mr. spicer: that's not a threat. he simply stated a fact. the tweet speaks for itself. i'm moving on.ohn? short time ago i with our this topic correspondent and a correspondent for the "wall street journal. he said he would do things differently. did you feel any sympathy for sean spicer today, having to answer questions on that specific point about recording devices? >> it's an extraordinary moment and position to be put in. it has added fuel to this constitutional crisis. every ensuing day since the firing on tuesday has had a new development, additional details that only complicate the story the white house is trying to tell. and if you are trying to explain the inexplicable, it's a tough job. tim: carol, do the tweets speak for themselves? >> no, they don't. the president always likes to say the tweets speak for themselves, we have a president of the united states who is suggesting that there are recordings of his conversations with the fbi director he just fired and who was leading an investigation into possible ties between his campaign and russia, so it's not -- they don't spea

mr. spicer said the president's tweets speak for themselves. that seemed to be what he was reiterating this morning. smoother maemgs, rosadoing the accuracy of statements from the podium. you heard mr. spicer defend that others who brief the press, work to their best abilities to represent. >> thank you for that we will have full coverage throughout the day on msnbc, and nbc news.com. a complete wrap up tonight onria horrifying bus crash... a flag- draped body... and a law enforcement community in >>> breaking news to report, a horrifying bus crash, a flag draped body and a law enforcement community in mourning. before colliding with a small car and a deadly accident. good morning and thank you for joining our midday show. >> that crash happened it at the height of the morning commute on eastbound 580 near the grant line road on ramp. a commuter bus carrying 55 it tesla employees plowed into a white volkswagen bug. we know the driver was an off-duty law enforcement officer. nbc bay area's bob riddell. it is one of their own though it's a differ

mr. spicer, let's play a portion of that interview. this is president trump talking about jim comey's firing and its relation to the russian probe. >> look, he's a show boat, a grandstander, the fbi has been in turmoil. you know that, i know that. everybody knows that. you take a look at the fbi a year ago. it was in virtual turmoil. less than a year ago. it hasn't recovered from that. >> monday you met with the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. did you ask for recommendation? >> what i did, i was going to fire comey. my decision. it was not -- >> you had made the decision before hand? >> i was going to fire comey. there's no good time to do it any way. >> in your letter, you said i accepted their recommendation. >> i was going to fire regardless of recommendation. he made a recommendation. he's highly respected, very good guy. very smart guy. the democrats like him. the republicans like him. he made a recommendation. but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey, knowing there was no good time to do it. and in fact

mr. spicer coming out. let's listen in. >> before we get started, i want to bring homeland security back up here to discuss the administration's response to the ransomware hacking, and then i'll go on with the events of today and answer your questions without further ado. tom? >> thanks, sean. thank you. good afternoon, i'm the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, and if i could, i'd like to start today by acknowledging the falling police officers that the president and vice president acknowledged today. they are the front lines of our homeland security, and the event today was an honor for me to attend. on cybersecurity, as the president's homeland security adviser, part of my responsibility is to coordinate u.s. government cybersecurity efforts. i want to give you an update on the wanna cry. we continue closely monitoring the situation around the clock at the highest levels of government. we're bringing all the capabilities of the u.s. government to bear on this issue and

mr. spicer,

mr. spicer has concluded that he doesn't want to be responsible for saying anything that could affect the legal case against the white house staff, ultimately against the president if there was one, and i can understand why he would not want to be in that position. it does remind me a little bit of what happened in the clinton white house though where they have successfully walled off the questions of impeachment from the policy operation, and it enabled the clinton white house to actually get back on track, and get reengaged with policy. >> on the agenda that they keep trying to bring up, and have those accomplishments despite all of the noise from the outside, and all of the very, very pertinent questions being asked of the administration. and let me say that we have more news on the briefing from the paris climate deal, and let's go to the white house correspondent sarah murray on, that and it is clear to me that sean spicer could not say if the president has decided. it sounds like he has not yet, but we will know soon. >> and he could not say much at all. because he was not straight

