senator graham: ok. we'll talk about that later. do you stand by your house testimony in march 20th that there was no surveillance of the trim campaign that you are -- trump campaign that you are aware of? james comey: correct. senator graham: you would know about it if there was, correct? james comey: i would think. senator graham: carter page. is there an issue regarding carter page's interactions with the russians? james comey: i can't answer that here. senator graham: did you consider carter page an agent of the campaign? james comey: same answer. i can't answer that here. senator graham: ok. do you stand by your testimony there is an active investigation, counterintelligence investigation, regarding trump campaign individuals and the russian government as to whether or not they collaborate? you said that in march -- james comey: to see if there was any collaboration between the russian effort and -- senator graham: is that still going on? james comey: yes. senator graham: nothing has changed, you st

graham never did. graham was content to have his own relationship with the powerful. it came up from the grassroots, really. religious groups and between religious groups and nonreligious people. so, it all sort of happened the same time, and it was a bit delayed because of the real reaction came in 1980 as opposed to the '60s, and at that point falwell, with the help of this new right operatives from washington, dc who had their own little consecutive pacs and so forth, persuaded him to create the moral majority, and to structure it in rather sophisticated ways, and in their view it should have included conservative catholics as well as everybody else, but falwell really was only able to attract some other fundamentalists, and so he didn't really succeed in creating this mass movement. on the other hand, it made a big fuss and there warlet of southern baptists -- were a lot of southern baptists around in this, and ronald reagan carried the south, which was for him the point, and why he paid so much at

graham: -- vp. pence: often say, when people have asked me over the years, what my philosophy is, i tell them i'm a christian, a conservative, and a republican, in that order. [laughter] [applause] vp. pence: it is a distinct honor, and frankly, a humbling privilege to join you today at this first-ever summit in defense of persecuted christians. let me first and foremost bring greetings from my friend, a champion of the freedom of religion and the freedoms enshrined in our bill of rights, the 45th president of the united states of america, president donald trump. [applause] and i'm here on behalf of the president as a tangible sign of his commitment to defending christians, and frankly, all who suffer for their beliefs across the wider world. i stand here today as a testament to president trump's tangible commitment to reaffirm america's role as a beacon of hope and light and liberty to inspire the world. [applause] you are here from across this land and from distant others because america was and i

senator graham: without objection. on march 5, 2017, you said the following, here's the question, does intelligence exist that could answer the question whether there were improper contacts between the trump campaign and russian officials you said we didn't incollide the f.b.i. and the director of national intelligence that had anything, that had any inflex of collusion between members of the trump campaign. there was no evidence of that included in our report and i understand that, but does it exist. you say no not to my knowledge, is that still accurate? mr. clapper: it is. senator graham: are you aware of any evidence that would suggest in the 2016 campaign anybody in the trump campaign coluded with the russian government or intelligence services in an mproper? ms. yates: i can't answer that. senator graham: i don't get that, because he just said he should the report and he said he doesn't know of any, so what would you know what is not in the report snl ms. yates: director clapper said he was unaware of the investi

graham: it's a sick society. when you pay your young people to commit terrorism acts, they'll do it. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ sharyl: welcome to "full measure." i'm sharyl attkisson. after the shock of losing the white house and failing to take the majority in the house and senate, democrats quickly regrouped and developed a new approach. from town hall protests to sometimes violent demonstrations, they're fighting the trump agenda at every step. hillary clinton recently emerged to announce she's "part of the resistance." we sent our "full measure" cameras to meet the some of the people in the field organizing the resistance. they're organizing in berkeley, california, where violent clashes and street brawls broke out. they're organizing at town hall meetings held by members of congress. >> do your job. >> you suck. gene stilp: i think there's more energy now that they realize what has happened in t

billy graham on tv. billy graham doing revival. how about billy graham hanging out with richard nixon? talk about that relationship and the beginning of a politicization of evangelicali evangelicalism. >> well, billy graham liked powerful people. he always did. they were extremely helpful to him, the rich and the powerful politicians, because they would make his state revival is much easier, it would be with him and they would get the shining glow of the league ran around them. he would seem even more important than he was by having senate leaders. democrats and republicans alike for a line time but he became -- and longtime but he became very attached to richard nixon long before nixon ran for president. so that's kind of, was his downfall because he became too close and he changed his views to nixon's views really and he started to defend the nixon administration, so that when the vietnam war came to its terrible climax, he was part of, among the people to be blamed for it, and later for watergate, which he did not denounce early

