this morning tweeting former homeland security adviser jeh johnson is the latest top intelligence official to state there was no grand scheme between trump and russia.

senators with tough questions for the nation's top intelligence officials. all of them though, refusing to say whether or not president trump had asked them to intervene in comey's russia investigation. >> and new this half-hour, we are going courtside at nba finals. >> yes we are, game three. turning into an epic nail biter with lebron james, battling hard to keep his kingdom from crumbling. we'll have a full wrap-up including preview of the upcoming do or die game four. in case you are wondering if tlc is hating on scrubs, the answer is, they are. they still don't want your number. some are still trying to holler at them on twitter. take a look at how tlc is trolling scrubs hanging out on the passenger side of their best friend's ride on this thursday, june 8th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." ♪ ♪ >> and oh, what a man to rock into a thursday morning. >> i don't want no -- >> i don't want no -- >> you know what i think in the years since "scrubs came out" we as a fellow scrub owned it. we are okay with the title. i don't mind being a scrub. >>

two top intelligence officials who he appointed to their jobs. the director of national intelligence dan coats and cia director mime pompeo. "washington post" reports the president then asked the director of national intelligence dan coats if he if he could get the fbi to stop its russia-related investigation into mike flynn. that's what is reported by "the washington post." did that ask from the president actually happen? well, what's the evidence? the director of national intelligence dan coats said he wouldn't talk about it or answer it in open session in congress, but investigators do have someways to try to figure it out. first of all, they can have the intelligence director dan coats back to testify not in the open but in a closed door classified session to see if he would talk about this matter then. director of national intelligence dan coats reportedly did spend three hours in closed session with the senate intelligence committee last week. there is also, though, the possibility of other people. they say dan coats told several other peopl

there were lots of intelligence officials briefing the president on the attack. en it came to that part of it, the intelligence director at the time, jas clapper, said jas comey personally should do that part of the briefing one-on-one with donald trump instead of in front of everyone else to spare mr. trump any embarrassment those allegations might cause. we've never heard that today and learned that today from james comey statement. another thing we learned today, comey says although he and trump had already multiple times comey staying on as fbi director, comey says at a one-on-one dinner that happened a few days after the inauguration, one-on-one dinner in the green room at the white house, trump raised the issue of comey holding the fbi director job again, as if they had never discussed it before. the way that comey describes it, he says basically trump raised the question of him holding the fbi director job in a way that seemed like he maybe wanted to use it as leverage against director comey. here's how he describes it quote the president began by asking me

intelligence officials were with holding sensitive intelligence information from president trump because they were concerned it could be leaked or compromised if they told it to him. that was incredibly controversial reporting in february. almost unbelievable at the time. the administration said there was absolutely no way that was happening. i, of course, don't know whether or not u.s. spies were keeping intelligence from trump because of leak concerns as far back as february. if tonight's bombshell from the washington post is correct it seems clear that any such concerns would have been very well founded. joining us now is one of the "washington post" reporters who broke the story tonight. congratulations on the scoop. thank you for being here to help us understand it. i'm not going to ask youo talk about your sources. can you tell us a little bit about when you started chasing the story down, how long after the president's meetings with russian officials did the work on the story start? >> not that much long after because the meeting wasn't that long ago. we had been working on it for

but it sure looks like it's happening but if our own justice and intelligence officials cannot police themselves and produce the very people that have leaked information, that have unmasked information, i will join with many of my friends on the democratic side of the aisle to vote against them ever having those types of owers again. from what we keep finding out, i'm sure somebody has been going through my background with a fine tooth comb looking for anything so they can take me out . good luck. probably most americans are committing a number of federal crimes a day we don't even know about. so apparently it can be done if heritage is right, as i think they are. but the fact is, it ought to scare every american that there is much -- is this much federal intervention in their own personal lives. truth is, we've got to get rid of the consumer finance no ection bureau, they have right, they have no authority under our constitution to gather people's financial information unless there is proximate cause to believe a crime has been -- probable cause to believe a crime has been committed

sargento sweet balanced breaks, find it in our cheese section. >> shepard: two of america's top intelligence officials have refused to say whether the president asked them to play down the investigation into the team trump ties to russia. this happened hours ago during a senate intelligence committee hearing on capitol hill. it was supposed to focus on the surveillance of foreign intelligence targets. the russia matter became a big topic of discussion. lawmakers grilled dan coats and the nsa director, mike rogers, about reports that the president asked them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence that the trump team coordinated with the russians. there's not been a denial. director coats and admiral rogers say they never felt pressured to interfere in the russia investigation but refused to testify publicly about any conversations with president trump on that matter. here's a line of questioning from the republican senator marco rubio. listen. >> are you prepared to say that you have never been asked by the president or the white house influence an ongoing investigation? >> senator, i just hate