mr. spicer: it is true that mr. obama made it known that he was not a fan of general flynn's, which should not come as a surprise to anyone, given that general flynn had worked for president obama, was an outspoken critic of president obama's shortcomings, specifically his lack of strategy guarding isis and other threats facing america. the question you have to ask yourself is if president obama was truly concerned about general flynn, why didn't he suspend his security clearance, which they had just reapproved a month earlier? tim: for more on this, i'm i spoke a little earlier to michael crowley, senior foreign affairs correspondent with politico. michael flynn had left the obama administration several years beforehand and was trying to get access. michael: that's right. you know, i think sean spicer is focusing too narrowly here. barack obama's point, i think -- i wasn't in the room, but i think we can infer -- was not just maybe this guy shouldn't have a security clearance. it was generally, he is not qualified

mr. spicer: i think the relationship you would describe as fairly unbelievable. they get along well. he has a lot of respect for her. they continue to grow the bond that they had during their talks in the g7. he views not only germany, but europe as important allies. i discussed all of this with the previous senior director for european affairs on the national security council and now president of the marshall fund for the united states. where do you currently assess the relationship between -- would you currently assess the relationship between angela merkel and donald trump as unbelievable? >> it is no question they have a difficult relationship. whether the chancellor was to whato signal an end has been a strong relationship, i doubt. words she chooses her carefully, doesn't she? she must be pretty mad with donald trump to even hint that europe should not rely on the u.s. anymore. >> it goes back to the campaign when candidate trump was talking about nato being obsolete and 2s openly supporting brexit, things germany didn't support. we saw her visit the white house and have diffic

mr. spicer and others, advisers, what they say basically is if general flynn was really so dangerous, why obama administration gave him security clearance several times, the last time in april 2016? that means long before the presidential election. what we see here right now is some sort of blame game. brent: all right, thank you for a much. -- very much. in nigeria, the country's visit has released the names of the 82 schoolgirls free by boko haram jihadists over the weekend. the girls are preparing to be reunited at -- with their families after being kidnapped from the town of chibok more than three years ago. one of their first appointment with a full -- was a photo op with the president. reporter: after years of captivity, now under enormous attention. these young women traumatized and uncomfortable brought in to see the nigerian president in front of the cameras. >> i am very pleased to have personally met you. reporter: the president did not say when they will be able to see their families again. the activists who campaign for the release are cautiously celebrating. the bring back o

mr. spicer gets in these daily press conferences at the white house? >> well, the fact of the matter is, people are paying attention, people are listening, he's learned what his boss wants, and his boss is the president of the united states who wants him to get up there, and be combative. and his combativeness is what causes him -- i was flipping among channels, i don't normally watch television around that time of day. it just happened to be at the time that sean spicer was giving his briefing. he was being carried live on at least 4 different channels at that time. that's crazy. it's ludicrous, that's not his fault. that's not donald trump's fault, that's the fault of the managers of those different cable networks. >> and what of the president and for that matter, his press secretary's loose relationship with the facts? >> well, that's where journalism plays a role. that's where i think we have to be very careful that we not fall into the trap of becoming the enemy of the president. the enemy of the trump administration. an adversarial role, that's p

mr. spicer: the main objective of us being in afghanistan, being used as a safe haven for terrorists who attacked the united states and our allies, that is the main objective. we remain committed to the defeat of al qaeda and the isis affiliate there in afghanistan. that is, simply put, what the mission is going forward. tim: for more on the possible troop escalation, i spoke earlier to a man who served as the afghan ambassador to france and canada. under president obama, there was a maximum 100,000 in the surge. what difference will 3000 make? >> if you call this a mini-surge, it is supposed to send a few messages, some political, some tactical from the military perspective. trying to tellis the afghans that the united states is still serious about afghanistan and is not walking away and it wants to see some type of ending to this conflict that has been going on for so long. it is sending a message to the afghan forces that the americans will be closer by, meaning that they will be accompanied by american advisers on the ground. and it is sending a message to the taliban that america is

