mr. wyden: would my colleague yield for a question? mr. cardin: i yield to my friend. mr. wyden: i know my friend from maryland is a real expert on this whole matter of private insurance, going back to your days in the state legislature and i was director of the gray panthers. i think what you're saying is that it is critically important that we get more predictability and more certainty in the private insurance market. and what i'm struck by is, of course, this is the private sector. this is not the government. this is the private sector. and the president has been basically pouring gasoline on the fires of uncertainty in the private insurance market because he is always in or out on this question of cost-sharing and the private insurers then say we can't really predict what our rates are going to be, and maybe we've got to pull out or maybe we have to raise rates. could you just highlight again your thoughts with respect to more predictability and more certainty? it's such an important point.

mr. wyden: mr. president, it has been a rough day at the office for the senate republican health care plan. my take is that it's going to be even tougher over the next few days. there are going to be a lot of senate democrats home meeting with folks in open meetings. we'll see if any senate republicans have the courage to do that as well. earlier this morning, the whole senate had its first opportunity to look at this bill in the light of day. the debate that unfolded on the floor made it clear that our colleagues are committed to a partisan scheme to jam this bill through at any cost. there isn't going to be a full debate. there isn't going to be any bipartisan input. if you read through the fine print in this destructive proposal, as the american people have had the chance to do over the last several hours, it becomes clear why my colleagues on the other side have kept this bill hidden and want to jam it through as quickly as possible. this proposal is stunning in its sameness to the cruel house b

mr. wyden: mr. president, i'm struck by this conversation as the ranking democrat on the senate finance committee, my colleague, the distinguished senator from texas, is on the finance committee, he knows that i know something about writing bipartisan health reform bills. i've written them. they become law. i can tell my colleagues i have not once, not once been asked to be part of any bipartisan effort with respect to this legislation. and i think, colleagues, it's real clear what is going on here. senate republicans are going to keep telling americans they're fixing their health care right up until the second it gets taken away. now, as itself ranking member of the finance committee, i find it bizarre that a health bill of this importance was hidden for so long behind closed doors, denying the american people the opportunity to see it together in an open debate. there have been no hearings on this dangerous, destructive proposal. not one hearing on whether medicaid should be slashed to pay for tax

mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent, mr. president, to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i have some remarks to make with respect to health care that i'll offer in a moment, but first i want to address the events of this morning. the shooting that took place in alexandria today was a horrendous, despicable act of violence. the victims, including congressman scalise, two capitol police officers, and two others are still undergoing treatment. there is much that is still not known about what happened. there are a few things that are known. first, it is thanks to the extraordinary heroics of the capitol police and first responders on the scene that this shooting did not become a massacre. each and every one of us who comes to work in these buildings every day is profoundly grateful for our capitol police, our first responders, and the incredible service and protection that t

mr. wyden: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, senator merkley and i come today together to discuss our resolution honoring heroes of the portland attack. on may 26 in portland, our hometown, our community lost two very brave people. ricky best and tolishen murden kai mesh. they stood up bravely against terrorism and with core oregon american values of tolerance and freedom, along with micah, david cole fletcher, who was seriously injured, these three extraordinary samaritans stepped in to protect two girls who were being terrorized on public transit by a man menacing them because he thought they were muslim. these three oregon heroes did not run when they saw danger. instead these three advanced towards the danger. paid my respects last week at the beautiful memorial that my fellow portlanders created at the transit station where this attack occurred. and i can assure my colleagues that the message of the memorial could not be more clear. the heroes of portland stood up to terror, and we ought to be willing to call out

mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to bring two baskets of hemp products on to the floor of this body. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, this is national hemp history week, a chance to recognize a product that has deep roots, going way, way back in america, but faces one of the most antifarmer, antijob, unjustifiable policies that are now on the american legal books today. because of its relations to marijuana, hemp can't legally be grown in american fields. now hemp is harmless. hemp grown for industrial use simply does not have marijuana psycho active properties. you are going to get as high off hemp as you will off of a bag of vegetables. but still, farmers in oregon and across the country can't legally grow it. so if america is serious about banning harmless products like hemp just because they're related to drugs, then i've got bad news for fans of poppy

quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, thank you. i want to start my remarks on health care and what's ahead over the next couple of weeks, this way. for almost seven years before i got elected to the congress, i was the director of the oregon gray panthers senior citizens group and ran a legal aid office for the elderly. and i made the judgment then, mr. president, that health care was and always would be the most important issue. i made that judgment because i've always felt that if you and your loved ones don't have their health, then pretty much everything else doesn't matter. and the president of the senate, of course, is a skilled health care provider, knows a lot about these issues. and i'm really going to use that as my reference point today. taking the judgment that having quality, affordable health care for your family and yourself is par