>> james clapper was then the director of national intelligence, the nation's senior most intelligence official. >> at that first warning, was it clear to you how serious it would become? >> no i don't think it was, because obviously the russians have us as maybe the primary intelligence target anyway. >> the first quiet warning came september 2015, when a mid-level fbi agent notified the democratic national committee that russian hackers had compromised at least one dnc commuter. >> they left a phone message at the help desk of the dnc, they didn't create it with the kind of seriousness i think it deserved. >> that was the fbi's first direct contact with the dnc, a message left for a low-level computer technician who did not return the call. >> it's a busy place they got a lot of stuff to do. i suspect if they had to do it over they'd do it differently. >> the employee did scan the system networks but found nothing. and the it department aparnl did not share the fbi concerns with more senior dnc staff. the brief would prove to be enormous, hackers gaining access to countless e-mails, communica

"the new york times" headline which is just posted is mueller seeks to talk to intelligence officialstrump. the times is fleshing out the fact that mueller has requested interviews with three high-ranking or former intelligence officials, people who were not involved with the trump campaign. the times describing this as an indication that he will investigate whether trump obstructed justice. the post is reporting that he is investigating trump for that. the times is reporting that it is indicated that he is likely doing that. so there is a slight shade in difference between the two papers. the times, though, also reports that the mueller investigation has asked the nsa for documents and notes related to the nsa's interaction with the white house as part of the russia investigation. joining us for some perspective on this is msnbc chief legal correspondent ari melber. ari, thank you for this. i appreciate you being here. >> sure. >> i should say first that the president's personal lawyer has put out a statement in response to "the washington post" report saying that this is an outrageo

the nation's top intelligence officials are refusing to say what they discussed with president trump mes comey offers to provide play-by-play of his conversations. >> director of national intelligence, dan coats and national security intelligence agency officers, were grilled by the same committee comey will face. they denied or confirmed allegations that president trump asked them to intervene in the investigation into election meddling. >> i had never been directed to do anything i believe to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate. to the best of mu wreck lendtion during the same period of service i don't recall ever feeling pressured to do so. >> let me ask you specifically. did the president, the reports that are out there, sku ask you in any way, shape, form, to, to -- back off or downplay the russian investigation? >> i am not going to discuss the specifics of conversations with the president of the united states. i stand by the comment i made to you, sir. >> i do not feel it is appropriate for me to in the public session in which confidential conversations between the

. >> as the tense hearing today other intelligence officials wouldn't say if the president asked them to sway the russia probe. the acting f.b.i. director setting the stage for thursday. >> i think i will let director comey speak for himself tomorrow in front of the committee. >> ray would be tasked with determining two has been leaking information at highest level of government and convincing the general public that the top law enforcement agency working without any political add or influence. many f.b.i. agents told me that the biggest agenda is that the next director not be a politician. saying the former prosecutor and the investigator checks at least that box. but all eyes, all the attention on the previous director and that system we are waiting for tomorrow. michelle? >> thank you. abc7 has posted comey's entire seven-page statement to the website. head to wjla.com. jonathan: the questions that will follow the statement with the fireworks will begin and that has many planning to watch the testimony. >> i'm interested to what is going to come out of it. >> i could probably watch

what does that tell you that both intelligence officials are saying? >> i believe if they could have denied what was being alleged in the washington post this moshing they probably would have done it. but if they did hear something they should say something to the american people. we are talking about interference in our elections. allegations involving the white house and president's campaign. if the president was asking them to be involved in the russian investigation, we have a right to know. >> some are using the word coverup. you're not ready to go that far? >> certainly not. >> what these individuals did one, they were told this, but it is too early to go there, wolf. >> thanks so much for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> we have a lot more coming into "the situation room." much more on breaking news right after this. this is the new new york. we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment. new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorr

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reporter: the former intelligence source tells nbc news mueller requested interviews with top intelligence officials including director of national intelligence daniel coats that appear in a closed question. >> there is rarely a smoking gun so a prosecutor tries to string together a pattern of conduct to paint a picture of someone trying to stop an investigation. >> reporter: today trump surrogate newt gingrich tweeting should be clear, mueller is the anti trump counsel but other republicans depending the probe. >> it's not a witch hunt but he has a job to do. >> reporter: the criminal inquiry come g 146 days into mr. trump's presidency any other modern day president including richard nixon and bill clinton. >> this now is more than drip, drip, drip and it should continue in a way that is very politically perilous. >> reporter: tonight the vice president's office says mr. pence retained a personal lawyer to represent him in the special counsel investigation as for the president, even if muller finds obstruction of justice, only congress can take action. a sitting president cannot be indicted, only i

and i've got to say this has left intelligence officials current and former pretty dismayed. i spoke to one senior intelligence official who said he just wished that the president would get beyond this notion that he has to protect his election and, therefore, not acknowledge that there was any attempts to influence it. however, this new report from the washington post details pretty firmly what other intelligence officials have told me, that, yes, they knew that putin was directly behind this attempt and that the obama administration was grappling trying to figure out just exactly what to do. >> now, in terms of the response what to do, this report has drawn criticism of the obama administration not doing enough to expose the intelligence and then to punish russia. as president trump points out in his tweets. but this current administration hasn't been bold in its response to russia. is there reason for trump's team to hold back? >> that's another area of concern. there was, among the intelligence officials i have spoken to, some worry that this administration, like others b

. >>> tonight, a cnn exclusive with two of the country's top intelligence officials said behind closed doors about the president leaning on them about trying to get a message out that there was no collusion with russia. ...where each drop was formulated to be smarter.... ...even smarter than that... ...so if a color didn't go on evenly, it would balance itself out to reveal its truest, richest state. if a paint could realize the fullest potential of any color... ...you have to wonder... is it still paint? aura interior from benjamin moo®e . only available at independently owned paint and hardware stores. i was thinking around 70. to and before that?re? you mean after that? no, i'm talking before that. do you have things you want to do before you retire? i'd really like to run with the bulls. wow. hope you're fast. i am. get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change with investment management services. previously treated withd platinum-based chemotherapy, including those with an abnormal alk or egfr gene who've tried an fda-approved targeted therapy, here's a question:

: the former intelligence source tells nbc news mueller has requested interviews with top intelligence officials including director of national intelligence daniel coats who appeared on capitol hill in a closed session. >> there's really a smoking gun. so a prosecutor tries to string together a pattern of conduct, to paint a picture of someone who is trying to stop an investigation. >> trump surrogate newt gingrich tweeting, should be clear, mueller is the anti-trump special counsel, but other republicans defending the probe. >> it's not a witch hunt, no. i think he's got a job to do. >> reporter: the criminal inquiry coming 146 days into mr. trump's presidency, starting earlier than any other modern day president, including richard nixon and bill clinton. >> nbc's kristen welker reporting. vice president mike pence has retained an outside counsel to represent him. while responding to special counsel mueller's inquiries, his private attorney is richard cullen whose experience includes working for lawmakers during both the watergate and iran contra scandals. >>> today is day five of jury delibera

that very committee heard from top intelligence officials. >> i have never been directed to do anything illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate. i do not recall ever feeling pressured to do so >> heated testimony as roger alongside with nationally intelligence, the fbi director all answered questions >> comey's remarks are taking center stage, he's expected to say that president trump told him during a january dinner that quote, i need loyalty, i expect loyalty. >> fox 5 tom fitzgerald live on capitol hill fitz. there was really important stuff we heard that ran counter to what comey will say and plus now we're learning that we may know who's going to run the fbi. >> reporter: a beat of a pregame, if you will to the big game tomorrow. jim and sarah, we learned about this this afternoon, the statement, the opening statement that former fired fbi director james comey is going to deliver to the senate intelligence committee was released in addition to the part you just mentioned there is going to be a section tomorrow which comey is going to explain a phone call that allegedly went fr

the nation's senior-most intelligence official. at that first warning, was it clear to you how serious it would become? >> no, i don't think it was because obviously the russians have us as a primary, maybe the primary, intelligence target, anyway. >> the first quiet warning came september 2015 when a mid-level fbi agent notified the democratic national committee that russian hackers had compromised at least one dnc computer. >> they left a phone message at the help desk of the dnc. they didn't treat it with the kind of seriousness i think that it deserved. >> that was the fbi's first direct contact with the dnc. a message left for a low-level computer technician who did not return the fbi's call. >> the bureau, it's a busy place, they got lots of stuff to do, but i suspect if they had it to do over again, they probably would try to do it differently in retrospect. >> the dnc technician, an outsourced employee, did scan the system networks but found nothing. and the i.t. department apparently did not share the fbi's concerns with mo