mr. spicer: yes. host: supporting the health care effort. hello. go ahead. caller: i am in favor.e are making changes to the system. a lot of people say if i don't want it why should i pay the fine? i believe the fine is a premium. that means if i have cancer today and have been paying my fines for 10 years, i grab the insurance policy and him covered. -- and am covered. to keep theium system going for the pre-existing. i had a client eight months ago diagnosed with cancer. hundreds of thousands of dollars. .e grabbed a policy, obamacare applied for it, received it, covered.g is he has passed away and his family was not left with $100,000 worth of cancer bills for the treatments. does that make sense to you? host: from baltimore, maryland, who opposes the effort. taking myank you for call. i think the trumpcare bill is being pushed through out of spite. i'm sorry, i am receiving a phone call. to -- r willingness lost him.ink we let's go to nathan who is not sure. morning, c-span. generally, i supported obamacare . it had a lot of good stuff. it had stupid stuff, too. that i like a

mr. spicer's time. maybe one more question? we don't know. that is what we are after right now. it would be satisfying for me and all of our viewers if we find them and bring them to justice. sometimes attribution can be difficult aarery bugs can be difficult here. feel the best and brightest are working on it. thank you very much. i'll let you know. thank you very much. appreciate i. you.k >> thank you, tom. the president was pleased to see national ng that the association of home builders and ells fargo announced earlier that u.s. home builder confidence continues to rise. the unemployment rate is at the lowest it's been in a decade. job openings are higher than they have ever been and by nearly every measure of economic confidence the future of the american economy looks bright. the president is also glad to see businesses once again making ignificant investments in america from intel to general motors to wal-mart to apple who pecifically just announced earlier this month that they will start a $1 billion fund to manufacturing d jobs here in the united states. and it's not ju

mr. spicer's time, maybe one more question. >> it would be very says time for me and all of our viewers if we find them and bring them to justice. attribution can be difficult here. i don't want to say that i have any clues but were working on that. thank you very much. >> this morning the national association of homebuilders and wells fargo announced earlier that recent reports show that u.s. homebuilder confidence continues tries for with numbers not their strongest since the housing bust. according to the nab h chairman quote, this report shows that builders optimism it in the housing market is solidifying. we've already seen a response in the economy in the wakes of the president's agenda. implements rates at the lowest it's been in a decade. manufacturing jobs are higher than they've ever been since 2006. the future of the american economy looks very bright. the president is glad to see businesses making significant investments in america, from intel, general motors, walmart, to apple who just announced earlier it will start a 1 billion-dollar fund to promote advanced manufacturing jo

mr. spicer said this. >> on friday, the president was having a great discussion at g7, and someone from the bbc and ultimately incoming reporter from the "new york times" retweeted the president was being rude by disrespecting the italian prime minister. >> reporter: after some reporters said that wasn't so much of a big deal, the press secretary shot back. >> the reason the president is frustrated is there is a perpetuation of false narratives, use of sources over and over again that are not happening and that is troubling. >> reporter: when the white house's communications director mike dubke confirmed he's resigned after three months on the job. dubke writing the reasons are personal but has been my great honor to serve president trump and this administration. dubke's decision to leave is not unprecedented. in fact, president obama's first communication director, ellen moran left for landing over at commerce. his departure seemed to confirm the president's frustration his job has been able to slow stories suggesting ties between the trump campaign and russia. none of which have been prov

