and appointed patrick fitzgerald, then the u.s. attorney in chicago to oversee a very sensitive investigation involving allegation taz bush administration officials outed a cia operative. what happened is the team of agents that had been working for up a chain that came to me was just moved over and worked under patrick fitzgerald. >> thank you. so it happens. thank you. >> last but far from least, senator blumenthal. >> thank you, madam chair. to take the analogy that you began with, i think we're at the entend of the dentists visit or toward the end of it anyway. fortunately, there's no unlimited time that the last questioner can take. >> my dentist sometimes asks questions, too. >> to pursuit line of questioning that senator hirona just finished, there is abundant precedent, is there not, for the appointment of a special prosecutor, in fact, there are regulations and guidelines for the appointment of a special prosecutor? >> yes. >> and that has happened frequently in the history of the department of justice? you mentioned one i

i spoke earlier with patrick fitzgerald and pga commissioner jay monahan.this point, we are not announcing any prices to the overall fund -- prize fund, but we worked and identified ways to continue to increase the significance and the magnitude of the cap. at a future date, we will be certain to let you know. i think you can feel comfortable numbing that this will be a step forward for the cup. vonnie: let me turn to patrick from fedex and it is a little unfair of you guys to be standing in front of the screen on a tuesday when we are -- the 17th green on a tuesday when we are stuck in opposite is. why did you decide to renew? -- in offices. why did you decide to renew? patrick: we measure all of our sponsorships very closely. we have 10 years of data that tells us this is very effective as a sponsorship for us. every year, it has gotten better and stronger. it benefits our customers, our employees and it amplifies our business initiatives that we can connect with the pga tour and the fedexcup. most importantly, it helps us amplify our connections to the c

attorney who has a future in mind like patrick fitzgerald did in the bush administration he already hashis name and his public service. >> he's not controversial, what are their future ambitions? this is someone of integrity, high intelligence terms of the quality of it, the expense of it, you don't want it to be a deterrent to the president's agenda, the proposals and what he wants to put forward and have those be counted. but i do echo bob's sentiment that there's a real problem here in terms of opportunity for leaks the president has to make sure he has a touch team around him, he's focusing on his agenda and they really try and control leaks and people that might be trying to do him harm appeared the mic. >> dana: i had a good point for greg. just comment on anything. >> greg: you know when you go to to complain about a billing problem at a company and they go we were addressing at, where'd you go after that? it's a problem, yes, we're addressing that. he is the supervisor, he's addressing that. now it's like you are passed off about russia, you go yeah, we're addressing that. if >>

and i think the circumstances here are exactly parallel to the situation where you appointed patrick fitzgerald -- fitzpatrick and others where routinely special prosecutors have been appointed and i know that your recommendations may never be disclosed but i would urge that you do so. going back to the questions that you asked about your announcement initially that you were terminating the investigation of hillary clinton, you said that the matter was one of in tense public interest and therefore you were making additional comments about it. normally there would have been no comments, correct? >> correct. >> and at most, you would have said, as you did just now, there was no prosecutable case, correct. >> correct. >> and you went beyond that statement and said that she had been extremely careless, i believe was the word that you used, which was an extraordinary comment. would you agree that the investigation of the trump campaign's potential involvement in the russian interference is also an investigation of in tense public interest. >> yes, i agree. >> in fact, there are probably very few inv

i appointed patrick fitzgerald that u.s. attorney in chicago to oversee a very sensitive investigation involving allegations the bush administration officials outed a cia operative. so the team of agents that had been working up the chain that came to me was just moved over and worked under patrick fix harold. >> thank you. >> last but far from least, senator blumenthal. >> thank you, madam chair. to take the analogy that you begin with, i think we are at the end of the dentist visit paired or toward the end of it anyway. fortunately, there is no unlimited time that the last questionnaire can take. >> my dentist sometimes asks questions, too. >> to pursue the line of questioning that the senator just finished, there is abundant precedent, is there not, for the appointment of a special prosecutor? in fact, there are regulations and guidelines for the appointment of a special prosecutor. >> yes. >> that has happened frequently in the department of justice. you mentioned one in your experience. also then designate attorney gene

