. >> we're going to have angus king on and play through that. >> vice president joe biden is confirming a cnn report that he and president obama were briefed last week on unsubstantiated claims that russia may have compromising information about president elect trump. president elect trump has dismissed our reporting as fake news. he vance perez is live in washington with more. if you don't like things these days you call them fake. >> there's no doubt, chris. the vice president joe biden says intelligence officials briefed them and president obama last week about unverified claims that russia may have compromising information on president elect donald trump. now cnn first reported that the nation's top intelligence chiefs presented both the president and the president elect with a two page written synopsis of these claims that came from a 35 page opposition research dossier.

. >> the irony of your his associates prompting this response from maine senator angus king. >> the irony of your making that statement here, i cannot avoid. >> comey says that he will cooperate with the investigation. in a closed door meeting on capitol hill on thursday, he was grilled by some democratic senators who blame the fbi director in part for secretary clinton's loss. jeff pegues, cbs news, washington. >>> well, it was james comey who spoke to mr. trump last week about a 35-page report containing unconfirmed allegations that russia had compromising information on the president-elect. during his confirmation hearing yesterday mr. trump's choice to head the cia mike pompeo told senators that russian meddling in the u.s. election was an aggressive action taken by senior russian leaders. mr. trump's pick for defense secretary, retired general james mattis, called russia america's number one threat. >>> and housing secretary nominee ben carson asked whether he could guarantee hud money would benefit the trump family, said he will manage things in a way that benefit the american

i want you to listen to angus king, the senator, and mr. comey of the fbi. >> mr.answer the questions as to connection either way between political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another. >> you didn't say -- >> that was my intention at least. >> you didn't say one way or another whether there's an investigation under way? >> correct. i don't -- especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. >> irony of you're making that statement here i cannot avoid but i'll move on. >> well, we sometimes think differently about closed investigations. >> greg, your thoughts. >> well, for the sake of the country, i hope that this didn't persist for the next four years. i think it's really damaging. i think it's very unnerving if there was contacts before the election. nothing is proved -- all of this stuff overnight, nothing is really truly proved. again for the country, not just the financial market which is i cover, but for the country as a whole, i hope we don't have four more years of this. >> the three big things will b

into president- elect donald trump or his associates, prompting this response from maine senator angus king: >> the irony of your making that statement here i cannot avoid. >> pelley: jeff pegues, thanks. well, with his last day in office a week from tomorrow, president obama sat down with steve kroft of "60 minutes." >> reporter: you didn't change washington. >> i changed those things that were in direct-- my direct control. i mean, look, i'm proud of the fact with two weeks to go, we're probably the first administration in modern history that hasn't had a major scandal in the white house. in that sense, we changed some things. i would have liked to have gotten that one last supreme court justice in there. i'd like the supreme court to take a look. >> reporter: couldn't even get a hearing. >> but we couldn't even get a hearing. trying to get the other side of the aisle to work with us on issues, in some cases that they professed originally an interest in and saying to them, "hold on a second. you guys used to think this was a good idea. now just because i'm supporting it, you can't change

this is part of his exchange with maine's senator angus king. let's take a listen. >> you didn't say one way or the other whether each there is an investigation underway. >> correct. i don't -- especially in a public forum we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. i'm not saying -- >> the irony of your making that statement here i cannot avoid. >> angus king's words will live in infamiliary because that's what a lot of people were tig at that moment when jim comey said that. >> it is curious, to say the least, e.j. >> it's all very kooer curious. i think it is a great thing that this is happening i think it is a great thing that inspectors general have this freedom to investigate. it's going to be an interesting test institutionally how this is doing to work. what kind of pressure is he going to come in after january 20th. joy hit on something very important. the behavior of the new york fbi office appears to have brought some real pressure on jim comey as you referred to earlier. and the notion that potentially a group of politicized fb

so here's angus king asking a follow-up on behalf o halhalf o colleague. >> mr. comey, did you answer senator wyden's question, there is an investigation under way as to connections between either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another. >> you didn't say that -- >> that was my intention, at least. >> you didn't say one way or the other whether there's an investigation under way? >> correct, i don't -- especially in a public forum, we never confirm nor deny a pending investigation. i'm not saying -- >> the irony of your making that statement here, i cannot avoid, but i'll move on. >> but we sometimes think differently about closed investigations. >> a little reference there by angus king to the fact that fbi director comey certainly said something about hillary clinton in that investigation, but let's move on to today's news, you cover the fbi for us, evan. tell us what's going on. they're looking into this. >> no, i think that's exactly what comey was trying not to say in an open setting, said to ron wyden, i'm willing to