mr spicer might be looking for a new line of twoshg. —— line of work.es, the people writing the press releases and the talking points for officials are not getting the job done and i think the president is being ill—served. the job done and i think the president is being ill-served. how much of this is about the president's own insecurities, he was mad about the leaks, he thinks his intelligence chiefs are undermining and he has a map apparently trying to convince people he won the election. how much is it about him and him getting on with it and instead of his staff? it is always about the president. i can tell you have been worked for one, you take your tone by the measure of the commander in chief. we felt confident with president bush and the example he gave us. my friends who the white house are troubled that mrtrump who the white house are troubled that mr trump seems to continue to relitigate the election, as opposed to continue to do the business of the people. it is wearing on people and people who comment say, is the president doing his job an

mr. spicer and others.ow the type exit thenresident bill clinton and what he did during the time he was impeached. really getting the war room ready to fight any other political battles and get their agenda. >> at all pushes back that agenda. thank you is even a little bit. lauren: smooth sailing for pirates of the caribbean. that meant tell no tales over memorial day weekend. >> your crew. >> i'm so sorry. are you still talking? trying talking? trended the fifth installment of the disney franchise that taken the top spot, but memorial day was a bust at the box office in a major way. the latest numbers. biggest winners and losers coming up. pittsburgh versus three g-golf day best advised to take the opening game over the predators. all those highlights are coming back to 1980s. you are watching "fbn:am," your first look at morning markets and braking news. ♪ this one's for the girls who got rather broken heart ♪ who wish upon a shooting star ♪ you're beautiful the way you are ♪ this one's for the girls ♪ tr

mr. spicer there saying that some people with obamacare coverage are losing it. he is talking about more insurance companies pulling out of obamacare marketplaces. just yesterday they announced they're with drawing from virginia saying it's on track to lose $200 million this year alone and the biggest remaining insurer in iowa says it also may leave the program leaving most counts in iowa without a single insurance option on balm care in 2018. >> despite what gop lawmakers claim, experts say pumping $8 billion into high risk pools won't match obamacare's protections from pre-existing conditions. so states opt out of the requirement that insurers have to cover everyone that will wind up jacking up premiums for americans with pre-existing conditions. so in theory they're designed to help the sick avoid coverage but critics say that the new funding won't go far enough. especially if many states apply for waivers. they estimate a adequate high risk pool would cost about $25 billion per year so that $8 billion will only cover a few hundred thousand people. 35 states r

mr. spicer yesterday had a very good statement about the relationship of the two leaders and he said andat we are saying, they have a productive relationship. that does not mean we should sweep our differences under the carp carpet. we are discussing them openly like the question of climate change. we think that is an important issue we need to discuss with the u.s. >> ambassador peter wittig, thank you. >> thank you. >>> a nash vville predators hocy fan could pay big for throwing a catfish on the ice. answers in the bleacher report next. ere's noth re important to me than my vacation. so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. they offer free cancellation if my plans change. visit booking.com. booking.yeah. on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. your insurance company raises your rates. maybe you should've done more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $509 on auto insurance. call for a free quote toda

mr. spicer gave, he walked out. we're like you're killing me, man. you're killing me. obviously, neil, this is an example of the frustration that the white house has had, that they're under siege from the outset. this is a rough and tumble business. you're going to get punched in the mouth. you have to be ready for that. the white house says they're being forced to fight with their hands behind their back because of this barrage of unnamed sources for the russian investigation. all of this happening on a day when we expected the white house communications director, mike dubke, would be the big story. in case you didn't hear this earlier today, he has acknowledged that he tendered his resignation a couple weeks ago but agreed to stay on in the international trip that the president took abroad through saudi arabia and italy and belgium. this leaves the president's team without a leader on the team that has been criticized for not doing enough to combat the russian stories. all this happening while we continue to see what happened with the jared kushner story. the white h