first i want to thank senator phil graham graham for agreeing to testify this morning. he's always been one of my heroes of the senate, he was one of the first people that i met when i got to washington, and after listening to a few of his debates when i can see terror in the face of his opponents, i actually got to sit down and visit with him about some critical issues. i was on the banking committee that he was the chairman of at the time and i learned a lot. and i wanted to specifically to have him here for a hearing because of his past experience, not while i was in the senate but before that when he worked with redmond and hallings and that's had a carryover effect on us today and that was kwielt a while ago so there need to be some revisions in it so we'll be relying on him and others who have chaired the budget committee to come up with solutions that will make it possible for us to kwul u actually get control of the budget while we improve the economy. so, senator graham's decades of experience serving as an elected official both in the house and then in the sen

senator graham: same for you?it is a little difficult for me to answer that question relative to the community as a whole. it would depend on what measures ormental resources were available. senator graham: thank you much -- thank you both. warren: i don't want to duplicate the questions others have asked. i would like to pick up another area about a serious threat to our security and economic issues around the world and that is climate change. the science is unmistakable. human and to these are releasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. a defense department report from globalo observed that climate change will have wide ranging consequences for u.s. national security interests because it will augment existing problems such as poverty, ineffectual leadership, and weak political institutions. the crimeshis report climate change as a threat multiplier. director coats, do you agree? dir. coats: i don't know if i would describe it as a threat multiplier, although our job is simply

do you agree with senator lindsey graham? >> well, what i've said in the past is that we like the fact that with the intelligence committee we've taken a bipartisan approach. we respect the members on that committee. we'll listen to what they have to say and we'll respond after they've made their decisions. that decision and the investigation itself being held by that particular committee, which as i say has the respect of the united states senate, i think is a positive thing. if senator graham in going back to the intelligence committee makes that recommendation and they adopt it, we'll support their decision. >> senator mike rounds, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, sir. >> right now the vice president mike pence is weighing in on the future of health care here in the united states. he's meeting with the republican senators as we speak. he's also planning on making a weekly visit. this is part of his weekly visit to capitol hill. phil mattingly and joining us now. what are you learning about the vice president's

[applause] >> thank you, reverend graham. it is a joy to be with all of you today to touch on the topic of enormous importance not only in the life of people of faith across the world, but he knows importance to this administration. and would you join me in congratulating reverend franklin graham for bringing together this first ever world summit in defense of persecuted christians. [applause] >> reverend graham, senator lankford, senator blunt, congressman smith, congressman hultgren, leaders of faith, in public life across this country and across the world, to my brothers and sisters in christ. [applause] i often say when people have asked me over the years what my philosophy is, i tell them i'm a christian, a conservative, and republican, in that order. [applause] it is a distinct honor and, frankly, a humbling privilege to join you today at this first-ever summit in defense of persecuted christians. let me first and foremost bring greetings to my friend, a champion of the freedom of religion and the freedoms enshrined in

despite what lindsey graham said, what happened in 18 days. i can give you a guess of what was going on in the white house during those days but boy that is serious interaction, not a heads-up. >> and you know, wolf, the question that asked, and what phil is meeting, she was asked, what is the likeliness that a criminal case would be against flynn. she did not answer that question. phil, i ask you, is that something that the justice department could have been pursuing against him? >> sure. i'm sure he is wrapped up in the investigation they started last july. it is clear what white house is doing. they aretive r differentiating something that justice didn't isn't responsible for. did someone else lie to someone else in the white house. it is not like the school principal for the united states. clearly the white house council is concerned about, is a white house official, in this case, general flynn, going to be embarrassed bay criminal prosecution later on? i'm sure they had going into president trump and say, this is not just about whether or

and what lindsey graham says is, look, the president himself is very loyal.nn, and the white house needed to build this case. what's your read on that? >> well, first of all, i have a lot of loyal friends, too, from high school and everything else. it doesn't mean i put them in as national security adviser, okay? so, i don't think there's any excuse for leaving him in for 18 days, and most specifically, two days after they were formally warned three times by the acting attorney general, including two formal meetings, they put him on a call with the president and vladimir putin for an hour. and so, it makes no sense to me when you see a foreign power that is trying to influence our democracy, our intelligence agents have told them this. we've heard that president obama, there have been reports yesterday, warned him about this at the meeting. so, there is this loyalty, but sometimes you have to put your country in front of the loyalty to your friends and your supporters, and this certainly is one of those times. >> so, the president of the united states was twe