intelligence officials remain tight-lipped in a high- stakes congressional hearing about whether the president has tried to influence them. >> you could clear an awful lot up by simply saying "it never happened." >> i don't share-- i do not share with the general public, conversations that i have with the president. >> woodruff: also d,

the only similarity you have are highly placed intelligence officials leaking to the press.we don't have a crime yet. it is far past time for the intelligence officials who've been playing this game and putting out innuendos to give us substance. put up or shut up. >> bret: when you read this half way through, we don't get a sense of collusion. we have not had any leaks of specific collusion. as of yet. but we are starting to get that the focus is on possible obstruction. >> well, i don't know if jim clapper spoke before or after this comey thing came out. whether his view would've been different if you'd read it but i do think he's just going off half-cocked. too early to draw the comparison. i find it ironic that, considering jim clapper was in the middle of the last big scandal that was supposed to be worse than watergate, the thing about the nsa were a lot of people don't think he was forthright with congress but he's doing some stuff there. it looks to me like what we know is that the president, in my judgment, had a conversation with jim comey he shouldn't have had. tr

. >>> now, the indictment alleges that chinese intelligence officials in exchange for documents, some of them top secret. the indictment also says that mallory and chinese intelligence officials were using a special device to communicate and transmit documents. neighbors here say that the federal investigators rolled on to the block this morning. as you can see still here this evening executing the search warrant. neighbors, though, had very little to say about mallory. they don't know him well. they say the family really keeps to themselves. when i join at news 4 at 6:00 a look at some of those conversations between the chinese intelligence officials and mallory. those conversations captured on that device. back to you. >> julie carey, thank you. >>> the man who opened fire inside a d.c. pizza shop will have to spend the next four years in prison. it's connected in northwest. days before the election, related to hacked e-mails relating to hillary clinton's campaign chair. in december a man to investigate a fake news story about child trafficking. in march that same man, edgar welch,

>> so as comey offers a play-by-play of his conversations, the nation's top intelligence officials did quite the opposite, refusing to say what they discussed with the president. the director of national intelligence, dan coats, and national security agency director mike rogers declined to confirm or deny reports that president trump asked them to intervene in the investigation into the russian meddling. >> i think your unwillingness to answer speaks volumes. >> why are you not answering. >> i feel it is inappropriate. >> what you feel isn't relevant. >> i stand by the comments i made. i'm not interested in repeating myself, sir, and i don't mean that in a contentious way. >> i do. i don't understand why you're not answering our questions. >> things did get heated indeed. the intel chiefs say they never felt pressure to interfere with the russia probe. the director of national intelligence said he would be more than willing to answer all questions in a closed session. >>> it could be weeks before the senate committee considers the fbi nominee. christopher wray was a top ranking officia

he served under president obama media reports about what intelligence officials say and that it's been his experience that the media often get those wrong. that they're relying upon a chain of reporting that is -- >> i'm just asking you what he talked about. >> well, jared, he's been willing to cooperate and he's willing to go and say what he knows, but i think there's so much speculation out there and usually gone through a negative lens. let's give him a chance to say what he know. >> that's what i was trying to ask you. you're not prepared to say what he was talking about right now. >> no. >> on the issue of james comey will the president invoke executive privilege or does he want former director comey to testify before congress. >> we'll watch with the rest of the world. the last time he testified unoath the fbi had to scurry to correct it. he was off by hundreds of thousands in his count, his sworn testimony count of the number of information -- the number of e-mails huma abedin sent to her husband anthony weiner. >> so the president will not invoke executive privilege. >> the pre

officials suspect russian hackers planted a fake news story that caused a rift with american allies. we have the stories covered with jessica schneider live on capitol hill. >> reporter: chris, the senate intelligence committee is gearing up for two days of testimony. it starts with officials testifying and tomorrow fired fbi director james comey. today's hearing is scheduled to focus on the reauthorization of the fisa. senators will delve deeply into the controversy and the russia probe. america's top intelligence official dan coats set to testify today amid washington post reporting that president trump asked coats to intervene and ask the fbi to back off the probe of michael flynn. two days after then fbi director comey confirmed the potential collusion of the trump campaign and russia. this after cnn reported that president trump asked coats to publicly deny the existence of evidence supporting the probe and a conversation coats declined to comment. >> i don't feel it is appropriate to discuss. >> reporter: coats is one of several officials set to face a grilling today over encounters with president trump. including deputy attorney general rod rosenstein who will answer questions pbly for the f