mr. spicer was asked point blank do these tapetapes exist and he refused to deny it. >> you have repeatedlyalled for a special but the actor director, fbi director andrew mccabe said they have adequate resources in the russia investigation. do you have a lack of confidence in their work? >> it not that we have a lack of confidence but i think we should take this whole thing out of the political process. i've called for a 9/11-style independent commission for this whole controversy. i think we have to put country over party and make sure partisan politics does not infect the way we handle this technical matter. i'm pressing as quickly as possible to continue with this investigation, get to the bottom of what's going on, figure out most of all have any of our national security secrets been compromised and how do we protect ourselves because we know that the russians have been hacking elections, trying to destabilize democracies around the world but we have to protect ourselves right now. >> can't the president clean up this mess by appointing a strong, independent nominee to lead the fbi? >>

mr. spicer came in to insist that more people had seen this inauguration, period, than any other. what is happening over there? >> the white house can't seem to decide to declare victory or defeat on this first spending bill. you have the budget director coming out and saying all the great things they got. and then you open the day and the morning with donald trump tweet being all the terrible things -- not exactly terrible thing but why they were confined to this type of deal because of rules in the senate that require democratic votes. really complicated idea that they somehow were boxed in because of bad rules and yet won. you can't have both things at the same time. this left some confusion among white house reporters when they had this briefing today and sean spicer after the budget director spoke left the room and didn't take questions. >> shane, americans watching who have perhapsed in their lifetime expressed to family or pollsters that they like it when people get along and they like it when something like a government shutdown is averted. does there have to be a victory

mr. spicer. >> [ bleep ]. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: understandably under a lot of pressurethe president made an interesting move today. he hosted a lunch at the white house with all the cable and network news anchors. he invited them all to the white house. he definitely spit in their food, though, right? [ laughter ] the lunch was off the record. which means by tomorrow we'll know every word of what was said. but on cnn today wolf blitzer did say the president was mad at the luncheon. it was supposed to be private but we obtained video which we can share with you now exclusively. this is video from inside the news anchor lunch at the white house today. ♪ [ laughter ] >> i've given you meats, wine, music. but i haven't shown you the hospitality you deserve. ♪ ♪ >> jimmy: oh, wow. [ cheers and applause ] only tucker carlson survived. tune in next season to see how it all turned out. here's some washington news that doesn't involve donald trump. this is from last night's game between the nationals and pittsburgh pirates. watch the kid at the end here. this is quite a moment.

mr. spicer may be on the bubble. that bubble appears large and growing. >> a very big bubble. not a loot of room on it for everybody. look that's the problem. you know, this is -- nobody knows that they have job security. they are all on tender hooks. it is a little like a reality show where they vote somebody off the island and nobody is sure who is going to be there at the end of the week. reince priebus has had a tough tenure as chief of staff. the president jokes about sending him to athens to be the ambassador to greece where his family has some roots. steve bannon a few weeks ago felt like he was on the bubble but he's still there. you have to be careful making these assumptions. at one point we saw lewandowski, and david bossie, former top campaign aides talking about whether to go back in. we are told tonight david bossie is not going to go back in. he has family concerns. we don't know what that means for loun do youski. it is a fluid situation. you can see why there is anxiety and uncertainty inside the west wing right now. >> ashly, because leaks have become such a

mr. spicer said the tweets speak for themselves. those are the kind of clarifications we need. and we saw we weren't getting those answers from the white house. >> i want to turn to the search for the fbi director. we understand that doj is meeting with six candidates that should be on the short list for an independent fair and independent russia investigation. is that the way you understand is it? >> my understanding is they're interviewing candidates to be the next fbi director. and whoever the next fbi director obviously will have important decisions to make in terms of where this investigation goes. this is why democrats are sort of raising the alarm here and calls this in their words a constitutional crisis. because there's an ongoing crisis going on in the fbi and elsewhere that has implicated some of president trump's close associates. no indication that he's implicated yet. i think this is going to be a long and tough confirmation process. these questions will certainly be raised by democrats. and republicans have tried to at least -- republican leaders including senate