>> i spoke with somebody close to senator graham. this person insists this is being blown out of proportion. senator graham was musing an answer about whether or not he would want to investigate president trump's business dealings in russia. this person that i talked to pointing out that because there may be an ongoing investigation that senator graham might not be able to look into that at all. he thinks the bigger issue here is whether or not people's names were being unmasked, people caught up in intelligence collection and the names were being leaked for political reasons. this afternoon, when asked about it, sean spicer said, if you want to investigate the president idealings with russia, we welcome it. listen here. >> he has no business in russia, no connections to russia. he welcomed that. in fact, he's already charged a leading law firm in washington d.c. to sent a certified letter to senator graham to that point that he has no connections to russia. >> the president tweeting out again yesterday, talking about the allegations

senator lindsey graham talking to reporters. an interesting had distinction he's making between what the investigation by congress would look at versus the investigation from robert mueller as special counsel. our chief legal correspondent is with us. what do you make of that? >> senator graham just made some news there. this is what we would call hearsay because he is describing what mr. rosenstein briefed in a closed session. an unusual closed briefing from the senate. we have heard from trump's defenders and the president that this is a counter intel inquiry. what lindsey graham just said, that it is more like a criminal inquiry. and a report he said does that mean it is one? and he said mr. rosenstein didn't go that far. so that's not great news for trump. it is not any kind of confirmation of who the targets are and how domestic it is. but that is news. >> you say that it doesn't, the outcome, if writ counter intelligence and someone broke certain laws, it would make it criminal. >> if you have american citizens working for

i've given the letter to senator lindsey graham. he has the letter and i think frankly, i assume he's going to give the letter out but it says i am not

the son of billy graham makes introductions. this is less than half an hour. ♪ >> good morning. >> good morning. >> it is a great privilege to presidentday the vice of the united states of america. .e is the 48 vice president his wife karen is not with us today, but they have three children. he spent six terms in the u.s. congress. governor of indiana. what i appreciate so much about our vice president is his strong faith in god. his believe in jesus christ as the son of god. [applause] >> as a nation, we are very fortunate to have a president that believes in god and a vice president who strongly supports all of us in the church. to express hisd fate. it is an honor for me to be able to welcome here today the vice president of the united states, mike pence. mr. vice president. [applause] v.p. pence: thank you reverend graham. it is a joy to be with all of you today. to touch on a topic of enormous importance. not only for people of faith across the world, but of enormous importance to people of this administration. would you jo

lindsey graham speaking live. let's listen. >> clinton hired an individual lawyer to deal with all things related to ken starr. so the white house could conduct its business. if i were the president, i would focus on defending the nation and trying to get his legislative agenda through the congress. one of the side benefits of this is that congress has been sidelined, not completely but pretty much. we can go back to dealing with legislative matters that affect the american people. the bottom line, the president may not have liked this decision. it was made. i had questions about it. i honor it. he couldn't have picked a better man to do the job. most people in that meeting are generally okay with the idea of the special counsel. what they don't understand yet -- i would be reluctant to subpoena someone or a document in their possession if i thought they would be part of a criminal investigation. >> did you get an explanation from rosenstein about why comey was fired? >> this is limited to what congress can do. i

it doesn't hurt that he's close friend with the likes of senators mccain and graham? >> i learned a long time ago never to second guess carl bernstein's political instincts. >> smart man. >> but one of the things we've seen where a white house has done that and the assumption was this southern democrat, he's not going to ask this question but he did. >> i don't know senator lieberman, a man who wanted to be vice president of the united states came very close to being vice president of the united states would have the bigger picture in mind and see the opportunity to be remembered for getting to the bottom of a scandal that isn't just -- a domestic scandal but with international implications. you get lieberman, a man with respect on both sides of the aisle, you combine that with mueller and you have the likely scenario for a deep, serious investigation of the russia hacking and possible collusion scandal. >> point taken. carl, back to your monkey wrench point. rod rosenstein, deputy attorney general, behind closed doors right now answering questions with the full u.s.

