rob rosenstein says considering the unique circumstances of this matter i've determined a sperm council necessary in order for the american people to have full confidence in the outcome. our nation is grounded on the rule of law and the public must be assured that officials administer the law fairly. secretary fueler will have the resources to be able to conduct an investigation. he adds that mueller resigned

. >> woodruff: until this week, much of the country had never heard of rob rosenstein. but he's been thrust into the spotlight following the firing of james comey. late today leaders of the senate issued an unusual invitation to the senate to invite him to meet all 100 senators.

referring to this note from the deputy attorney general rob rosenstein. as you and i have discussed according to the attorney general however i cannot defend the director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of secretary clinton's e-mails and i do not understand the refusal to accept the universal judgment that he was mistaken, he being comey. almost everyone agrees that the director made serious mistakes

writing a memorandum for the attorney general, the deputy attorney general rob rosenstein

>> right now i believe that would fall to the deputy attorney general, rob rosenstein, and we are incredibly confident in his abilities as i believe you can tell the rest of the senate, including democrats, are as well. given the fact he was confirmed 94-6 and had overwhelming praise from both sides of the aisle, i think there is complete confidence in him. and another reason, frankly, for director comey to be out of the way so they can have somebody

they said the firing was because of deputy attorney general rob rosenstein. and this evening they put out a few time line that suggests it was not rosenstein but trump the driving force. "the washington post" reporting that when rosenstein was throwned the the bus yesterday, he threatened to quit. >> he's a political pretzel. he was a loose canon. and i've got to say the people who branded fire comey were the democrats. and they really don't have credibility at this point to be clan complaining about -- in fact, i was commenting a mintts ago it was a double gift to the democrats. they got rid of somebody they wanted to get fired and now they're complaining about it. >> this has nothing to do with the democrats. it has stwreer woe to do with them. this is about an fbi director who said he's investigating the white house, the campaign, and president trump's behavior and then he gets fired. the hillary clinton investigation is long past done. this is about whether or not the president is -- >> if you fired comey, it's all over the internet and now they're trying

>> d he talk about rob rosenstein then? >> not that i'm awa of. >> the president's statement that he talked to comey about whether or not he was being investigated raised several questions. did he talk about why they're not willing to add any more to that, about who asked for that and why it was discussed? >> who asked for what, i'm sorry? >> the president seems to try to exonerate himself in this. can you tell me why he won't add anything more to how that conversation was, when it took place? >> can you specify those three occasions? >> i'm not getting into the specific details. i'll look and see if we have follow up on that, but at this point, i'm not commenting what happened in the letter. >> if you didn't want to comment, why is it in the letter in the first place? >> this was someone far above my pay rate decided to have it included and i'm not getting into specifics of that. thanks, you guys, so much. >> sara huckabee sanders abruptly ending the session. a quite different style for those who watch sean spicer with any

. >> monday you met with the deputy attorney general rob rosenstein. >> right. >> did you ask for a recommendation? >> what i did, i was going to fire comey, my decision. it was not -- >> you made the decision before they came in the room. >> i was going to fire comey. there is no good time to do it, by the way. >> because in the letter you said i accepted their recommendation. >> yeah. >> but you had already made the decision? >> i was going to fire regardless of recommendation. >> he made a recommendation, 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, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made up story. it's an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election, that they should have won. and the reason they should have won it, the electoral college is almost impossible for a republican to win. very hard. because you start off at su

matt: that is a question i think only rob rosenstein can answer.iming of this does suggest he was not there a few days ago, and very quickly when this thing blew up and he got a lot of backlash. nobody really knew who rod rosenstein was until he was used as a justification for firing james comey. i think very quickly he learned to resuscitate what had been his sterling reputation for 20 plus years as a federal prosecutor, he needed to do this and get it back into the hands of an independent federal prosecutor and answer a lot of the calls that were coming from both democrats and republicans in congress. carol: my question is, is it still important whether or not we know as a voting public whether or not rod rosenstein was complicit in the firing of james comey, or possibly used as a pawn by the white house? is that still important to know? matt: he's not naive. anyone who has the career he has had clearly understands the intersection of justice and politics. that is where his job as deputy attorney general sits. the reporting we have gotten indicat

number one, yes or no, did the president direct rob rosenstein to write this memo on james comey? sec. huckabee sanders: no, the president had lost confidence in director comey and had frankly been considering letting the director go since the day he was elected. but he did have a conversation with the deputy attorney general on monday where they had come to him to express their concerns. the president asked they put those concerns and the recommendation in writing, which is the letter you have received. >> so the white house and rob rosenstein decided on his own to review comey's performance? sec. huckabee sanders: and i think that most of america have decided that director comey was not the person that should be leading the fbi as evidenced by the numerous comments we have seen from democratic members, and the house and senate, republican members, members of the fbi and people across the nation. >> senator dianne feinstein said that she was told something directly different. the president said he asked rosenstein and sessions to review this. is she lying? sec. huckabee sanders:

>> reporter: rosenstein start briefing the full senate at the capital and house. robomplished person. tell us more about him? >> reporter: under presidents bush and obama, he became director shortly before 9/11. turning into a counterterrorism force and you heard about james comey threatening to quit over surveillance in, mueller was there with him, used to back up his version of the event. >> that does bring us -- former top campaign manager corey lewandowski raining on the democrats victory parade thing an independent counsel will help the president prove what he has been saying all along, there was no collusion. >> the way the system works, in the mainstream media, proven guilty before you have anything, that is what the mainstream media has tried to do, accused him of things there is no evidence of whatsoever. what we have now is the opportunity to have a clean slate and show that nothing took place and that is when the president wants. he said time and again nothing took place and this is the opportunity to prove nothing took place. people work in that building w

. >> monday you met with the deputy attorney general rob rosenstein. >> right. >> did you ask for a recommendation? >> what i did is i was going to fire comey. my decision. it was not -- >> you had made the decision before they came in the room. >> i was going to fire comey. there's no good time to do it, by the way. >> in your letter you said i accepted their recommendation. >> oh, ifg 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. >> let me ask you about your termination letter to mr. comey. you write, i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i am not under investigation. why did you put that in there? >> he told me that. >> he told you with regard to the russian investigation? >> i heard from that from others. >> phone call? did you meet face-to-face? >> i had dinner with him. we had dinner because he wanted to stay on. >> he asked for the dinner? >> that

first, there are many reports that democrattor comey met with deputy attorney rob rosenstein to help with the investigation into the trump campaign ties to russia. that would make the timing of this firing even more suspect. and second, mr. rosenstein signed his name to a highly political memo arguing for director comey's dismissal and made no complaint about the involvement of the attorney general who had recused himself from all matters relating to the russia investigation in recommending the firing of the man who was leading it. it's hard to believe a seasoned prosecutor without bias would have allowed sessions to be part of this. it's also hard to believe that a seasoned prosecutor would write such a memo which seemed highly political, not in the kind of language, not with the kind of an notations that they write in. the bench who should appoint a special prosecutor should go to the highest-serving civil servant at the department of justice. mr. rosenstein and other appointees appointed by the president who they are supposed to investigate should not make a call on the special pro

decision. >> reporter: wednesday the president reiterated rob rosenstein's role repeatedly. >> because of the actions to act on the recommendations, take the recommendation of the deputy attorney general. >> reporter: later that day, a shift. >> frankly, he had been considering letting director comey go since the day he was legislated. >> reporter: now the white house deflecting questions on the revised rational. >> this shun the be a complicated process, the president knew that director comey was not up to the task. >> he has the right to fire for any reason, the problem is the inconsistent reasons being offered. >> reporter: democrat mark warner alarmed at the president calling him a show boat. >> frankly, i'm offended at the president's comments today. >> reporter: in a senate hearing, the acting fbi director defended the man he replaced. >> director comey enjoyed broad support within the fbi and still does to this day. >> reporter: back at the white house today, a different story again. >> i've heard from countless members of the fbi that are grateful and thankful for the president

solely on the recommendation of attorney general jeff sessions and the deputy attorney general rob rosenstein. now, the white house press secretary is revealing more of rosenstein's reasoning that led president trump to act. it has to do with the comey's unprecedented news conference when he announced he would not be charging hillary clinton in an investigation of her e-mails. list now to sarah huckabee sanders. >> he's questioned director comey's reason for needing to stay at the fbi. he's had countless conversations with members within the fbi. i think one of the big catalysts we saw was last week on wednesday. director comey made a pretty startling revelation that he had, essentially, taken a stick of dynamite and thrown it into the department of justice by going around the chain of command when he decided to take steps without talking to the attorney general or the deputy attorney general when holding a press conference and telling them he would not let them know what he was going to say. and that is simply not allowed. and somebody like the deputy attorney general, rob rosenstein who eve