independent senator angus king of maine, will l.l. s based says the boycott efforts are misguided. king tells cnn l.l. bean is a nonpartisan company. i have known them and worked with them for virtually all my adult life. they take no role in politics. linda bean says there is a political double standard insisting her cousin's contributions to president obama's campaign did not produce the same response. >> definitely, a double standard. both of these guys won. obama won and trump won. my cousin's candidate, my candidate. but i'm the one that's being targeted and vilified. >> reporter: and bean says those calling for her to step down from the company's board should not hold their breath. >> if i feel i'm right and i do feel that they're bullies. that's all they are. hyperboles on the west coast in california trying to control what we do, what we buy, what we sell in maine. >> reporter: trump's support for bean is raising some questions about the president-elect's support for her family's company. former ftc general counsel larry noble

would have to go back and take a look at that, senator. >> here is the tweet, by the way, that angus king was referring to that mike pompeo said. need further proof the fix was in from barack obama on down. busted 952 e-mails from dnc leaked by wikileaks. >> the fascinating part about this was wikileaks was just the conn conduit and mike pompeo knew this from his time on the intelligence committee. if you believe the cia's report, which he seemed to believe, then wikileaks was handed this by the g.r.u., the militar inteigence wing of the russian military. they may not have been handed it directly and julian assange said he didn't get it from them. but the intelligence report said it went straight from the russians, if you believe it. >> wikileaks was a popular source out in -- i mean, chris, was it not? how often did you hear about it? >> everybody -- it was like a temptation, you couldn't stay away. i don't cover national security. i cover agricultural and biofuels. i was google using the wikileaks and looking up terms like ethanol, renewable fuel standards. you've really had a hard time

let me play a little sound between angus king, an independent senator from maine and also talking todirector comey about any investigation between the russians and any specific campaign. let's roll that sound. >> mr. comey, did you answer senator widen's question that there is an investigation underway to connections between either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> didn't say one way or the other. that was my intention least. we never publicly confirm nor deny it. >> the irony of making that statement here i cannot avoid but i'll move on from that. >> we sometimes think differently about closed investigations. >> a little note there from angus king about comey's questions about hillary clinton's questions, but beyond that it does seem that they know something and trying to get the fbi director to admit what it is. >> right. may have access to classified information, of course no one ex-pleae ex-pleae explicitly not wanting to speak in an open forum. >> all of these senators have had access of the classified version of the investigation into russian hacking since friday,

i'm glad you played the exchanges with angus king because the independent main senator that caucuses with democrats was noticeably sar cast nick saying that he finds it ironic that comey would say he never comments on a pending investigation. given all of the criticisming with the fire storm. now i came from there when they went into closed session here to state because in the next five minutes or so, hillary clinton's returning to the state department for the first time to dedicate a new diplomacy wing. and that's, of course, just another irony today. john kerry in a farewell earlier today at the institute of peace across the state saying that he found it very interest iing and not povrp poe for cia or tillerson for state, but the other nominees have not completed their ethics forms. he spent so much time as poof, it's all evaporated. >> hit me go back to the hearing itself. >> you bet. walk me through director clapper's testimony. >> claeper is absolutely insistent that their fannedings are categorical. they had human sources as well. he won't describe what they were. they were hum

. >>> angus king joins us now. senator thank you very much. you caucus for the democrats but you are an independent from maine. arely it number of the appointees, nominees i should say about whom you have real questions and if so, what are the issues? >> i have a lot of questions and that's what this conffirmation process is all about. it actually starts tomorrow. we're going to have as you mentioned, jeff sessions at the judiciary committee, mike pompepompeo of the white house to be cia. i've met with families private len and then if through the confirmation process. i'm not prepared to take firm positions on any of them at this point until i see the paperwork and by the way, we shouldn't really use that term paperwork, because that implies that it's not important. what we're really talking about are background investigations, which can be very important, and the danger it seems to me of moving these nominations through before that work, the fbi background check, for example, is done, or before we have all the financial information is embarra