lindsey graham nixed the idea. his own colleague saying this is not the time whose been in elective office. so it's a precarious situation that the president is in. it again, those that care about it, more people say that they think he did it because of russia than because of the clinton e-mail scandal. that also is something that is growing out there. but there is one -- the only -- you could take heart in that his people are still with him. >> long, the audition for his job has been going on over at the white house, and the president says that he plans to make an announcement sooner than later and really when you talk about the possible picks, he could go two ways -- >> right. >> right. >> look, he could go the political way, but yeah, even lindsey graham saying don't do it. good things about john cornen, don't do it, i think that's a signal that he's sending the president on that. look, i think you're going to see more graham's calling for an fbi -- somebody that has experience in the fbi. chuck schumer on show

senator lindsey graham is reacting. we begin with our chief intelligence correspondent. >> reporter: i'm right up aside the skip on the senate side of the capitol. the skip is a secure facility used exclusively fors kh s clasd briefings. we've seen some trickle in in expectation of rod rosenstein's arrival. this event was put on the calendar last week after the abrupt firing of the fbi director. but senators have told fox news that they expect to ask questions about the appointment of the special counsel the former fbi director robert mueller. in this position he will have broad authorities. he will be able to issue subpoenas. he will be able to conduct depositions. he will be able to access classified information. he'll all be able to declassify information for public review. mueller has resigned from his dc law firm to prevent any conflicts of interest. now, this appointment has very broad bipartisan support. one democrat telling fox today that he believes this is part of his party's broader strategy to assert pressur

graham: i was glad. you today in the wall street journal and we are thrilled you are with us. here's the book, "destined for war," graham allison, another great international relations book. he called me up and i said, destined for vacuum and that did not work. i wanted to go destined for vacuum and he said, war will sell more copies. the word of the moment is vacuum. there is a vacuum in foreign policy. how do we build the vacuum or do you assume china will fill it? graham: i think there is a vacuum. we are having difficulty finding accordance in the world. i am trying to help us get clear about one. we have a primary access in global politics today, the competition between the u.s. and china. .hina has risen from nowhere when ronald reagan became president, china was 10% the size of the u.s., by 2014, roughly equal and on the path to become larger. it comes up as a substructure of international politics and i think if we get her hand around that piece in the risks that that entails, even risks of great

that was a view held by south carolina senator lindsey graham today.s talking about one of his colleagues, john cornyn of texas, a senator who had also been a judge, who is one of those being interviewed, and here's what graham had to say about the kind of person president trump should pick. >> john cornyn is a wonderful man under normal circumstances would be a superb choice to be fbi director, but these are not normal circumstances. we got a chance to reset here as a nation. the president has a chance to clean up the mess that he mostly created. he really, i think, did his staff a disservice by changing the explanation, so i would encourage the president to pick somebody we can all rally around, including those who work in the fbi. >> reporter: now, another figure on this list of eight is mike rogers, the former chairman of the house intelligence committee, former representative republican of michigan. he left congress a handful of years ago, and he has been selected by the fbi agents association. they represent 13,000 current and former fbi agents.

lindsay graham was saying now you have to ask the questions of the special counsel.t's not the president's party coming to his side and joining him in this battle that he is saying, this is just about the election results last year. >> earlier in the day, jeffrey toobin, earlier in the morning, the president tweeted this reaction to the naming of robert mueller. quote, this is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in american history. i see you smiling already as i'm reading that tweet. >> but who do you really feel, mr. president? >> yeah. >> right. well, i mean, i think, you know, this is how donald trump operates and how he got elected president of the united states. so who are we to say that this is not going to work again? his problem here is that his party and everyone else -- and democrats and republicans have nothing but good things to say about director mueller. another difference -- i mean david was pointing out a difference with the way clinton responded to kenneth starr investigation. kenneth starr was very much associated with the republican par

guest: lindsey graham is reflecting the views of a substantial number of public and senators. frustrated with the way the president is commenting on the investigation into the russian interference. lindsey graham is sending a signal to the president that he could be a major problem for him if he does not stop intervening in this delicate area. host: how would you describe the white house indications strategy communications strategy in the past six days? what do you hear in the white house briefing room? guest: if you really want to hear why -- i laughed because it uses the word "strategy." what happened was that about 98% of that white house press shop learned about the james comey decision by learning -- looking up at the television. shawn spicer and the communications director, they had about one hours notice. there was no strategy, no plan. the president does not care, friendly. he thinks they are -- does not care, frankly. he thinks they are incompetent and that they had enough time to line up people to go on air and defend him. he was trashing shawn spicer privately throu