and i appointed patrick fitzgerald then the u.s. attorney in chicago to oversee a very sensitive investigation involving allegations that bush administration officials outed a cia operatedive. what happened is the team of agents that had been working for -- up a chain that came to me was just moved over and worked up under patrick fitzgerald. >> ari melber, a seamless ansition but these things are not fast. special prosecutors have some of the slowest track records that prosecutors have. >> right and they have more power. normally this would seem like an obscure matter. i think anyone watching tonight understands why it matters so much, because the prosecutor in charge is ultimately making the calls. so what director comey there was describing in his previous iteration as a senior justice department official was how they brought in pat fitzgerald gerald to do it. do you trust rosen steen or has he been compromised to where you want someone who is considered more wholly independent. >> i want to thank you all for joining us tonight.

the investigation and the bush administration, which was a case that jim comey appointed patrick fitzgerald to that investigation. that ended up focusing on scooter libby, vice president cheney's top aide. not because he was the original leaker, but because his obstruction of the underlying investigation. i think part of this challenge with this administration is they need to be worried not just about what happened in the past, but the actions that they have taken and will take over the course of this investigation. host: before we get to calls for our guest, what do you make of what the president tweeted recently, the single greatest witchhunt he said of a politician in american history. he also reportedly told russian officials that comey is quote in a job -- a nut job. does this matter to his work? guest: i don't think it fundamental in matters to his work. manyshington, there different opinions of jim comey, but i'll beginning one in washington would actually call him a net job or anything close to it. serious, incredibly sober minded people who have dedicated their lives to public serv

a case that actually jim comey when deputy attorney general pointed -- appointed his friend patrick fitzgerald to have the investigation. that ended up focusing on scooter libby, vice president cheney's top aide. not because he was the original leader, but because of his obstruction of the underlying investigation. part of this challenge is with this administration. they need to be worried not just about what's happened in the past, but the actions they have taken and will take over the course of this investigation. host: before we get the calls, what do you make of what the president tweeted recently? "this is the single greatest witchhunt of a politician in american history." he told russian officials that comey is "a net job." -- nut job." guest: i don't think it fundamentally matters to his work. in washington there are many different opinions of jim comey. i don't think anyone in washington would actually call him a nut job. these are incredibly serious, sober minded people who have dedicated their lives to public service. i think the president is making his own job harder with his reacti

to the last time we h a high profile investigation under the statute, that would have been patrick fitzgeraldie plame investigation, which led to the conviction of libby, who was vice president cheney's chief of staff for perjury, for lying to the grand jury. the it's always the cover up often rather than the initial crime or offense that gets you and muller will certainly be subpoenaing many witnesses before appearing to a grand jury. >> let me ask you about this "new york times" report on friday, that donald trump referred the former fbi director james comey as a nut job during his meeting at the white house with the ruggen foreign minister. what's your reaction to that comment? >> as a prosecutor, the offense that i think has struck many people as the most likely one lurking behind these facts is op instruction of justice and that is the attempt to wrongly or corruptly in the language of the statute, interfere with an investigation. certainly, the inference would be that if a superior of the chain of command such as the president, sought to terminate an investigation of criminal wrong doin

that occurred in the patrick fitzgerald investigation of the valerie affair. he was angry. what do you mean you can't tell us anything? sorry. i can only tell you about a crime committed in the scooter libby case. i can't tell you about anything else. so arguably a lot of evidence against trump could get buried. trish: tell me about muller. he has a friendship, does he not, with james comey? >> yeah. and this is a problem, and nobody has been talking about it. he has a serious conflict of interest. if, for example, ts investigation morphs into the comey case and alleged obstruction of justice, think about this. comey and muller were joined at the hip working together for years at the fbi. they were twins. they stood together in unison and the wiretapping case both of them threatening to resign their close friends. if it's comey versus the president his word against his word, how can muller be fair and impartial here? he's too close to comey. it's a serious conflict of interest. i'm shocked that nobody's been talking about it. trish: it's to your point nobody has been talkin