this is very complicated stuff. >> senator angus king, thank you very much. always great to have you on "new day." >> thank you alisyn. >>> how will the president-elect respond to the plan to have taxpayers pay for the border wall. trump senior adviser kellyanne conway joins us next. tech: don't let a cracked windshield ruin your plans. trust safelite. with safelite's exclusive "on my way text"... you'll know exactly when we'll be there. giving you more time for what matters most. (team sing) safelite repair, safelite replace. . >>> in just hours president-elect donald trump will receive even deeper proof that russia is to blame for the hacks during our election. it's going to be a highly classified intelligence report that will go into sourcing and methods that can't be made public to everybody, but the conclusions have been clear. we saw it in congress. we've seen it for well over a month. will the president-elect finally accept what seems so clear to so many? joining us now, senior adviser to president-elect trump kellyanne conway. it's a new year and i wi

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into president- elect donald trump or his associates, prompting this response from maine senator angus king statement here i cannot avoid.

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watch this exchange between comey and senator angus king from this week. this was a moment of interesting sarcasm, i might say. >> mr. comey, did you answer senate widen's question that there is an investigation under way as to connections between either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another, especially in a public forum. we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. i'm not saying -- >> the irony of your making that statement here i cannot avoid. but i'll move on. >> well he did make his point, the senator did. and congressman maxine waters left a briefing today with only one message for the press. let's watch. >> can you tell us anything about the discussion in the briefing? >> no. it's classified and we can't tell you anything. all i can tell you is that the fbi tredirector has no credibil. >> that is the situation we're in. and now of course comey finds himself a man without a country politically because the wonderful "wall street journal" editorial page is after him because he went after their hero scooter

let's listen to angus king and jim comey. >> mr. comey, did you answer senator wyden's question that there is an investigation under way as to connections between either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another, especially in a public forum. we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. >> the irony of your making that statement here i cannot avoid, but i'll move on. >> on top of that, david, corn, there's a guardian article that says that many house democrats came out of that meeting angry that comey would not say even privately whether he's investigating trump/russia ties, even privately. >> what angus king is referring to was the key moment of that hearing. when senator ron wyden, the democrat from oregon, asked him if he would declassify information about trump associates' contacts with russia and make it available to the public. he said if you don't do that in the next 11 days before january 20th, i don't think it will ever come out. what's important here, wyden was basically signaling

into president-elect donald trump or his associates, prompting this response from maine senator angus king: >> the irony of your making that statement here i cannot avoid. >> reporter: comey says that he will go cooperate with the investigation. scott, in a closed door meeting on california today, he was grilled by some democratic senators who blame the f.b.i. director in part for secretary clinton's loss. >> pelley: jeff pegues, thanks. well, with his last day in office a week from tomorrow, president obama sat down with steve kroft of "60 minutes." >> reporter: you didn't change washington. >> i changed those things that were in direct-- my direct contro fact with two weeks to go, we're probably the first administration in modern history that hasn't had a major scandal in the white house. in that sense, we changed some things. i would have liked to have gotten that one last supreme court justice in there. i'd like the supreme court to take a look. >> reporter: couldn't even get a hearing. >> but we couldn't even get a hearing. trying to get the other side of the aisle to work with us on

have a between fbi director james comey and independent senator, angus king. >> mr.comey, did you answer senator widen's question that there is an investigation under way as to connections between either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another. >> you didn't say-- >> that was my intention, at least. >> whether there is an investigation under way? >> correct, i don't-- especially in a public forum we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. >> the irony of your making that statement here, i cannot avoid, but i will move on. >> sometimes we think differently about closed investigations but you asked if i had pending investigations and we are not going to talk about that. >> on capitol hill today the start of confirmation hearings, republican senator jeff sessions tapped to be the new attorney general raised his right hand, swore to tell the truth, and faced tough questions from democrats about what he would do if confirmed. wade as "one of the worst colossally erroneous supreme court decisions of all time." is that still yo

