak remains to be seen. theirg development from perspective coming out of this is there is no doubt that russian involvement in the election from knowing or unknowing political actors was evident. david: thanks so much straight back to you later. as we are waiting right now, trump's personal lawyer will be giving a statement at the next -- statement. that is the national press club. iexpress direct opinion on this key question. mr. comey: i don't think it's for me to say whether the conversation i had with the president was an attempt to obstruct. i took it as a disturbing thing. we are joined by the executive editor

comey the president cold mr. comey, quote, it will be good to find out close quote.here was quote, some satellite associates of his that did something wrong, close quote. and he, president trump did not exclude anyone from that statement. consistent with that statement, the president never informed or substance, directed or suggested that mr. comey stop investigating anyone, including the president never suggested that mr. comey quote, let flynn go, close quote. as the president publicly stated the next day, he did say to mr. comey, quote, general flynn is a good guy, he has been through a lot, close quote. and also quote, asked how general flynn is doing, close quote. admiral rogers testified today that the president never, quote, directed him to do anything illegal, immorale, unethical or anyone appropriate, close quote, and never never quote, pressured him to do so, close quote. director koets, coates said the same thing. the president likewise never pressured mr. comey. the president also never told mr. comey, quote i need loyalty, i expect loyalty, close quote.

comey stop investigating anyone. the president also never told mr. comey "i need loyalty. i expect loyalty." >> reporter: kasowitz did say comey's testimony vindicated the president's assertion that he was not under investigation. he then portrayed comey as part of a government-wide effort to undermine the administration with leaks. >> mr. comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers. >> reporter: comey testified that he told his friend to leak his memo to the "new york times" after this may 12 presidential tweet. "comey better hope that there are no taiches our conversations." while the president himself did not tweet today, his son, donald jr. wrote, "i'm pretty sure that comey's testimony put his own character on trial." during an off-camera briefing at the white house, deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders was asked if the president was a liar. >> i can definitively say the president's not a liar. and i think it's, frankly, insulting that that question would be asked." >> reporter: sanders would not say if the president tapes oval office conversations

comey when he did not. in perhaps a sign of the legal and political jeopardy, the president, for once, did not speak for himself. he left it to his lawyer to deny all. we have extensive coverage, beginning with nancy cordes. >> i was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so i thought it really important to document. >> reporter: comey told senators that it was the president's pattern of dishonesty that prompted him to take notes. >> i knew that there might come a day when i would need a record of what had happened, not just to defend myself, but to defend the f.b.i. >> reporter: he says he wrote down everything he could remember from a january dinner where the president demanded his loyalty. >> my common sense told me what's going on here is, he's looking to get something in tochange for granting my request t stay in the job. >> reporter: three weeks later, he says, the president ordered everyone but him out of a aeeting in the oval office. >> had you ever seen anything l

it seems comey was all about comey toda >> you know what wasleazy about what comey did today is that he said the president defamed me. he's a lawyer. he know the president was expressing an opinion about why he fired him. and an opinion is protected speech, and it is not by definition defamation. so that was a sleazy thing for comey to throw around the word defamation. it was a bit unfair. trish: the big thing was obstruction of justice. people were questioning with regard to our president had stood in the way of this investigation. from what you heard today, any chance obstruction of justice is still on the table? >> none whatsoever. i mean comey exonerated the president of any accusation, however dubious of obstruction. how? because there was nothing more than the memo that he published yesterday, which says that the president hoped he could see clear to clearing flynn and the investigation. hoping and wishing is not obstruction. obstruction by statute requires the actor to be corrupt, and it defines what that is. it's lying, threatening, bribing, destroying documents, or altering

comey was fired. pete williams at the justice department, correspondent for nbc news, pete, what's the reaction at the justice department to the comey statement? >> i think they're going to let the statement speak for itself, wait till mr. comey testifies. they have not said anything formally about it. they were pretty preoccupied today with the president's announcement of chris ray to be his nominee for fbi director. greta, i think it is important to realize what this statement is and what it isn't. it is certainly more than merely a recitation of his meetings with the president because he talks additionally about his concerns that he expressed to others at the fbi, some that he passed along to senior people at the justice department, asking jeff sessions, the attorney general, to try to forestall any further one on one meetings between comey and the president, and comey says in his prepared statement that mr. sessions never responded to that. it doesn't say anything about why comey thinks he was fir