you immediately appointed special counsel, i believe you appointed patrick fitzgerald. what led you to that decision? >> in that particular investigation, my judgment was that the appearance of fairness and independence required that it be removed from the political chain of command within the department of justice because, as you'll recall, it seems like a lifetime ago, but that involved the conduct of people who were senior level people in the white house. and my judgment was that even i, as an independent minded person, was a political appointee. so i ought to give it to a career person like pat fitzgerald. >> what about the situation now? we have a deputy attorney general. i voted for his confirmation. but shouldn't he be not the one to be investigating campaign contacts when his boss, the attorney general, was a central figure in that campaign? >> that's a judgment he'll have to make. he is, as i hoped i was as deputy attorney general, a very independent-minded, career-oriented person. but it would be premature for me to comment on that. >> in the past week preside

you appointed patrick fitzgerald. will lead you to that decision? >> in that particular investigation, my judgment was that the appearance of fairness and independence require that it be removed from the political chain of command within the department of justice because as you recall, it seems like a lifetime ago, that involved a conduct of people who were senior-level people in the white house and my judgment was that even i, as an independent minded person, was the political appointees so i ought to give it to a career person like pat fitzgerald. >> what about the situation now question what we have deputy attorney general, i voted for his confirmation, but shouldn't he be not investigated when his boss, the attorney general -- >> that's a judgment he will have to make. he is, as i hoped i was, a very independent minded career oriented person, but it would be premature for me to comment on that. >> this past week, president trump said the hacking was another attempt to influence the election. it could have been china, it could have been a lot of

i believe you appointed patrick fitzgerald. what led you to that decision? >> in that particular investigation, my judgment was that the appearance of fairness and independence required that it be removed from the political chain of command within the department of justice. as you'll recall, it seems like a lifetime ago, but that involved the conduct of people who were senior level people in the white house. my judgment was that even i, as a independent-minded person, was a government appointee and i'd give it to a career man, like fitzgerald. >> i voted for the attorney general's confirmation, but shouldn't he be not the one to be investigating campaign contacts when his boss, the attorney general, was a central figure in the campaign? >> that's a judgment he'll have to make. he is, as i hoped i was as deputy attorney general, a very independent-minded, career-oriented person. it'd be premature for me to comment on that. >> the past weekend, president trump again said the hacking of the dnc and other efforts to influence the election could have been china,

you admirably appointed a special prosecutor, patrick fitzgerald when the attorney general, then john ashcroft, rerecused himself from involvement in the investigation concerning whether the bush administration officials illegally disclosed the identity of an undercover cia official. are there any differences materially between that situation and this one so far as the reasons to appoint a special counsel? >> well, i think both situations as with all investigations that touch on people who have been actors in a political world involve considerations of actual conflict of interest and appearance of conflict of interest. and i'm not going to talk about the current situation and that situation, my judgment was that the credibility of the investigation into the leak of the cia officer's identity would be best served by not having it ever seen by myself because i was a political appointee and appointing someone and giving him the authority to run it separate from the political leadership of the department of justice. that was my judgment in that circumstance. i don't know what judgment the

attorney patrick fitzgerald.timately charge and convicted dick cheney's aide scooter libby, who was then sentenced to 30 months in prison. dick cheney was upset about that, criticizing the process and even pushing reportedly for a pardon. president bush did use his pardon power, but he commuted libby sentence. how even when the white house does investigate white house officials, the president does retain a lawful authority to limit some consequences. but many expert says that example is a positive example of how the system should work. the special counsel vebl thewas considered independent. they learned new facts about what is considered a national scandal. and the recusal system seemed to work. with the ag recused, it was his deputy that determined a special counsel was needed whom. was that deputy attorney general back in the day? none other than james comey. joining us now is pete williams who covered that special counsel investigation. thank you for being here, pete. and what are the legal standards that can

it's only been -- they use this for patrick fitzgerald and the valerie plame affair. other than that, it hasn't been taken out and driven around very much. it just existed on paper. i asked him if there is something people ought to be worried about, keep in mind despite people are reassured. he said you ought to keep in mind at the end of the day, if he wants to, the president can push this to the limit and the president can fire this special counsel. >> he can fire them? >> he can. and he said in that, i believe if that happened, the way he put it, i'll paraphrase, that would probably lead to the fall of the government and that would be terrible if that happened. but that's still an option. i am trying to recover from my failure of imagination for not being able to anticipate a lot of the things that have happened in the last 110 days. what do you think would happen if trump went that far? >> it depends on when it happens. if it happens very soon, i think he might very well get away with it. and here is why. out there in the country, particular in that part of the co