president-elect donald trump or his associates, prompting this response from the maine senator, angus king the irony of the situation, i can't comprehend. >> he was grilled by some democratic senators who blame the fbi director in part for secretary clinton's loss. >> washington is still abuzz with the war of words between president-elect donald trump and the intelligence committee. at issue, the unsubstantiated reports that russia had collected a dossier on mr. trump to be used as blackmail later on. the trump camp called it fake christopher steele, seem in a memo in this photo, that russia this compromising and financial information about president-elect donald trump. steele is a former british intelligence officer who works for orbis business intelligence, a private investigation firm in london. orbis was originally highw lly d.c.-based firm. the allegations circulated widely last week, the u.s. intelligence community had a summary the classified briefing to mr. trump who said the memo was phoney. >> i think it was disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that

comey had this interesting exchange with angus king of maine. >> in a public foreign we never confirm or deny a depending investigation. >> the irony of you're making that statement ki not avoid but i i'll move on. >> me did a few days before election about hillary clinton. this isome me. i'm grateful to the department of justice inspector general for taking on this review. i hope share conclusion and observations with the public. i'm joined by josh gur steen and gloria, thank you. this fascinating story. the fact that the ig is able to say i'm look at the way that's handled and i'm get ago lot of heat and we're going to investigate this. how do you discern whether it was political or not without recording that say i'm doing this so say i'm doing this to screw hillary and to help trump. >> i think it's going to be difficult to prove he had political motives. i don't want -- >> written policies? >> yes. you're not supposed to take investigative steps to draw little campaign -- in danger of getting hurt or something along those lines. so he went counter to those policy. he said there's

watch exchange by comey and angus king this week. >> mr. comey did you answer senator's question there's investigation under way between political campaign and the russians. >> i zn say one way or another especially in public foreign wre we never deny in a public forum. >> i cannot avoid but i will move on. >> he did make his point. today with only one message for the press. let's watch. >> can you tell us anything about the -- >> no it's classified we can't tell you anything. i can tell you the fbi director has no creditability. >> that's it. >> that's the situation it is. comey find himself a man without a country. he has a few enemies in the back room, too. >> sometimes in washington you say if everybody is complain about you, you maybe doing something right. that may not be the situation in this case. we have going to have people saying he has to creditability, you had john lewis, renowned congressman questioning the new president's legitimacy. you're going to have months -- >> let's not play naive here. >> i'm not naive. >> if you're d

prompting this response from maine senator angus king. >> the irony of you making that statement here i cannot avoid. >> comey says that he will cooperate with the investigation. scott, in a closed door meeting on capitol hill today he was grilled by some democratic senators who blame the fbi director in part for secretary clinton's loss. >> washington is still abuzz with the war of words between president-elect donald trump and the u.s. intelligence committee. at issue, the unsubstantiated report that russia had collected a dossier on mr. trump to be used as blackmail at a later date. the president-elect calls it fake news and blames the release on america's spy agencies. major garrett has the latest. >> reporter: cbs news has confirmed that christopher steele, seen in this photo, produced the memo claiming unsubstantiated claims that russia had personal and financial information about president-elect donald trump. steele is a former british intelligence officer who works for orbis intelligence, a private investigator firm in london. orbis was originally hired by fusion, hired by an

comey refused to say, leading to this explaining with independent senator angus king. >> mr.omey, did you answer senator wyden's question that there is an investigation underway as to connections between either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another. >> you didn't say that -- >> that was my intention at least. >> you didn't say one way or another, whether even if there's an investigation underway? >> correct. i don't -- especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a investigation. >> the irony of you you're making that statement here i cannot avoid. >> well, we sometimes think differently about closed investigations. >> the irony that senator king was talked about refers to comey's decision to keep mum yesterday versus his announcement in the 2016 campaign to tell the investigators that the fbi was reviewing hillary clinton's e-mails. >> this is going to come up again on capitol hill in a very crucial way. the senate confirmation hearing is taking up the nomination of president-elect's nomination for secretary of state, rex t

senator angus king is talking to him. they are looking at ties between russia and the campaign.he question that there is an investigation underway as to connections between either of the campaigns and the russians. >> that was my intention. >> she didn't say one way or the other if there is an investigation? in a public forum, we never confirm or deny an impending investigation. >> the irony of you making that statement here, i can avoid. i will move on. >> we sometimes think differently about closed investigations. host: back to your calls. mike is in washington. caller: how are you this morning. i am doing great. thing, the cia, the fbi, all of these guys talking about hacking with russia, that really annoys me. there is no straight line that they could prove. it should have never been put out there. like me accusing you of stealing my car but nobody saw it. lie and it's all political. that's how i feel about that whole thing. lostr is hillary, she because the people i know that voted for trump already knew $325,000 fortaken a speech from goldman sachs and she did let people k