comey "led to play and go." the president also never told mr. comey "i need loyalty. i expect loyalty." he never said it in form. he never said it in substance. >> the president's team also came down hard on comey's revelation that he leaked the details of the february 14th meeting in the oval office in order to prop the appointment of a special counsel. marc kasowitz claimed that it formed retaliation against the president. >> we will leave it to the appropriate authorities to determine whether these leaks should be investigated along with all the others that are being investigated. >> comey says that his leak was prompted by the president's tweet that there may be tapes of the conversations. neither the president or in any one on his staff will confirm that there are tapes. a fact that the senate minority leader finds puzzling. >> it is awfully curious that no one from the president's team will either confirm or deny the existence of the tapes. when the tapes are the only way to prove that mr. comey's testimony, which came under oath are false or misleading. >> in h

if that is referring directly to james comey and comey lied during his explosive testimony on capitol hill, that would be perjury. so what exactly is the president's version of events and one more question that should be really easy to answer, in fact, it should have already been answered, are there actual tapes of their conversations? we could find out today. why? because the president takes part in a news conference this afternoon, the first time he has answered questions in weeks. let's go to the white house. our joe johns is there. joe, good morning to you. you just got some breaking news about how donald trump's personal lawyer is going to respond to all of this, the action he says he'll take. >> that's right, poppy. the indication is that the pursuit of jim comey now begins less than 24 hours after his dramatic testimony on capitol hill. a source familiar with the situation telling cnn that the attorney for the president, the personal attorney who has been with him for so long, marc kasowi kasowitz, does intend to file complaints with the senate judiciary committee, as well as t

edgar comey. >> this was the collapse of james comey. this was a guy who said that the former attorney general loretta lynch said don't call it a case, call it a "matter." and then he did. he sort of vindicated her. wouldn't do it for the president. marco rubio did a great job. look at the collusion taking place. there is evidently no evidence of collusion with regard to the president prove what is the collusion? it is james comey goes over his testimony with a special counsel who is supposed to be investigating all of this. what doesn't seem right? does it not seem right that that took place? does it not seem right that the fbi director leaked a memo of his private conversations, supposedly, with the president of the united states, leaked it to a colleague, friend at a law school who then leaked into "the new york times" and we are supposed to say that's good? we like our fbi director to do that. he said he did that in response to the president's tweet, except the contents of the memo came up the day before to "the new york times." if y

is the press going easy on comey howie: james comey wanted to get his side of the story out.request to end the investigation of mike flynn. >> i was worried the media was camping at the end of my driveway. i was going out of town with my wife to hide and i was worried it would be like feeding seagulls at the beach. howie: he has his fingerprints on other leaks. doesn't this dent his halo a bit? ed: it does. he has the ability to tell his side of the story. but this idea that he's a white knight, this idea that he's shocked by leaks. i looked at the record. may 3 he was under oath, senate judiciary committee before he was fired. he was asked by chuck grassley, have you ever been an anonymous source of a news report on matters related to the trump investigation? he said never. then are it aware of any information about the president or his associates leak out? he answered not to my knowledge. the idea that grassley asked him if he aloud others to leak, he said no, no, no. now the play book according to james comey, i can use somebody over at columbia. do you believe it was the

comey. the president also never told mr. comey, quote, i need loyalty. i expect loyalty, closed quote. he never said it in form, and he never said it in substance. of course, the office of the president is entitled to expect loyalty from those who are serving the add administratimin. and from before this president took office to this day, it is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be those in government who are actively attempting to undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications. mr. comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers. today mr. comey admitted that he unilaterally and surreptitiously made unauthorized disclosures to the press of privileged communications with the president. the leaks of this privileged information began no later than march 2017 when friends of mr. comey have stated that he disclosed to them the conversations that he had with the president during their january 27th, 2017 dinner and february 14th, 2017 white house meeting. toda

not comey.comey releasing the memo to a friend before he was informed that it was not going to be and you say it was totally wrong? >> i do, brooke. and i have been full-throated in my defense of this fbi director on cnn. i've lauded his character and good and decent folks on both sides of the issue can come down and have a strong argument either way. where i think the fbi director lost the moral high ground yesterday, after he gave such an impassioned opening statement and had most of us -- i was choked up to him listening to him defend the institution, the apolitical nature of the fbi. he lost the moral high ground because a leak is such a benign term. it is the unauthorized disclosure of classified information and i know i certainly am not going to argue legal aspects with mark. he knows the law far better than i do. but there are processes and protocols in place. if i have to write a book, i have to get the department of skbr justice to sign off on my own intellectual property. the ideas tha