mr. spicer, asked him if he was just those two in the room, the president, the fbi director at that january7th dinner and he told me, that that is his assumption. liz. liz: blake, thank you so much. perhaps not as busy as treasury steven mnuchin. it maybe past 9:00 p.m. in italy but with a pitch another the g-7 finance ministers under which beijing is apparently going to allow finally much more importation of u.s. beef while america will permit importing a cooked poultry from china. china will also allow foreign financial service firms, read u.s. like master card to prevent -- to provide credit rating services to the billion people in china. mnuchin noting that the trump administration wants to use this trade agreement as an example of how it will rework other packs and promote more and fairer trade and issue the president trump heavily campaigned on. let me get to charlie shapiro. adam: one of the things that they like to point out this is about creating jobs in the united states through free and fair trade deals and they intend to use the announced china deal this morning as kind of a lit

mr spicer is on navy reserve duty.ing in, including during today's session. she is giving the briefing right now. it was not inappropriate and was not wrong for the president to do so. again, i am was not wrong for the president to do so. again, iam notan was not wrong for the president to do so. again, i am not an attorney. ido do so. again, i am not an attorney. i do not even play one on tv. but i have heard from legal minds and people that actually are attorneys, and that is their opinion, so i have two trust the justice system on that. reporter: would you say, based on the experience you and sean and this communications office had, that you we re communications office had, that you were given the best information to relay to the american public, through us, and yourjob is to relay that information... you say you are only intermediaries, but using to ta ke only intermediaries, but using to take a more proactive approach most of the time. i think we were absolutely given the information we had at that time. it was a

does mr spicer have a point?cally —— and administrative thing. we are starting to see some of the meat come out of the hearings. sally yates was the former acting attorney generalfor ten days yates was the former acting attorney general for ten days under the trump administration before being sacked. she has been saying today, describing the meetings she had on 26th of january this year when she informed the white house that the national security adviser, general michael flynn, who eventually lost hisjob, telling the michael flynn, who eventually lost his job, telling the white house that effectively he had misled the vice president about his contacts with russia. they are not telling us how they know that, but we expect this to be, in a sense, the result of intelligence suites, listening to phone calls, she won‘t reveal the detail, but she is going into some detail, but she is going into some detail about how she explained to the white house that general flynn‘s public comments about what he had said to the russ

mr. spicer or end the white house briefings altogether." that from nytimes.com. in case you missed it last night, here is a portion of "saturday night live." >> we no[video clip] >> we now enjoy the white house briefings where sarah huckabee is filling in for sean spicer. >> good morning. is an honor to be here today. for those of you who do not know me yet, my father is mike huckabee, and my mother is a big southern hamburger. obviously, i am hilarious like my daddy. today.lling in for sean he is fulfilling his duty as an officer in the reserve, and that is why he cannot be here. >> i have pretty sure i can see him hiding in those wishes. -- bushes. [laughter] >> i believe that the naval exercise, he is trying to blend in with the surroundings. >> i have a question. can you do this full-time instead of him? >> i would also like to ask that question because you are clearly articulate and charming, whereas sean is bullish. [laughter] >> you are lying in there. [laughter] >> do they lie all the time? liar, liar, pants on fire. that's why i put them out. spicey his

mr. spicer, i want to bring in former illinois congressman joe walsh and scott bolden and it's great to see you both. and, jim, i have to start with you on this. this preexisting condition fight has really become a sticking point for the moderates, but upton seems to be sort of bringing everyone together. i mean, 22 republicans can kill this or they can give it their blessing, where do you think we sit right now, state of play? joe, i'm sorry. >> i'm sorry. you know what, i think the pressure to pass something is so great that they're probably going to do it and they're probably going to vote on it tomorrow. you had a republican senator, i think, yesterday say, it's more important to pass it than what's in it. that's something pelosi said seven or eight years ago but i think that's where the republicans are at as well. trump has layed down the law, they have to pass something. it's ashame because i think passing this bill is really going to hurt republicans but i think the political pressure is just too great for these guys. cheryl: scott, do you agree with the political pressure. we expect