. >>> do you remember this exchange between senator angus king and fbi director james comey last week? >> mr. comey, did you answer senator widen's question that there is an investigation under way as to connections between either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another. especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. >> well, the mcclachy news service reports today that six law enforcement enforcement agencies have been working together on informerly. but informally on a probe of russia since last spring. citing two people particular with the matter that the fbi, the cia, the justice department, the treasury department, and representatives of the director of national intelligence have an informal working group. two u.s. officials told us they are unaware of any formal in the investigation. it's not formal, but, they clearly do work together in some ways it's led by the fbi in many cases. but the fact of the mter is, it does appear this investigation is still active, yet this is another confirmation of that. we'll

this exchange between james comey testified before the senate intelligence committee and senator angus kingand his refusal to confirm there's an ongoing investigation. listen to this exchange. >> mr. comey, did you answer senator wyden's question that there is an investigation underway as to connections between either the political campaigns and the russian -- russians? >> i didn't say one way or another. >> you didn't say -- >> that was my intention at least. >> you didn't say one way or another, whether even there's an investigation underway. >> correct, i don't -- especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a pensding investigation. >> the irony -- >> i'm not -- >> the irony of your making that statement here, i cannot avoid, but i'll move on. >> so what position has he placed himself in now, now with the president with that july 5th? >> the difference is july 5th, he's saying we recommend no charges. shortly thereafter, the attorney general says the case is closed. not only against hillary clinton but her assistants and everyone else that was the subject of that investigation

votes yesterday that was senator joe manchin of west virginia, north dakota and virginia and an , angus kingrom maine. the procedural vote that took place sets into motion the 30 hour rule, the floor vote is set to happen on wednesday for rex tillerson. you can follow all of that on c-span. other news on nominees. the senate judiciary committee at 9:30 today holding the vote for jeff sessions for attorney general. the senate health education intentions committee holding a hearing on betsy devos for education secretary. we will air that on c-span.org and c-span2. you can also listen to all of this on the c-span radio. and today, a full senate confirmation vote for the labor of secretary. the debate happening at noon and the vote is inspected to happen around 12:20. also votes today in committee for a congressman up for energyr secretary and secretary. so a lot of movement and we will keep you updated through the week as these nominees continue to move through the senate process. 10 minutes left in the segment. priscilla is in maryland on the line we set aside for recent immigrants. good morni

this was the independent senator in maine questioning him, this is angus king, and i want you to listend comey's response and then the senator's injected comment. >> mr. comey did you answer the question that there is an investigation underway as to connections between either the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another. >> you didn't say that there were -- >> that was my intention at least. >> you didn't say whether or not there's an investigation underway. >> correct. i don't -- especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. >> the irony of your making that statement here, i cannot avoid. but i'll move on. >> so you see the irony as well? >> oh, yes. yes. senator king, i think, used some down home maine understatement. yeah. i mean, that's the -- you know, that's the problem he's in, brooke. he's painted himself into a corner by, you know, making his past public statements about the clinton e-mail investigation, whether it was open or closed, back open again. you know, he sets this precedent now where, you know, frankly,

and there was a specific phrase he used actually when he was having his back and forth with angus king when he gave him a nudge on the whole idea of going -- we don't speak publicly about investigations, and then made note -- essentially made note of the clinton e-mail investigation and say it's different for closed investigations. that seemed to be the tip. >> well, i think that was a statement that this is not yet closed. when it is closed, there will be appropriately an aouncement as with the hillary clinton e-mail investigation. i think, chuck, the best guarantee that there will be a resolution of this, a firm-based for the country is the investigations to be appropriately completed. and the people who will guarantee that are members of the incoming administration. i think everybody watched carefully as general mattis about mike pompeo, the proposed cia director responded, and they gave very clear, direct answers to those questions. and it's obvious they want to see this resolved just as a matter of national security. >> can it do your job if it's not? >> i don't see how -- i don't