he did not get the same charter that patrick fitzgerald got when he was looking into the matter. so his level of autonomy should be, in my opinion, the highest you can get. >> he can be fired. >> not only can he be fired but his rulings or his decisions can be second guessed by the deputy attorney general or the attorney general. >> what are the chances, nick, that something like that happens? i mean, we're in such a very different situation, even than valerie plain, in the amount of attention and media out there? >> i think there's that concern, but i don't think it is a major concern. i think what we're going to see is mr. mooueller is going to go ahead aggressively with subpoenas. bring people into the grand jury. do all of the things you'd expect the prosecutor to do. he's going to put together the facts. he's going to have it all together. if it is his recommendation to indict x, y or z, it is going to be almost impossible to buck that. i think that if he felt strongly that a particular person should be indicted, and somebody interfered with that, that would cause total havo

investigation that i can recall, whether it's, you know, ken starr, into the clinton matter, or patrick fitzgerald about the disclosure of a cia name, the crimes that end up being charged had almost very little relation to the underlying thing that was being investigated in the first place. and that's the real peril here for the trump administration, and for the people that are caught up in this investigation. these dozens or however many fbi agents that are now looking through financial records, communications, are not going to ignore any other crime that they find. >> all right. ken dilanian, julie davis, thank you so much, two of the best reporters on the beat. joining me at the table, jen palmieri. eli stokols, reporter for the "wall street journal." michael allen, special assistant to president george w. bush, reminding me what a pill i was in some meetings. joins me today with his great perspective. eli, i want to start with you, though, because this question of legal jeopardy is a real one. i mean, michael and i worked in a white house staff that came under investigation from special prosec

at the time, deputy attorney general jim comey, did what he felt was the right thing and had patrick fitzgeraldpeach bl special processes cuter, in the valerie plame -- it was infused with politics. the point is the system worked. we have a president who's talking openly about putting a partisan in charge of law enforcement in the fbi for the first time in american history. that looks more like the history of venezuela than america. you don't need to poll it to know i think steve makes the right point, yes, the public generally is going to prefer independents to congressional partisanship. we don't want polls. we want the justice deparetment to work. >> hold that thought. nobody go anywhere. >>> when we come back, we're going to take you back in time to muslim ban 1.0 and 2.0. it's back in court. right after the break. 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 e

he brought in patrick fitzgerald it handle the valarie plame case. you may remember that case. there was a lot of criticism about that case. there is always a lot of criticism about these appointments. as simply put, the criticism is that the justice department would have a better handle on being able to do the cases that special prosecutors often feel pressure to bring charges. in this document that rod rosenstein signed today, appointing bob mueller, he said that this special prosecutor will look at any links that shows coordination between the russian government and individuals connected to the trump campaign. it says that any matters directed and he may charge how he so chooses. bob mueller, who has a strong reputation, o obviously serving as fbi direct for for 12 years. he has been doing special investigations, including one into the nfl and one into takata air bags. so he has been doing a lot of these similar tiech work but for the private sector. >> very quickly, evan, in the press release at the department of justice put out. they say that this special counsel, robert m

we moved over and worked under patrick fitzgerald. sen. hirono: thank you. feinstein: senator blumenthal. to take theenthal: analogy you began with, i think there toward the end of tennis match. for charlie, there is no unlimited time that the last questioner can take. sometimes: my dentist asks questions, too. [laughter] sen. blumenthal: to pursue the line of questioning that senator hirono just finished, there is [indiscernible] four the appointment of a special prosecutor? in fact, there are guidelines for the appointment of a special prosecutor. dir. comey: yes. sen. blumenthal: that has happened frequently in the department of justice. then designee attorney general richardson appointed a special prosecutor, archibald cox, who did the watergate prosecution. dir. comey: yes. sen. blumenthal: so this would not be a seismic occurrence to appoint a special prosecutor. taking your record, which is one of dedication to the credibility and integrity of our criminal justice process and your family's, i would think that, at some point, you might recommend that t