mr. spicer and mulvaney kept pointing to is not an existing border barrier at all.act, it's just a fence put up by the construction crews working on that part of the wall since before president trump took office because that money was funded under george w. bush. gary's back at it trying to get answers from the white house about what he learned. here's his report. >> reporter: this is gary tuchman from cnn. we started calling and sending e-mails to the white house, the president's press secretary and the budget director to ask about their incorrect claims about the fencing found on the border near new mexico. we got no reply so we set out to get a closer look at the barrier. you can't get close to it on the american side, but you can when you make the short trip to mexico. >> we're american reporters from cnn on the mexican side. how's the construction going? >> we're not allowed to talk about it. sorry. >> reporter: everything safe? >> yeah, everything is safe right now. >> reporter: there was unhappiness about the construction in this desperately poor neighborhood

mr. spicer why. does the president feel he can extract any concessions while there or feel like he can renegotiate it? or does he want more time? why until after -- >> the president wants to make sure he has opportunity to meet with his team to create the best strategy for this country going forward. reporter: david, melissa, the president called the paris climate agreement, a one-sided deal. he campaigned against it. many folks are trying to convince him not to pull out. we don't expect a decision on the president on that for at least couple weeks. melissa: blake, thank you for that. david: president trump's temporary travel ban, lawyers for president trump and the aclu are squaring off. what happens now? judge andrew napolitano here to weigh in. melissa: buyer beware, a troubling new warning for consumers in the market for a used car. david: new strategy fighting taliban in afghanistan may mean more u.s. troops on the ground. >> war sometimes doesn't give you all good options. that is the nature of

mr. spicer nor president trump seem to understand or seem to wish to relate to the american people is thataker, administrations are not the ones that grant security clearances. these are career professionals within the intelligence community, within the department of defense. for general flynn, who take a look at all of the facts and then adjudicate this. that's why i think it's so important to once again note that this administration time and again has had profound difficulties securing clearances for even people in very high positions. a deputy assistant to the president, sebastian gorkha reportedly does not have a clearance. people have had to kiev the security council because they were not granted clearances. this is a systematic problem within the administration that deserves some scrutiny. >> david corn, one of the really striking things in the hearing today is two days in a row, two days in a row, don mcgann, the white house counsel was asking why does it matter to the justice department if a white house official is lying to another white house official even if one of those white ho

mr. spicer was asked point blank do these tapes exist and he refused to deny it. so, i have to believe we need to pursue this and get to the bottom of exactly what information is out there regarding the various questions in this whole russia controversy. >> you have repeatedly called for a special but the acting director, fbi director andrew mccabe said they have adequate resources in the russia investigation. do you have a lack of confidence in their work? >> it's not that we have a lack of confidence but i think we should take this whole thing out of the political process. i've called for a 9/11-style independent commission to investigate this whole controversy. i think we have to put country over party and make sure partisan politics does not infect the process by which we investigate this particular matter. if that doesn't happen, we have to do our job on the oversight committee. that's why i'm pressing as quickly as possible to continue with this investigation, get to the bottom of what's going on, figure out most of all have any of our national security secr

mr. spicer may be on the bubble. that bubble appears large and growing. >> it's a very big bubble, and it's not a lot of room on it for everybody. look, that's the problem. i mean, this is -- nobody knows if they have job security. they're all on ten tter hooks. it's a little like a reality show where they vote somebody off the island and no one is sure who is going to be there the at the end of the week. reince priebus has had a tough tenure being the chief of staff. steve bannon, a few weeks ago, felt like he was on the bubble, but he's still there. so you've got to be careful about making these assumptions. at one point over the weekend, we saw corey lewandowski and david bossie, both former top campaign aides, you know, talking to the white house about whether to go back in. we're told tonight that david bossie is saying, no, he's not going to go back in. he's got family concerns about that. we don't know what that means for lewandowsky. so it's a very fluid situation. you can see why there's a lot of sort of anx