mr. wyden: mr. president, today -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. proich without --. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, today the senate will vote on the nomination of courtney elwood to be c.i.a. general counsel. this is an important job that got even more important in the past week. as i'll explain, this position may play a crucial role in determining whether history is erased or preserved for generations of americans to come. as senators know, last week the current chair of the senate intelligence committee demanded that several key government agencies get rid of their copies of the torture report prepared by senator feinstein and her colleagues. i'm going to take a few minutes to describe what this has to do with courtney elwood. in short, it starts with the c.i.a.'s history of torture which was carefully documented and sourced by the intelligence leadership under senator feinstein's leadership. this is the issue that is being debated: the c.i.a.'s history

mr. wyden: mr. president, i'm struck by this conversation as the ranking democrat on the senate finance committee, my colleague, the distinguished senator from texas, is on the finance committee, he knows that i know something about writing bipartisan health reform bills. i've written them. they become law. i can tell my colleagues i have not once, not once been asked to be part of any bipartisan effort with respect to this legislation. and i think, colleagues, it's real clear what is going on here. senate republicans are going to keep telling americans they're fixing their health care right up until the second it gets taken away. now, as itself ranking member of the finance committee, i find it bizarre that a health bill of this importance was hidden for so long behind closed doors, denying the american people the opportunity to see it together in an open debate. there have been no hearings on this dangerous, destructive proposal. not one hearing on whether medicaid should be slashed to pay for tax

mr. wyden: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president, the american people have spent the last several weeks hearing that the senate will vote on its new version of trumpcare by the end of the month. it's now june 19 and the american people are still in the dark about this bill. there is no text, there is no legislative analysis of this bill, no scoring of what the financial ramifications are, the american people and much of this senate is in the dark -- in the dark about how much costs are going to raise, in the dark about how many people are going to lose insurance, in the dark about whether a preexisting condition will once again be used as a weapon against them by insurance companies. if the news reports are to be believed, and that's all you've got right now, a vote on this massive proposal affecting the lives of virtually all our people is days away. no one outside of a group of 13 men, all republicans, knows what is being considered. in my view, this is as stark an example of legislative malpractice as i can

senator wyden: not on whether you wrote a memo. mr. rosenstein: i will not answer any question about -- senator wyden: whether you wrote any notes or memos. director mccabe: i won't comment on any notes taken or not taken with respect to the russia investigation. admiral rogers: and the likewise i take the same position. senator wyden: director coats, on march 23 you testified to the armed services committee that you are not aware of the president or white house personnel contacting anyone in the intelligence community with a request to drop the investigation into general flynn. yesterday, the "washington post" reported that you had been asked by the president to intervene with director comey to back off of the f.b.i.'s focus on general flynn. hich one of those is accurate? director coats: senator, i will say once again, i am not going to get into any discussion on that in an open hearing. senator wyden: both of them can't be act rate, mr. director. mr. director, as recently as april you promised americans you would provide what you cal

mr. wyden: i'm very pleased to follow my colleague from new hampshire, senator hassan. she said it very, very well and this is an extraordinarily important part of the debate. the senate vote on trumpcare is now days away, and that is the case even though the bill remains hidden in the senate shadows. so i'm here tonight with my colleagues to try to shine some light on the extraordinary harm trumpcare is going to do to women's health across the country. they also called the american people to stand up and say and say loudly this is wrong, wrong because it would be a partisan process that stas away important -- that takes away important health care rights from women across this country. first, trumpcare says that health insurance in america ought to be based on what men need and what women need ought to cost extra. you look back a few years when the affordable care act set in stone, guaranteed insurance benefits to protect everybody who shops on the open market, the private open market regardless of their gender, no price gouging women just because they're women. now, ho

officials try to sway the election for donald trump including this very testy exchilean with senator wyden. >> mr. comey said there were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? >> why don't you tell me? there are none, senator wyden. there are none. i can tell you that 0 for absolute certainty. this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there by me and i don't appreciate it. >> reporter: sessions did not respond to a number of questions that democrats had particular about his interactions with president trump, what he discussed with president trump with regard to the firing of james comey, whether or not the russia investigation was discussed in anyway. question after question jeff sessions would not answer. woe not say if there was executive privilege claimed by the white house instead said it was some sort of department of justice policy that prohibited him from discussing the matter with the committee. democrats would point to that provision within the department of justice guidelines. jeff sessions struggleled to do that and wo