remember the case of the special prosecutor patrick fitzgerald who was named to investigate the leak about -- in the valerie plane case. remember that? he found out almost immediately that it came from the deputy secretary of state. but he continued to investigate long after that. he tried to catch karl rove in a perjury trap. the investigation was way too protracted and went too far afield. that is why people worry about special prosecutors. there is also the question of accountability, which it sounds from this announcement, as of mueller will be accountable to the main justice department. >> martha: it is interesting. this came from rod rosenstein, which it would have to, as we have established. if you look back over the last couple of weeks in terms of his involvement in this, there was a moment when the letter came out that he said that jim comey was being fired. the white house then said, it is just because rod rosenstein is new here on the job and he took a look at all of this and decided that he had to go. he pushed back on that. then, the president said that it was his idea,

the team of agents that had been to me were came moved over and worked under patrick fitzgerald. >> thank you. so it happens. cake to -- to take the analogy, i think we're at the end of the visit. lastited time the questioner can take. comey: my dentist sometimes asks questions, too. [laughter] >> there is abundant president, it is there not, for the assignment of a special prosecutor? there are regulations and guidelines. frequently inned the department of justice. you mentioned one in your experience. designee attorney general richardson appointed a special prosecutor, archibald cox, who then pursued the watergate investigation, correct? yes.comey: there has been many examples. >> so this would not be an earthshaking happening. in fact, taking your record which is one of dedication to the credibility and integrity of our criminal justice process and your families, would it assume at some point you might recommend there would be a special prosecutor. with that the appropriate at some point? dir. comey: it is possible. i know what of my predecessors did it with respect to a lenten adminis

in 2003, you admirably appointed a special prosecutor, patrick fitzgerald, when the attorney general then john ashcroft recused himself from involvement in the investigation concerning whether the bush administration officials illegally disclosed the identity of an undercover cia official. are there any differences materially between that situation and this one, so far as the reasons to appoint a special counsel? dir. comey: well, i think both situations, as with all investigations that touch on people who have been actors in a the credibility of the investigation into the leak of identity would's be best served by not having it myself because i was appointee.l -- i was investigation, the ongoing investigation into rump associates and their potential collusion with the russians in the election, will providing any updates to the american people? >> certainly not before the atter is concluded and depending on how it's concluded and some matters are concluded charges, other matters as was the case with the e-mail investigation end with no but a statement of some sort. others end with no

look at the valerie plame affair are and patrick fitzgerald who is doing the investigation?here was only one prosecution, scooter libby. yet there were dozens and dozens of leaks. neil: big riff between vice president cheney, the guy wasn't exonerated. >> hard to find leakers. it really is. neil: do you, let's say you do, gregg. do you think the embarassments of publicity, one, two, several, getting cited would stop it? >> yeah. you would think so. it has a chilling effect on the leakers. if they get away with it for so long, they figure there are no consequences. there has to be legal consequences to stop these leaks. it is classified information. it's a crime. neil: well-put. gregg jarrett, thank you very, very much. microsoft, we're keeping an eye on that, one of the tech heavyweights. we focus on big, big names. i mean big as expensive like amazon and alphabet. microsoft in and out of a all-time high, over $70 a share. amazon briefly gone over $1000 a share at 993. the last time this thing split itself was back in 1998 t has only done so three times. jeff bezos said he n

. >> i want to throw patrick fitzgerald in there. a special prosecutor from chicago.blicans and democrats. a guy right down the middle. he has down high profile work. i think he is in private practice now. some of those people. chris christie is too toxic. ray kellyanne old buddy from new york. maybe. gouty is a conservative guy trying to go after hillary on benghazi. the democrats will hate him. >> it has to be confirmed by the senate. >> 51 votes. or 50 plus the vice president. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> how can you tell if drivers are under the influence of drugs? how police are tackling that issue now that recreational marijuana is legal in the state. >> reporter: east bay mud proposes raising water rates by 19% over the next two years. coming up, does water conservation efforts have something to do with it? intercourse that's painful due to menopausal changes. it. it's not likely to go away on its own. it took my most honest friend to help me do something about it. she told me premarin vaginal cream can help. it provides estrogens to help rebuild vaginal tiss