you know what he said to angus king. >> what? >> he said i can neither confirm nor deny. >> he talked about forever and ever about hillary clinton's investigation. we seen him come full circle, villain, then a hero when he sent the letter announcing the investigation was back on, now he's a hero, you know, this is a clear signal from donald trump that he wants comey to said. he's embracing him, he's hugging him. a lot of people around town don't think that comey has the confidence of the intelligence community, of the congress, especially democrats, to continue in in his role. okay. and he's got this long term, but he doesn't have to keep it. and donald trump is literally embracing him. >> kim, if donald trump were to fire james comey essentially, wount many look at it and say well it's because he's arguably investigating trump's ties to russia? >> i think that he would wait at least six months before doing something like that. and i think it would also be more -- he would let comey know that it was time to submit his resignation

tuesday this exchange with senator angus king. >> mr. comey did you answer senator widen's question there's an investigation under way as to connections either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. >> the irony of your making that statement here i cannot avoid, but i'll move on. >> so i want to bring in matt miller, former spokesman for attorney general eric holder and former director of the office of public affairs for the department of justice. thank you for being with us. appreciate your guidance on this topic. you heard senator king right there, i just want to get your take on that if you can very simply on director comey and ultimately on his credibility right now. >> i think ironic is one way to put it. i think director comey does have a problem going forward. the inspector general it's hard to see how he'll find anything other than his press conference in july and his letter in october were inappropriate, clear

that drew fire from democrats, as well as maine independent senator angus king who pointed , to a letter comey made public just days before the november election stating the fbi had reopened an investigation into hillary clinton's use of a private email server. this is senator king questioning james comey. >> you did not say whether there was an investigation underway. >> correct. especially in a public form, we never confirmed or denied a pending investigation. >> the irony of your making a statement here, i cannot avoid. amy: in turkey, a fistfight broke out on the floor of the parliament in ankara on as wednesday lawmakers advanced measures that would rewrite the turkish constitution and bring sweeping new powers to president recep tayyip erdogan. the amendments would allow erdogan to appoint and dismiss government ministers, take back the leadership of the ruling party, and govern until at least 2029. six top executives of volkswagen were indicted wednesday on charges they helped the company skirt the clean air act while defrauding the u.s. government. the indictments came as the jus

during his nomination hearing -- >> leaked by wikileaks -- >> reporter: senator angus king pointed to this tweet in which pompeo equates wikileaks with proof. >> do you think wikileaks is a reliable source of information? >> i do not. >> and the fact that you used the word proof, need proof, that would indicate that you did think it was a credible source of information. >> i have never believed that wikileaks was a credible source of information. >> how do you explain your twitter? >> i'd have to go back and take a look at that, senator. but i can assure you, i have some deep understanding of wikileaks, and i have never viewed it as a credible source of information for the united states or for anyone else. >> reporter: today all 100 senators were given a briefing in closed session again on russian meddling in the u.s. election. we know that included in the briefing was again that two-page synopsis of those unsubstantiated allegations. >> yes, it was indeed. thank you very much, jim sciutto. evan perez, justice correspondent, is here. you're getting new information, as well. what are y

just a little bit from the briefing, the appropriate question, i think, he received from senator angus king. >> mr. comey, did you answer senator wyden's investigation that there is an investigation underway as to the connections between either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another. >> you didn't say that there were -- >> that was my intention at least. >> you didn't say whether even there's an investigation underway? >> correct. i don't -- especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. >> the irony of your making that statement here, i cannot avoid. but i'll move on. >> of course we all know the involvement, right, with jim comey from the summer and into the -- right before the election. let me also just read a quick quote from this "wall street journal" opinion piece today. if mr. comey declines, donald trump can and should fire him in the interests of the nation's most important law enforcement agency. >> now you've got a notably republican editorial board and democrats agreeing on this, and i think, look, i'm sur

i want to take you back to that hearing where independent senator from the state of maine angus king is speaking. >> approvals went to the highest levels of the russian government. have you learned anything subsequently that you can tell us here today to contradict those findings that you publicly stated last october? >> no. if anything, what we've learned just reinforces that statement of 7th october. >> and there was no political intention, you were simply reporting facts as you saw them. i presume that's correct. your history is one of being nonpolitical. >> absolutely. i felt particularly strongly, as did secretary johnson, that we owed it to the american electorate to let them know what we knew. >> people in maine are skeptical and they want to have evidence and proof. i'm hearing from people prove it. the problem, as i understand it, is the desire to provide evidence that is convincing that your conclusions are correct versus the danger of compromising national security on sources and methods. can you sort of articulate that? because i think that's an important point. >> we hav