with his own recusal from that russia investigation which led to this testy exchange with senator wyden. >> mrere were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic, and he couldn't talk about them. >> why don't you tell me they are none, senator wyden there are none i can tell you that for absolute certainty, you tell -- this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and i don't appreciate it. >> there is jeff sessions, the attorney general, the highest ranking trump administration official so far to testify about russia still with lots of questions unanswered >> leave it to the oregonian to spark the heated exchange. tracie potts thank you very much >>> sticking with washington, sara eisen will report all day from washington, d.c. covering the ceo at the white house among her special guests, marc benioff, andrew liverest and reid kordish >> as we said, the fed will be front and center today there's also a trio of economic reports before that decision may retail sales and cpi released at 8:30 a.m. eastern, followed by april business inventories at 10:00 a.m the fed's s

look at this testy exchange between the attorney general and liberal senator ron wyden. >> mr. comey said that there were matters about the recusal and they were problematic and he could not talk about them. what are they? >> why don't you tell me? there are none, senator wyden. there are none. i can tell you that for absolute certainty. this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and i don't appreciate it, and i tried to give my best and truthful answers to any committee i've appeared before. it's really -- people are suggesting through innuendo that i have been not honest about matters, and i've tried to be honest. >> sean: all right, checkmate. what's so disgusting about all of this is that democrats including some who are actually on this senate intelligence committee and were actually questioning jeff sessions today, have admitted themselves, no evidence of collusion. since some of these democrats are so partisan that they have forgotten, let us remind them of their own words. >> do you agree with this conclusion that the president's has reached, that there i

senator wyden: mr. comey, welcome. you and i have had significant policy differences over the years, particularly protecting americans' access to secure encryption. but i believe the timing of your firing stinks. and yesterday you put on the record testimony that demonstrates why the odor of presidential abuse of power is so strong. in talking to senator warner about this dinner you had with all insident, january 27 one dinner the president raised your job protect, asked for your loyalty, and denied allegations against him. all took place over one supper. you told senator warner that the president was looking to, quote, get something. looking back did that dinner suggest that your job might be contingent on how you handled the investigation? director comey: i don't know that i'd go that far. i got the sense my job would be he felt i upon how conducted myself and whether i demonstrated loyalty. i don't know whether i'd go so far as -- senator wyden: you said the president was trying to create some sort of patronage rela

look at this testy exchange between the attorney general and liberal senator ron wyden. >> mr. comey said that there were matters about the recusal and they were problematic and he could not talk about them. what are they? >> why don't you tell me? there are none, senator wyden. there are none. i can tell you that for absolute certainty. this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and i don't appreciate it, and i tried to give my best and truthful answers to any committee i've appeared before. it's really -- people are suggesting through innuendo that i have been not honest about matters, and i've tried to be honest. >> sean: all right, checkmate. what's so disgusting about all of this is that democrats including some who are actually on this senate intelligence committee and were actually questioning jeff sessions today, have admitted themselves, no evidence of collusion. since some of these democrats are so partisan that they have forgotten, let us remind them of their own words. >> do you agree with this conclusion that the president's has reached, that there i

mr. comey has said in his testimony. >> senator ron wyden, democrat from the intelligence committee.ig day tomorrow. thanks for being with us tonight. >> thank you. >> much more ahead. you totanobody's hurt, new car. but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, we'll replace the full value of your car. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ it's not just a car, it's your daily treat. ♪ go ahead, spoil yourself. the es and es hybrid. experience amazing. i'm the one clocking in... when you're clocking out. sensing your every move and automatically adjusting to help you stay effortlessly comfortable. there. i can even warm these to help you fall asleep faster. does your bed do that? oh. i don't actually talk. though i'm smart enough to

mr. comey has said in his testimony. >> senator ron wyden, democrat from the intelligence committee.orrow. thanks for being with us tonight. >> thank you. >> much more ahead. a millie dresselhaus doll! happy birthday, sweetie! oh, millies. trick or treat! we're so glad to have you here. ♪ what if we treated great female scientists like they were stars? ♪ yasss queen! what if millie dresselhaus, the first woman to win the national medal of science in engineering, were as famous as any celebrity? [millie dresselhaus was seen having lunch today...] ♪ [...rumors of the new discovery...] what if we lived in a world like that? (crowd applauding) ♪ we know a place that's already working on it. ♪ "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours. step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business. will you be ready when the moment turns romantic? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and as