bryan brian people have bad taste in their mouth from patrick fitzgerald and his investigation of valerieair whether they found out richard arlington leaked the story don't worry about it continue to investigate. scooter libby on perjury. ken starr was sitting where he is sitting said whatever do you don't do this it didn't turn out well. he was the result malmat. ainsley: special counsel to look over there is a difference. steve: what happened at the fbi and the department of justice with mr. rosenstein, apparently, keep in mind, he was against the special counsel idea until over the last couple of days apparently his thinking evolved to conclude that a special counsel was needed to prove to the public the investigation was going to be thorough and impartial because it has become so political. president trump last night about an hour after it was issued said this: as i have stated many times a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. i look forward to this matter concluding quickly. in the meantime i will

some experience in this kind of decision in 2003 you admirably appointed a special prosecutor, patrick fitzgerald, when the attorney general then john ashcroft recused himself from involvement in the investigation concerning whether the bush administration officials illegally disclosed the identity of an under cover cia official. are there any differences materially between that situation and this one so far as the reasons to appoint a special counsel? >> i think both situations as with all investigations that touch on people who have been actors in a political world involve considerations of actual conflict of interest and appearance of conflict of interest. i am not going to talk about the current situation. in that situation my judgment was that the credibility of the investigation into the leak of the cia officer's identity would be best served by not having it overseen by myself because i was a political appointee and appointing someone giving him the authority to run it separate from the political leadership of the department of justice. that was my judgment in that circumstance. i don't kn

, threw the hot potato to james comey who then did appoint a special prosecutor, patrick fates gerald who ga-- fitzgerald, who gave the white house fits. >> lou: it's a disaster and even an average political, even average political acumen wouldn't think of it and this president has hyper-warp elevated political acumen. he may not be a politician, but he has considerable more intelligence than to get rope-a-doped into that by chuck schumer, for crying out loud. do you disagree, gabby? >> no, i don't disagree with you. i do think, hough, there are a number of questions going forward how the justice department might be able to be objective in investigating these connections. i mean, the attorney general recused himself, the acting attorney general before him was fired by the president. the president has taken steps to let go of a number of state attorneys general, so -- and they also let go of james comey before the justice department inspector general had concluded his finding. >> lou: testified so far in public seven months saying there is no sign of conclusion. i think we could make it an investigation i

, threw the hot potato to james comey who then did appoint a special prosecutor, patrick fates gerald who ga-- fitzgerald, who gave the white house fits. >> lou: it's a disaster and even an average political, even average political acumen wouldn't think of it and this president has hyper-warp elevated political acumen. he may not be a politician, but he has considerable more intelligence than to get rope-a-doped into that by chuck schumer, for crying out loud. do you disagree, gabby? >> no, i don't disagree with you. i do think, hough, there are a number of questions going forward how the justice department might be able to be objective in investigating these connections. i mean, the attorney general recused himself, the acting attorney general before him was fired by the president. the president has taken steps to let go of a number of state attorneys general, so -- and they also let go of james comey before the justice department inspector general had concluded his finding. >> lou: testified so far in public seven months saying there is no sign of conclusion. i think we could make it an investigation i

patrick inzgerald was appointed 2003. scooter libb he was found guilty of obstruction of justice in 2007. at each stage of a shift in that investigation, fitzgerald got -- approvedproved from jim comey. it would be awkward if mueller felt yet to get instruction investigation into the firing of comey approved by rod rosenstein because after all, rosenstein kind of put the fig leaf on that firing by claiming it was a good reason for it. complete independence. has both the credibility and the respect among all of the people he will be working with and the ability to largely drive the investigation. we will see if things like budget and a couple of weeks -- it is a good sign. there are still reasons to be vigilant, i think, on the appointment process. amy:y: marcy wheelerer, talk moe about this scope you're so concerned about. who mueller will be able to investigate and who he will not be able to investigate. >> i'm not so sure it is a who. as i said, the investigation is for trump and his campaign associates, whether or not they coordinated with the russian government -- we like to think of the hack of the dnc, but anything else, tampering with the