it showed the president went further than just asking intelligence officials to publicly deny the existence of any evidence showing collusion during the election, which is what "the washington post" reported in may. this interaction with coats indicates that trump aimed to enlist top officials to try to get the fbi to curtail their probe. and because, of course, the trump/russia story allows for no rest, this story breaks tonight, the night before dan coats is scheduled to testify tomorrow before the senate intelligence committee in open session. it's good to be back. i was kind of expecting a slower roll back into the news, but i can take it. i should tell you also that moments ago, there was a statement put out from the spokesperson for the office of the director of national intelligence pushing back on this story. do we actually have the -- do we have the written statement? we have the -- oh, we have the written statement in my teleprompter. i do not have it written down. this is the statement from the director of national intelligence spokesperson. quote, director coats does not discuss

the fire could have had about $125,000 in damage. >>> two of the top intelligence officials in the usunder oath. they never felt pressure from the white house or president trump to help shutdown the investigation, this comes on the heels of reports that dan coats was asked by the president to help in the effort and happened at the senate intelligence committee where fired fbi director james comey will testify tomorrow, let's get you out to tom fzg the can capitol with more. hi, fitz. >> reporter: good evening, there hasn't been a lot of good news from the white house on this russian investigation. what happened at capitol will no doubt be welcome lid warmly by the separation. both the director of national intelligence, dan coats and mike rogers both testified under oath that they did not receive pressure from the white house or the president himself in regards to stepping in or interfering with the russian investigation. in fact, admiral rogers under questioning from mark warner today, said flatly it never happened. >> i had never been direct to do anything i believed to be illegal, m

scotla nd intelligence officials directly.n that today, but yesterday, they did tell us that the first of the men to be named, khuram butt, had been investigated by them and mi5 since 2015, and investigated by them and m15 since 2015, and of course, that, that, that led to him slipping down the list of priorities, because they had not seen any evidence of attack planning. that is the problem we have got, it used to be the security services were looking out for men trying to get hold of bomb—making equipment, trying to get hold of weapons. all these men had to do was go to be and queue, hire a van and get hold of some knives, you could have planned it in an afternoon. —— b&q. that is very difficult to spot. as we heard, across the country, from glasgow to cardiff and london, a minute's silence has been held to remember the victims of saturday's attack. today australian kirsty boden became the third victim to be named. and, in the last few minutes, a french national who was killed, alexandre pigeard, french national who was kill

they really wanted these national intelligence officials to say that the president pressured them. when admiral rogers got up and said never have i been pressured or asked to do anything unethical or unlawful or even inappropriate, that seems to kind of take the air out of that balloon. >> i think this is sort of a preview of what we are going to see tomorrow, trying to get out the distinction or the difference between what was asked, what was pressured by the president to these officials. from what i could gather watching the testimony earlier today, the two major officials, dan coats and admiral rogers, they did not concede or admit that the president asked them to try to intervene in some way with that investigation. they did deny any pressure from the white house or any orders or direction to do so. that's a distinction that viewers and i think citizens will have to make. was it inappropriate for the president to ask questions of comey, of rogers, dan coats, and is that different from pressuring them to do so? it's more of a great area on the former point. >> there is a report

next week, soon, we may also see the intelligence officials that we saw last week.rlie, this is why for months, even years, the president is going to be living with this. if you look up past scandals, if you look up past independent prosecutors, if you look at the timeline for them, nothing is fored, and the real peril the president is the one thing we know about federal investigations -- and charlie, you have covered so many of them over the years -- may take time. they do not rush. here is the thing people in the white house worry about and why they worry about mueller so much more than comey. a federal investigation never ends where it starts. they start with the topic and that gives them license to look at your email. in this case, they are even looking at the president's business. i bet they wind up with his tax returns. your viewers know how much effort he has gone to, how much of a price he is willing to pay, to avoid that. charlie: mueller is most likely to end up with the tax returns, is he not? mike: he might already have them. [laughter] charlie: you are

and in washington, intelligence officials testify in the senate refusing to say for now if donald trumpion. theresa may says the question now is the same as it was at the beginning of the campaign. it's all about the leader. who do you trust to actually have the strong and stable leadership that is going to deliver the best dealfor britain in europe? jeremy corbyn has addressed more than 80 rallies — he says britain faces a clear choice — cuts or no cuts. five more years of tory cuts, longer waiting lists, underfunded schools in many parts of the country and hope under labour.