lindsay graham is an attorney.e knows that was not only inappropriate, it probably was borderline lie and it was not a true statement. but i think all of these blithe actions on the part of republicans in the face of a bizarre presidency is baffling to me and probably to millions of other people. you know, we usually expect lindsey graham to hand up. he's a stand-up guy. has been in the past. but he beat up on president obama like almost all of the other republicans. but at a time like this, this is not about republicans and democrats. it's not about super conservatives or way out liberalism. it is about a nation, an enemy of the united states interfering with our democracy. and i think that under those circumstances, lindsey graham and other members of the republican party ought to stand up and speak out about what's going on. this is a danger to us, our children and even their children. and for people to say i don't care. this is not a big deal, we all want to know everything we can find out about what's happened

also joining us graham allison. he's a professor at harvard. author of a brand new book.ou see the book jacket there. "de "t "destined for war". liz, how concerned are you? >> we have seen the north yo koreans test five nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. we have to be concerned not about provocation but actually the fact that these tests mean that the north korean leader is improving his capablilities and his intent is to make a missile with a warhead and send it to attack either our partners in the lesion or potentially the home land. very concerning. >> and graham, let me ask you, the president, he tweeted this and i'll put it up on the screen. north korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor china by shooting off yet another ballistic missile but china is trying hard. you've just written a whole book about the u.s./china relationship. how realistic is it to think china will help contain north korea? >> i think it's the best hope that he has but not very promising. the mar-a-lago with the summit with xi he basically said everybody else has not been able to

a reputation for being bipartisan on capitol hill it is lindsey graham and she issued a week excuse, you didn't give me enough time, you gave me two week notice but after the unmasking scandal she was available so to testify in front of congress is pretty important and seems disrespectful to the people you are serving. when we talk about sensitive issues that affect american people's lives, come before them. if you are not hiding anything, let's do that. the public deserves semantics from susan rice, the washington post fact checkers, she has issues with the truth. dagen: are these hearings worst taxpayer dollars? >> they are. it will be interesting to hear from sally yates, we heard after the wiretapping from republicans and democrats she didn't break procedure to know what was going on in trump tower so that without but i agree but the larger point please should talk about the nsa, who can be requesting this information and is curious the invitation was only 1-sided and i am a big fan of lindsay graham in the trump era, him and john mccain, really put the country above party in und

>> i didn't see senator graham. but i want to join him in wishing all the moms of america, yours, chuck, and particularly mi mine, god willing, who will turn 89 in three weeks. >> all right. let me go to the issue of a special prosecutor. why do you believe it needs to be done? as you know, senator ben sass indicated if you do that it is sending a message you don't trust the intel committee to do their work, a vote of no confidence there. shouldn't you let them do their job to see if they can do it without a special prosecutor? >> well, there are two separate lines of activity here. one is the oversight function of the intelligence committee, they're doing their job. mark warner has done a very good job. i had some differences it would senator burr and in the last week, some people tell me he was very upset with comey's firing, and i hope it continues. they can't prosecute. the special counsel of the justice department has the ability to prosecute people for violations of wall. they go on in tandem. one shouldn't st

>> i know senator graham will have strong ideas what tot do on offense. i will say on defense we need to do things like clean up our incorporation law, something i feel very strongly about so russians and other folks can't hide behind shell corporations with nobody able to find them. we're becoming in the united states of america the last haven for criminals who want to hide behind shell corporations as countries around the world including the eu clean up their act. we have specific things we can do to defend american democracy by making sure the public sees what's going on and who is behind the dark operations of people who want to influence politics. >> senator graham, i have 30 seconds. go ahead on offense. >> sanction the hell out of putin and his inner circle. we haven't done enough in the energy circle and their personal finances. hit them hard and pass my bill that will hit putin and his inner circle hard for trying to undermine our election and democracy around the world. make him pay a price. >> you got your 30 seconds. >> my one piece, i want to