comey kind of dodged, then senator angus king, independent from maine, did a follow-up on behalf of hisleague, putting it again to fbi director comey. >> mr. comey, is there an investigation under way as to connections between either of the political campaigns and the russians? >> i didn't say one way or another. >> you didn't say -- >> that was my intention, at least. >> you didn't say one way or another whether there's an investigation under way. >> correct. especially in a public forum we never confirm or deny a pending investigation. >> the irony of your making that statement here i cannot avoid, but i'll move on. >> we sometimes think differently about closed investigations. >> that at the end a little reference to director comey's comments about hillary clinton's investigation into her. it seems as though members of the intelligence community want the fbi director to be more forthcoming about whether or not they think the trump campaign was coordinating or at least whether or not this is being investigated, with russia. >> comey was definitely not going to open that question in an

democrats broke ranks to advance that nomination including joe manchin, heidi heitkamp of north dakota, angus kingdependent caucus with democrats and interestingly two difficult re-election races in 2018 in states donald trump won overwhelmingly, them joining ranks on the tillerson vote and republicans, too, uniformly pushing that vote forward. but other problems are still waiting donald trump's nominees, including several delayed, democrats using the rules of the senate to delay a final confirmation vote. donald trump may have to wait a little while to get the rest of his cabinet confirmed. >> it does look like tillerson will be confirmed presumably on wednesday. manu, i want to you stand by. we're getting brbz coming into the situation room right now. i want to bring in evan. you're learning new details on procedures under way at the justice department to deal with the legal challenges to the president's orders. >> that's right. at this moment attorney general sally yates, acting attorney general appointed by barack obama. she just instructed lawyers not to defend the executive order issued by p

. >> reporter: surprising one senator maine's angus king, since comey spoke volumes about the clinton e-mails. >> the irony of your making that statement here i cannot avoid. >> reporter: all this as trump's nominee for secretary of state, takes center stage on capitol hill today at his senate confirmation hearing where he's sure to face questions about his ties to vladmir putin. tillerson is expected to say our nato allies are right to be alarm alarmed. it was in the absence of american leadership this door was left open. democrats have questions. >> we understand he was a businessperson. can he now all of a sudden change and be interested in the foreign policy issues, and american values and not be concerned about making mr. putin happy. >> reporter: will donald trump continue the investigations into russian intelligence and interference in the american election? or will he cancel the sanctions that president obama orde reince priebus will service as president elect trump's chief of staff. good to see you. >> good morning, matt. >> straight ahead, during that intelligence briefing l

. >> surprising one senator, angus king.ince comey had prone precedent about the clinton investigation. >> the irony of your making the statement here, i cannot avoid. >> all this, as trump's nominee for secretary of state, takes center stage on capitol hill today at his senate confirmation hearing where he is sure to face investigations of vladimir putin, and prepared remarks, expected to say, our nato allies are right to be alarmed. but it was in the absence of american leadership that this door was left open, and unintended signals were sent. democrats have questions. >> you know, we understand he is a business person, doing business in russia. but can he now all of a sudden change and be interested in the foreign policy issues, american values, and not be so concerned about making mr. putin happy. >> and a twitter storm about all of this from donald trump today. tweeting that he has nothing to do with russia, no deals, no loans, no nothing. and also a blast at the intelligence agencies he says should never have leaked th

course, that is bernie sanders and angus king from maine. and there will be eight republicans. republicans with distinct advantages in the map on the 2018 field. we shouldn't forget about election 2017. there will be several set show -- there will be several special elections if he gets his house approved. special election to replace tom a, mike pompeo -- so there is plenty of election watch ahead here on the washington journal. looming over the 115th congress as they begin today around noon. what do you want them to do first? egiswhat ltive action would you like them to take? ohio, you are. good morning. toler: well, i am listening you guys talk and a couple of things came to mind. some people were tanya at social security. the republican party is always -- when social security first came in, it was for people to have a requirement -- to have a retirement to didn't have a retirement plan. me personally? i hope that everything that the , including ran on getting rid of obamacare, and everything they ask for, i hope they did it. because with obama, we can get anything. waywe nee