ron wyden got angry today, i'd like your reaction to ron wyden, watch. >> mr. comey said there were matters with the respect to the recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? >> a oo why don't you tell me? there are none, senator wyden. there are none. i can tell you that for absolute certainty. >> we can -- >> this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and i don't appreciate it, and i tried to give my best and truthful answers to any committee i've appeared before, and it's really people are suggesting through innuendo that i have been not honest about matters and i've tried to be honest. liz: quick thoughts, jay, going to break soon, go ahead. >> the quick thought is it was james comey who said he only learned about the recusal with a memorandum or explanation and the department of justice the day he testified said that's not true. memorandum issued on march 22nd, it was addressed to james comey. james comey had a history of having to correct his testimony. not exactly a credible witness. liz: jay sekulow, goo

senator wyden: my time is short, you made your point that you think mr. comey is engaging in innuendo. we're going to keep digging. attorney general sessions: he did not say that senator wyden: he said it was problematic irk asked what was problematic about it. attorney general sessions: some of that leaked out of the committee that he said in closed session. senator wyden: i asked former f.b.i. director whether your role in firing him violated your recusal given that president trump said he fired comey because of the russian investigation. director comey said this was a reasonable question. so i want to ask you just point-blank, why did you sign the letter recommending the firing of director comey when it violated your recusal? attorney general sessions: it did not violate my recusal. it did not violate my recusal. that one would be the answer to that. and the letter that i signed representing my -- represented my views that had been formulated for some time. senator wyden: mr. chairman, if i can finish, that answer in my view doesn't pass the smell test.

mr. leader. >> one point i'd add to senator wyden, they put reconciliation in on january 4. they put in the budget they don't want republicans -- sorry, they put in the budget they don't want democrats to work with them on january 4. so much for bipartisanship. >> reporter: you mentioned that your concern is that this bill does not protect coverage for pre-existing conditions. can you talk about that more in specificity and why you believe your read of the bill -- my read of the bill is very clear. that people will not have the protections of pre-existing conditions. there are opt outs in there so we'll go back to the time when people buy -- want to buy insurance and find out that it doesn't cover what they thought it did and believe me, people don't want to go there, or they will not cover pre-existing conditions. in one way by not covering them, in another way by charging them more so all of a sudden you find out if you want to buy maternity coverage or mental health you have to pay as much as a thousand dollars for maternity care to get that coverage. >> reporter: proppin

mr. sessions had with the senator from oregon when senator wyden -- hehim why he was recused himself fromi investigation here. mr. sessions pretty much snapped. >> they are none. there are none. i can tell you that for absolute certainty. innuendo beingt leaked about me, and i don't appreciate it. there are none, no reasons as to why he recused himself. the he explained that because of a doj rule saying if someone has been involved in the campaign, they cannot be involved in an investigation. he said he never spoke with russian officials, but said he did not remember speaking with the russian ambassador during an april 2016 reception. he also said russian collusion suggestions regarding him were "appalling and detestable lies," and said that even though he recused himself from the russian investigation, it was still within his purview to sign off on the comey firing. still a lot more to come in the days and months ahead. rishaad: thank you for that. i look at markets, this is what we have towards the start of the session in hong kong. , atpremarket auction period slight gain, .25%. ok, an

wyden: the question is, mr. mey said they were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? gen. sessions: why don't you tell me? they are none, senator wyden. there are none, i can tell you for absolute certainty. this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and i don't appreciate it, and i tried to give my best and truthful answers to any committee i have appeared before. people are suggesting through innuendo that i have been not honest about matters, and i have tried to be honest. david: senator wyden joins me from washington. thank you for joining us. let's start with today's news on russia, which is a little different. russia sent worrisome signals about the war in syria, that it was now treating american planes as aerial targets after the u.s. shot down a syrian plane over the weekend. how worried should we be about escalation between the u.s. and russia? sen. wyden: david, i have had a hard rule that i would only talk about russia

this is an exchange between sessions and senator wyden a democrat from oregon. >> mr. omey said that there were matters in respect to the recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them. what are they?>> wanted to tell me? there are none, senator wyden. there are not. i can tell you that for absolute certainty.>> sessions really upset with that line of questioning. what you make of that? >> again, i think this is part of the script as it were. i thought that sessions showed a fair amount of appropriate emotion. questions were we asked by a number of senators and he probably felt like he had answered those. and i don't take too much exception to a because these were the same types of reactions james comey had and all kinds of people have re- testified before the senate and other committees. it is tough to do. i have done it in is not easy to answer tough questions. >> we appreciate your perspective. thank you so much. we will be continuing to follow the russian investigation and the testimony there today by jeff sessions. thank you so much. >>> the ceo of u