lindsey graham had not been afraid to question the president before ted cruz.ill they be regretting those statements as more information comes out? james comey had his detractors, his defendants. they will be out getting their side of the story. david: all right, megan, tim, eli, thank you. tim o'brien, executive editor of "bloomberg view," megan murphy of "bloomberg businessweek," and eli lake, a columnist with "bloomberg view." coming up, former house advisor pico struck -- pete hoekstra. that is coming up. and a life conference is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. we will carry that for you live here on bloomberg television. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ i believe the investigation will go forward. both parties at different times have called for the dismissal of mr. comey. this is not watergate. in terms of what the congress is going to do, i want to know all things russia. david: republican senator from south carolina lindsey graham third lawmakers continue to react to james comey's dismissal. richard burr issued the following statement that says, "i am surprised by the timi

jack graham, a past president of the southern baptist convention and pastor of preston wood baptist church in dallas, texas. cardinal whirl, arch by shop of washington, d.c. and rabbi marvin heir, found enand dean of the simon weisethal center in los angeles, california. >> would you pray with me? we do humble ourselves before you, our great god. we thank you for your amazing grace. that brought us into your family and brought us here together today. for your love that restores and renews us and this nation in times like these. how we thank you for your provision and protection in our lives and upon our nation. we pray for president trump and his family. we pray for vice president pence and his family and members of cabinet. we pray that you would give them wisdom and strength and guidance as they make decisions that lead the way to restoring america and renewing our hopes in you. we do know, o god, our ultimate hope is in you and you alone. you are our life. and you are our only hope. we pray for one another that we would be strong in our own faiths, in our commitment and our courage to o

fellow republican lindsey graham disagreed with that. cornyn is a wonderful man under normal circumstances would be a sur person choice to be fbi director. these are not normal circumstances. we have a chance to reset as a nation. the president has a chance to clean up the mess he mostly created. james comey has declined to testify tomorrow. according to "new york times" he is willing to testify, but wants it tote be public. perfect timing for lindsey graham who said this on chuck todd, meet the press. >> need to have comey come before the judiciary committee and clear the air. did the president ever say anything to the director of the fbi that would be construed of trying to impede the investigation. the president called me about the firing and referenced the comey testimony last week and judiciary committee about how bad it was. that's all i know. it's time to call the fbi director before the country at large and explain what happened at the dinner. >> the dinner is significant considering it happened just two days after acting sally y

in a letter obtained exclusively by cnn and i have it here to chairman graham as well as the ranking democrat, sheldon whilehouse, rice's lawyer writes, quote, senator whitehouse has informed us by letter that he did not agree to chairman graham's invitation to ambassador rice, a significant departure from the bipartisan invitations extended to other witnesses. under these circumstances, ambassador rice respectfully declines senator graham's invitation to testify. i should add that a source familiar with rice's discussions tell cnn that when senator graham invited her, riggs believed the invitation was bipartisan, and she was then prepared to accept that invitation. however, senator whitehouse indicated to her in a let that's right invitation was made without his agreement as he believed that her presence was not relevant to the topic of the hearing. rice considered the invitation a diversionary play to distract attention from the investigation into the russian election interference, including contacts between trump allies and russians during the campaign. graham told cnn earlier, cn

i think once it was probably brought to the president, i think lindsey graham is right. there are probably issues of loyalty that were involved here. there were issues concerning other members of the trump campaign staff that had had relationships with the russians, and where would this possibly end? all of those considerations probably came into play, but very frankly none of that, none of that, should have interfered with the president of the united states taking the right step here which would be to immediately fire general flynn because the possibility of having a national security advisers who might be involved by the russians and that blackmail wouldn't involve money but information from the national security adviser, that would be a serious national security threat to this country. >> we know after 18 days he was fired but only after "the washington post" reported the information suggesting that there was this problem. i don't know this, but a former trump transition was asked how much vetting was done on michael flynn before he was named national security vicer.

i think senator graham, you may have misunderstood me. you asked me whether i was aware of any evidence of collusion and i declined to answer because answering would reveal classified information. i believe that's the same answer that director comey gave to this committee when he was asked this question as well and he made clear and i'd like to make clear that because i say i can't answer it, you should not draw from that an assumption that that means the answer is yes. >> fair enough. >> i also think if i may this illustrate what is i was trying to get at in my statement about the unique position that the fbi straddles between intelligence and law enforcement. >> i just want the country to know whatever they did on the intelligence side mr. clapper didn't know about it and it wasn't in the report and we'll see what comes from it. ms. yates, what did you tell the white house about mr. flynn? >> i had two in-person meetings and one phone call with the white house counsel about mr. clin. the first meeting was january 26, i called don mcgahn