reporting that justice department special counsel robert mueller is interviewing three top intelligence officials as part of the probe as early as this week. the washington post's report comes the same week chris ruddy, a friend of president trump, floated the possibility that the president would fire mueller. in a statement-- a spokesman for the president's private attorney condemned the post's report saying, quote "the f-b-i leak of information regarding the president inexcusable and illegal." coming up-- we are learning new details about a deadly apartment fire in london. residents inside had only minutes to escape, and critics are now talking about why that blaze spread so quickly. washed out, sometimes. washed up? never. increases cell renewal. boosts skin's rosy tone - instantly. new age perfect rosy tone from l'oreal paris. and we're still worth it. introducing fios gigabit connection. superfast internet at an incredible price. with speeds up to 940 megs. that's 20x faster than most people have. and, it's just $79.99 a month online for 1 year. and only $5 more per month for the second year

senators struggled to get any answers from president trump's intelligence chiefs as dramatic reports swirl about trump asking those very officialssmiss russia allegations related to his campaign. >> if any of this is true, it would be an appalling and improper use of our intelligence professionals, an act if true could erode the public's trust in our intelligence institutions. >> reporter: seemingly straightforward denials from two key players today on capitol hill. >> to the best of my recollection i have never been directed to do anything i believe to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate, and to the best of my recollection during that same period of service i do not recall ever feeling pressured to do so. >> in my time of service, which is interacting with the president of the united states or anybody in his administration, i have never been pressured. i have never felt pressure to intervene or interfere in any way. >> reporter: but knows answers proceeded to unravel, question after question through parsing, dodging or just outright refusal to respond. >> you realize how simple it would simply be to say no, that nev

intelligence officials remain tight-lipped in a high- stakes congressional hearing about whether the president has tried to influence them. >> you could clear an awful lot up by simply saying "it never happened." >> i don't share-- i do not share with the general public, conversations that i have with the president. >> woodruff: also ahead, a twist on terrorism in the middle east. a stunning dual attack in iran leaves at least 12 dead and 40 wounded, with isis claiming responsibility. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention, in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and wit

and cnn has learned that investigators will soon talk to key intelligence officials. it's the clearest sign yet that mueller's probe into russian interference in the u.s. election is expanding. tonight, the president of the united states under investigation for possible obstruction of justice. according to the "washington post," special counsel robert mueller is looking into whether trump asked the fbi director, james comey, to drop the investigation into fired national security adviser, michael flynn, before firing comey. trump admitted to nbc news that the fbi investigation into his campaign's ties to russia was a factor in the termination. >> in fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story. >> reporter: but ken starr, former special counsel, whose investigation of president clinton ultimately led to his impeachment says it's a tough case to make. >> obstruction of justice is really a very hard crime to make out. it's not just, you want the investigation to go away, you suggest tha

police and intelligence officials were familiar with him, but they say they had no reason to believeattack was being planned. (james) now lets get a check of weather and traffic. (anny hong): dry and seasonable weather continues through wednesday with the marine layer around 1000 feet along the coast. by thursday morning a late season cold front brings light rain into the north bay. the south bay and monterey bay region will likely remain dry and may actually warm in the warm and moist sector of the storm on thursday. cool northwest flow then develops on friday as the upper trough moves inland. high pressure begins to rebuild over the weekend with a return to dry weather and a gradual warming trend. no major hot spots. san mateo bridge less then 30 min from 880 to 101. bay bridge wb 80 is less then 30 min from the maze to sf. . golden gat bridge drive time less than 30 min from 37 to the toll plaza. ( james ) the justice department has charged a federal contractor who leaked classified information. 25-year-old reality leigh winner is accused of printing a classified national security