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator mccain. the chair is going to recognize senator wyden for one question on 702. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i appreciate the courtesy. this one, director coats, i'd like a yes or no answer on. can the government use fisa acts, section 702, to collect communications it knows are entirely domestic? >> not to my knowledge. it would be against the law. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator warner? >> again, i want to thank all the witnesses. but i come out of this had hearing with more questions than when i went in. gentlemen, you are both willing to somehow characterize your conversations with the president that you didn't feel pressure. but you wouldn't share the content. in the case of admiral rogers, we will have independent third party that will at least provide some level of contemporaneous description of that conversation and obviously why there was concerns enough to commit that to writing. i'm pretty frustrated that there is this deference to the special prosecutor even though the special prosecutor has not talked to you.

mr. sessions clashed at one point with oregon democratic senator ron wyden, who challenged him on whether he adhered to that recusal. >> the question is, mr. comey said there were matters with respect to recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them, what are they? >> why don't you tell me? there are none, senator wyden. there are none, i can tell you that for absolute certainty. this is a secret innnuendo being leaked out there about me. and i don't appreciate it, i try to give my best, truthful answer before any committee i appeared before. people are suggesting innuendo, that i have not been honest about matters. and i've tried to be honest. >> why did you sign a letter recommending the firing of comey when it violated your recusal? >> it did not violate my recusal. it did not violate my recusal. that's the answer to that. the letter i signed represented my views that it been formulated for some time. >> just so i can finish-- that doesn't pass the smell test. >> woodruff: so walter dillinger, this is getting at the tug and pull all afternoon, that letter that the attor

. >> atty gen sessions: senator wyden, i'm not stonewalling. >> mr.mey said there were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic, and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? >> atty gen sessions: why don't you tell me? there are none, there are none, i can tell you that for absolute certainty. this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me and i don't appreciate it. >> bret: mercedes. >> what a strong performance by the attorney general and i have to say comey did miss the email that was sent from the chief of staff of the attorney general over to comey saying this is why attorney general sessions is going to recuse himself from the russian investigation. obviously senator wyden was trying to show discrepancies between comey and sessions by think sessions came up with the upper hand in explaining i did provide him with that email. obviously didn't see it. i think those people who are watching are looking at the democrats, trying to build up this narrative about the russian collusion with attorney general sessions. it's b

senator wyden: mr. chairman, thank you very much for this courtesy. i know this is a busy morning and i'm grateful for you doing this. i want to say thank you to senator stabenow who in my absence is going to do an excellent job as she always does. this administration from day one preferred alternative facts and convenient spin to the truth. one of the most recent examples was its budget proposal which double counted $2 trillion to maintain some whiff of fiscal responsibility while it slashed health programs and protections for basic and essential needs. the budget math is fake, but the extreme agenda that would deprive millions of americans of access to health care and wipe out living standards is not. unfortunately, this morning, i'm going to be splitting my time between the finance committee and the intelligence committee, so i will be brief. there are several issues in the budget -- in the administration's agenda i am going to touch on. first is medicaid. secretary price is the captain of the president's health care team. he has been the advocate

. >> senator wyden? >> mr. chairman, i want to thank you for holding this hearing in the open in full view of the american people where it belongs.t i believe the american people have had it with stonewalling. americans don't want to hear that answers to relevant questions arero privileged or o limits. orow that it would be, quote, inappropriate for witnesses to tell us what they know. we are talking about an attack onpt our democratic institution and stonewalling of any kind of unacceptable. and general sessions has acknowledged thatth there is no legal basis for the stonewalling.. so last thursday i asked former director comey about the interactions withai you prior t your stepping aside to the russian investigation. mr. comey said that your continued -- and he, mr. comey could not discuss it in public. mr. comey also said that fbi personnel had been callingas fo you to step aside from the no investigation, at least, two weeks before you finally did so. now, in your prepared statement, you stated you received