he argues comey released sensitive information.hreatening legal action is a tactic often used by mr. trump. mr. trump hamas to file at least 24 lawsuits during the course of the campaign. putin we are going to have we are going to have people see you like never before. the president suggested he might have recorded tapes of their conversation. today, the president would not confirm the recordings but said he will discuss the tapes in their future. -- the near future. charlie: joining me is jonathan karl. i just listened to what you said. the viewers at home saw what you said. of what wascap in your mind and what you think you heard from him and what he intends to do. >> his lie your responded to the commie testimony and said point blank that comey lied on two critical points. it struck me comey was under oath when he said that before the senate intelligence committee. i wanted to see if the president would also accuse comey of line. be if so, with the president willing to sit down under oath and give his version of what happened in

and those comey supporters say that they belief what comey said yesterday.credible and they take his word over the president's. take a listen. >> you kind of want to know more details about what really will be spoken about behind closed doors. it opened my eyes to what happens in the white house and what can happen and what did happen >> i really like comey and i think he's telling the truth. and i think trump is a bully. >> i thought mr. comey was crying over spilled fired. quite frankly, i thought he was a disgruntled employee. i think it is a witch hunt. thought he broke the law when he said he leaked confidential information to the press. that's illegal behavior and he was the director of the fbi. acted like he was a third-year -- >> reporter: when it came to the leaks, a lot of the supporters of comey said that they appriated the leaks. the leaks comey may have facilita facilitated. they said it was a memo comey leaked so they didn't see anything wrong with it. trump supporters, as you heard, are adamant that was wrong. they say that alone killed his cr

president trump accused comey of lying under oath to congress and enassisted comey failed to prove any collusion or obstruction of justice. in intense exchange with jonathan karl of abc news, president trump sawed he would be willing to offer his version of the events under oath. >> go ahead, john. be fair, jon. >> oh, absolutely. remember how nice you used to be before i ran? such a nice man. >> always fair. mr. president. going to get back to james comey's testimony. you suggested he didn't del the truth in everything he said. he did say under oath that you said you hoped the flynn investigation, he could lit it go. >> i didn't say that. so he lied about that. well, didn't say that. i mean, i will tell you i didn't say that. >> and did he ask you to plij -- i did not say that. did he ask for a pledge of loyalty. >> no, he did not. so if he said those things under oath, would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version. >> 100%. i didn't say under oath. i hardly know the man. o would ask a man to pledge you allegiance under oath? i mean, think of it, i hardly know the man.

and the best measure of that is what comey said. comey, who was the u.s.ad of the fbi understood what he was saying, that the natural and probable consequences of what the president was saying was to get him to lay off flynn. that is actionable, whether or not that would be, you know, would be enough because it will be the president's word against comey's. and whoever else was asked to leave the room when the revan comments were made. whether or not it's enough is another question. but whether or not this is actionable and in the zone of obstruction of justice, it seems to me clear. >> and that's true both for the direct alleged pressure by the president on the fbi director himself, but also the indirect pressure that he apparently or allegedly tried to organize by other senior officials, asking them to speak to james comey about the investigation. would that also be as clear to you as potentially obstruction of justice? >> right. the issue is there is an act here that is intended to create an outcome. and the outcome is to stop the flynn investigation. an

comey didn't do it.so, i think comey was fired because he refused to accept a presidential order to get out the information publicly that he was not a subject of the investigation. that was a proper request from the president. you can't have obstruction of justice when the president didn't commit a crime. nixon committed crimes. he told his underlings to lie to the fbi. he arranged for hush money to be paid to witnesses. none of that is alleged against president trump. >> all right. let me go to you, ari. same question, what do you think about today? >> what was most significant was that jim comey, unle many other participants in this drama, was willing to come out der his own name, under oath, and testify. he also has some background materials. i didn't find it all that notable whether he used other people to distribute things. a lot of senior owe fishlfficia accustomed to having aides so to speak. what he said was backed up by other officials at the fbi that this effort to stob the flynn investigation

comey. i think we have a graphic here. the president turned to the topic of mike flynn, this is comey saying this, saying he's a good guy, and he has been through a lot. he repeated that flynn hadn't done anything wrong in his calls with the russians but had misled the vice president. he then said, "i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. he is a good guy. i hope you can let this go." comb said, he is only a good guy. where account president be in trouble on that nancy? >> in the details comey has provided he took very interesting action after that conversation. first of all he once again documented the conversation and then he says he prepared an unclassified memo about the conversation and discussed it with fbi senior leadership. he says routinely, in this statement, that he didn't just keep this to himself, that he shared it with senior leadership, within the fbi, and at one point even went to senior leadership at the department of justice and asked them what he y wanted to do about th