. >> earlier when chairman graham asked you that, you declined to answer. >> i may have misunderstood. >> so you have no information of any interceptions of the bernie sanders campaign, the hillary clinton campaign or any other candidate in 2016 or campaigns? >> no. >> okay. >> let's re-visit the topic, mrs. yates that you and senator cornyn were talking about. is it correct the contusion invests the executive authority in a president? >> yes. >> if a attorney general disagrees with the policy decision of the president, a policy decision that is lawful, does the attorney general have the opportunity to direct the department of justice to defy the president's order? >> i don't know whether the attorney general has the authority to do that but i don't think it's a good idea. that's not what i did in this case. >> are you familiar with 8 usc section 11802? >> not off the top of my head. >> it's the binding statutory authority for the executive order that you refused to implement and that led to your termination. it is a relevant and not a terribly obscure statute. but the expressed text

spicer: the president was aware of senator graham's suggestion and he's fine with that. he has no business in russia, no connections to russia. he welcomes that. a fact, he's already charged leading law firm in washington, d.c. to send a certified letter to senator graham to that point. that should be a really easy look. matt? matt: two questions on two different topics. yates, you said she was a strong supporter of hillary clinton. press sec. spicer: she was rumored to play a large role in the justice department -- >> it was reported that the fired usher received a generous severance package. press sec. spicer: i will get back to you on that. that today, we learned first learned of the travel ban while reading the newspaper -- was that an obamashe was appointee and clinton supporter? why was the acting attorney general not notified? press sec. spicer: i don't know we talkedsn't -- about all the proper individuals that needed to be made aware were made aware of at the time. ultimatelyeone who didn't even want to enforce it. >> [indiscernible] press sec. spicer: ultimatel

how much of a thorn in the side is senator sigdlindsey graham? >> i think we heard from the president after sally yates' testimony where he tweeted multiple times about this idea of collusion between trump team members and russian operatives describing it as a total hoax. they have tried to distance themself from that issue. we're getting our two-minute warning, katy. we should see sean in a moment. but they have distanced themself from this idea that president trump had any improper relations, any improper contacts with russia. it is a point that i expect he'll try to punctuate again here today. >> nbc's peter alexander. we'll let you sit down and monitor. as soon as sean spicer does come out, we'll bring it to you live. >>> but for the moment, former under secretary of defense for intelligence, and former ambassador to the u.s. russian confederation and an msnbc contributor. gentlemen, with the warning i might have to interrucpt you to go to sean spicer, first, ambassador mcfaul, can you tell our audience why it would be relevant to find out mo

so i thank chairman graham is our ranking white house members for these hearings. i just had a number of town hall meetings and hundreds of people came. and believe me, they care that we get to the bottom of this. the trump administration blames president obama for failing to suspend general flynn's clearance. in a press conference today, sean spicer said, quote, every one in the gov goes through the same process and quote, he said, quote, there's no difference of a security clearance once it is issued. and basically as far as this administration is kerneled, nothing more needed to be done by them regarding general flynn's clearance. director clapper, isn't it true the fbi has a separate vetting process for national security council appointees? and they reported that he never completed process. can you enlighten us? >> i can't speak to specifics to how it was done with general flynn. i know what i the went through as a political appointee twice, in a republican and democratic administration. and the vetting process for either a political appointee or someone workin

marks a rare break with mccain from lindsey graham. lindsey graham voiced support for the firing of comey. >> on the other side of the aisle, democrats calling for a special prosecutor. senate minority leader, chuck schumer. >> this investigation must be run as far away as possible from this white house and as far away as possible from anyone that president trump has appointed. >> president trump ready to fire right back on twitter. quote, crying chuck schumer stated recently i do not have confidence in him, james comey any longer then act so indignant drain the swamp. with more reaction let's bring in phil mattingly. >> reporter: two words uttered most by both republicans and democrats in the wake of that stunning firing of fbi director james comey was shock and surprise. with the exception of top congressional leaders the vast majority of lawmakers on capitol hill simply were not informed. according to several gop aides i spoke to they didn't know how to respond. they were calling office to office to unify their statement. they weren