published a small piece of a letter that ron wyden wrotell picky as a democrat who sits on the intelligence committee and he wrote to his chairman and ranking members, mr. burr and mr. warner picky set these matters which are directly related to threats for democratic institutions are of the utmost public interest inte. i believe we owe the americante. people transparency. openwant the hearing they want the hearings open tomorrow, but let's get more of your reaction in a minute after we are from a couple of senators were on the sunday shows yesterday. senator lankford but first it's senator chuck schumer. >> well first, i think he should be sworn under oath. second, i think it should be public. there is very little that's classified. anything that is classified ther can do a separate classified briefing. there are some questions about sessions that have to be asked. first, did interfere with the russian investigation before he recused himself? himse second, what safeguards are there now so that he doesn't interfere?volved third, he says he was involved in the firing of comey and the president said comey was fired because of russia. how does that fit in

mr. comey is engaging in innuendo we'll dig on this. >> senator wyden, he did not say that - >> he said it was problem maatic i asked what's problematic about it >> some of that leaked out of the committee that he said in close session. >> one more question i asked former fbi director whether your role violated your recusal given president trump said he fired comey because of the russian investigation. director comey said this was a reasonable request i want to ask you just point-blank why did you sign the letter recommending the firing of director comey when it violated your recusal. >> it did not violate my recusal. it did not violate my recusal. that would be the answer to that the letter that i signed rem represented my views formulated for some time. >> mr. chairman, just if i can finish, that answer, in my view, does not pass the smell test the president tweeted repeatedly about anger about invest divisions, and the day before the letter, collusion was a hoax, and asked when will this taxpayer funded charade end. that answer does not pass the smell test >> senator wyden, i need to be

now, it seems that oregon senator ron wyden for one little minute there, really sessions' skin. >> mr. comey said that there were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic, and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? >> i-- that-- why don't you tell me? >> stephen: that's a classic legal strategy, the old switcheroo. "can you tell me where you were the night of the murder?" "why don't you tell me where i was? if you don't know, i must be innocent!" meaning, west virginia senator joe manchin tried to find out exactly who in the trump campaign was connected to russia. >> to the best of your knowledge, sir, did any of these following individuals meet with russian officials at any point during the campaign? you can just give a yes or no on this. paul manafort. >> i don't have any information that he had done so. he served as campaign chairman for a few months. >> steve bannon. >> i have no information that he did. >> general michael flynn. >> i don't recall it. >> stephen: wait a second. everybody knows there was communication between russia and michael flynn. that's w

a procedural matter rather than an indication of any wrongdoing ron wyden pressed sessions on the circumstances of his recusal. >> mr. comey said there were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? >> why don't you tell me they are none, senator widen there are none i can tell you that for absolute certainty, you tell -- this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and i don't appreciate it. >> just reading various copy on this, and i can't comment and i can't recall were words repea d repeatedly talked about. so, very interesting that whole investigation and inquisition. >>> earlier we spoke to mark weinberger, a member of president trump's economic advisory council >> it's like a car crash you don't want to look, but you can't turn away. it is sucking a lot of the oxygen out of the air and taking the attention away from some of the folks, and the president in particular the economic team continues to move forward that same week this was happening, we had these 200 plus companies in washington. the secretary of treasury was there, speake

wyden and sessiones. talking about the exact reason why sessions decided to recuse himself from the russia investigation. >> general sessions, respectfully you're not answering the question -- >> what is the question? >> the question is, mr that there were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? >> why don't you tell me. there are none senator wyden. there are none. i can tell you that for absolutely certainly. this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me and i don't appreciate it. and i tried to give my best and truthful answers to any committee i've appeared before. and it is really a -- people are suggesting through innuendo that i have been not honest about matters, and i've tried to be honest. >> he was clearly offended by that line of questioning. >> he was indeed. i think there were three big areas to question him going into this hearing today. one on the kislyak meeting. as discussed with dploera, i thought i was quite adamant and he couldn't recall any private conversations. i think he dispatched with this whole mayflower meeting p. if he made it clear that believes that he didn't recuse himself from running the department of justice

mr. chairman. >> thanks, senator mccain. the chair is going to recognize senator wyden for one question on 702 >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, i appreciate the courtesy. this one, director coats, i'd like a yes or no answer on. can the government use. fisa act section 702 to collect communications it knows are entirely domestic? >> not to my knowledge. it would be against the law. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator warner? >> again, i want to thank all the witnesses, but i come out of this hearing with more questions than when i went in. gentlemen, you are both willing to somehow characterize your conversations with the president. you didn't feel pressure, but you wouldn't share the content. in the case of admiral rogers, we will have independent third party that will at least provide some level of contemporaneous description of that conversation, and, obviously, why there was concerns enough to commit that to writing. i'm pretty frustrated that there is this deference to a special prosecutor, even though the special prosecutor has not talked to you. i'm concerned with the deputy attorney general also deference