one of those officials, the director of national intelligence, dan coats, was questioned by the senate intelligence committee in closed session today. coats and the national security agency director, admiral mike rodgers refused to answer any key questions during a public hearing last week. also breaking. we're standing by for an unusual show of bipartisan unity as members of congress compete in their annual charity baseball game despite yesterday's shooting attack on republicans during their practice. house republican whip steve scalise still in critical condition undergoing a third surgery after being seriously wounded. i'll talk about those stories and more with senator richard blumenthal. he's a democrat on the judiciary committee that's also expanding its russia investigation and our correspondents and specialists are also standing by. let's go to jessica schneider. as the president vents on twitter again, this special counsel is ramping up its investigation. >> reporter: robert mueller will soon talk to several key intelligence officials that marks the clearest sign yet that muel

plus, first on cnn, a top intelligence official telling lawmakers he still can't convince trump that russia meddled in the election. and the president teases a quote, unquote great surprise with the health care bill. is he turning this into a reality tv show? let's go out front. >> good eve innievening. the president about to arrive at a mega million dollar fundraiser. here is what you need to know. $35,000 a plate. it is for his own re-election campaign for president and it is being held at his own hotel in washington. wow. he's only been on the top for five months. the 2020 presidential election is about 40 months away. let me just say that again. 40 months away. protesters tonight are already lining up outside the hotel. and there are some major questions, okay? never mind the historical proposition of running for re-election. how about who's paying for the hotel being held at the president's international trump hotel and where is the money going? jim, they were letting the media in earlier today. changed their minds. what is going on? >> reporter: well, you remember the president

we also know that robert mueller is going to be interviewing within days senior intelligence officialsincluding dan coats, who is the head of the dni, the director of national intelligence, and also the head of the nsa and his deputy. and the reason that those people are going to be interviewed by special counsel mueller is that they had conversations also with trump. for example, coats, shortly after he was confirmed, was in with the president at the white house, and the president said to him, is there anything you can do to get comey to back off the investigation into flynn? he also called coats and mike rogers, the head of the nsa, and asked if they would go out publicly and say that there was no evidence of collusion with the trump campaign. >> sari, every prosecutor comes on and says everything is on the table. everyone is being investigated for everything, or is this something that really should have the white house alarmed tonight? i only have the information that i'm hearing here, but all prosecutors say, everybody's being investigated all the time, or is this really they're ze

confirmed that part of the story, but we do know that investigators are interviewing top intelligence officials as we speak. either way, the president is reacting to the news with a tweet saying, quote, they made up a phoney collusion with the russian story. found zero proof. so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phoney story. nice. it's possible we'll hear more from the white house during an off camera briefing from the deputy white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders later this hour. we will of course monitor that. our other top story right now, a change of tone up on capitol hill. in the wake of the shooting at a congressional baseball practice. the majority whip steve scalise is in critical condition and undergoing a third surgical procedure. president trump today saying scalise is still in some trouble. >> he's in some trouble. he's a great fighter and he's going to be okay we hope. we've had a very, very divided country for many years and i have a feeling that steve has made a great sacrifice, but there could be some unity being brought to our country. >> congressman s

and we discussed with intelligence officials just, not disclosing certain pieces of information about that intelligence in order to protect those sources and methods. when it comes toed finding, the covert finding that was signed, dwoe don't think after discussing that with intelligence officials we don't see there are any lives at risk basically by us disclosing there's this operation that's still under way to this day to basically plant these potential cyber bombs, if you will, in their networks. >> okay. very good to know. >> yes. >> adam, thank you very much for sharing all of your information with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> joining us now, we want to get to the counselor to president trump, kellyanne conway. good morning, kellyanne. >> good morning, alisyn. >> thanks for being with us. this is a busy day. >> my pleasure. >> as it always is. lots of breaking news. i want to ask you about adam's reporting just shared from "the washington post," this goes the furthest we've seen to connecting president putin of russia to actually giving the directive to interfere in the

intelligence officials were looking at where these guys were turning up.they would turn up where fiber-optics ran underground. it was strange locations when taken as a whole they were on some kind of mission to map the infrastructure, the intel par was the infrastructure mapping of some of the telecommunications networks in the country. >> yang: was this a change from previous behavior? does it seem like the russians are emboldened somehow? >> you know, there is an element of this that's par for the course. there is natural intelligence gathering, the whole part of espionage is trying to do things that a host country doesn't want you to do, but what's different about this is they've been kind of a burgeoning debate, particularly over the last year where this election operation, of the u.s., particularly under the obama administration, being unwilling to fight back on this, and not cracking down as much as they could when they know that these russian diplomats were presumed intelligence operatives are doing these things, brazenly disregarding these rules th