their removal being done by a man, rob rosenstein who they praised. >> jon: leading senate republican there in the democrat before him phasing off this morning of the firing of a free eye, james comey. reaction has been mixed and not all republicans are on board. guy benson, political editor at townhall.com and a fox news contributor. simon rosenberg's president and founder of the democrat network and a former campaign advisor for president clinton. president clinton fired an fbi director over questions about his use of a private aircraft. what concerns do you have, simon, about the sudden dismissal of james comey? >> there is obvious reasons to be concerned. he was leading an investigation into the president and his team at a time when a looks like there's been a dramatic escalation in that investigation. what we've learned in the last 24 hours is that there is a grand jury, the grand jury issued subpoenas over the last several weeks, there's now a criminal process in place being run out of the fbi through the grand jury and to mike flynn and his circle and a senate intelligence comm

man for that position. >> the president said he made up his mind to fire comey before he asked rob rosensteindemocrats like him, republicans like him but regardless of recommendation how he will fire comey, and when i decided to do it, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made up story, an excuse for democrats having lost an election they should have won. >> what they say was justification behind comey's firing. senate minority leader chuck schumer calling on the attorney general to break the senate, and the senate intelligence committee where it yesterday we saw andrew mc k disputing that comey had lost the confidence of the fbi. >> hillary clinton could be charged over her use of a private email server, the firing of james comey calling into question how the agency handled clinton's investigation. tom and in telling tucker carlson the case could reopen. >> i think she faces legal jeopardy. the justice department under president obama protected her, the fbi director misstated the law suggesting intense, they had plenty of intent. >> those who received immunity could be targets if the

lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had been pressuring acting attorney general rob rosenstein to get the appointmentep i after back to b allegations first that president trump gave classified information to the russians and that president trump -- >> it was this new report about james comey's note that is think forced the hand of rob rosenstein, getting well respected, well regarded special counsel like robert mueller. >> reaction from capitol hill is pouring in. >> i think he has a long history of honorable service. >> a very solid and significant step toward reaffirming the rule of law. bob mueller is a real pro, he has integrity and guts. >> whatever investigation goes on will have the credibility of bob mueller is former director of the fbi and renowned lawyer. >> the bay area delegation tonight says this is just a first step. a statement from east bay representative eric swalwell says we need a bipartisan-appointed independent commission to investigate what happened. and representative nancy pelosi said he cannot take the place of a truly independent juice commission that is com

lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had been pressuring acting attorney general rob rosenstein to get the independent appointment after back to back allegations first that president trump gave classified information to the russians and that president trump -- >> it was this new report about james comey's note that is think forced the hand of rob rosenstein, getting well respected, well regarded special counsel like robert mueller. >> reaction from capitol hill is pouring in. >> i think he has a long history of honorable service. >> a very solid and significant step toward reaffirming the rule of law. bob mueller is a real pro, he has integrity and guts. >> whatever investigation goes on will have the credibility of bob mueller is former director of the fbi and renowned lawyer. >> the bay area delegation tonightust a first step. a statement from east bay representative eric swalwell says we need a bipartisan-appointed independent commission to investigate what happened. and representative nancy pelosi said he cannot take the place of a truly independent juice commission that is complet

. >> so sarah, you made reference repeatedly to the report by the deputy ag rob rosenstein. who asked him to make that review? who asked him to undertake that review? >> i'm not sure it was requested. all i know is that the director reports to him. i would imagine that is part of the process of him coming on board and taking it over that position. >> this is a crucial issue. was this an independent effort on this part? did he talk about it with jeff sessions? >> sean spicer says it was self-started. i'm sure you know the answer. i was asked if it was something he came to on his own. that's my understanding. this is something as coming into this new position and being a person that would oversee the director of the fbi, that would be part of this process to do a review and to make a recommendation based on that review. that's what he did. she would have immediately fired jam james comey. i'm sure it is the very people that would have been cheering and celebrating comey being dismissed will be the very ones saying hi shouldn't have been. >> i can tell you, we certainly would n

feeling is what was said, and some fbi staffers say that in the days before the firing, he met with rob rosenstein says he completely mishandled the investigation and asked for more staff and budget to be able to continue and to in essence expand the russian investigation. this is an investigation of ruia hacking on the investigation last year and the potential connections between the russian hacking of the election and members of the trump campaign. after that meeting, the fbi director mentioned this to members of congress with whom he has been in regular touch. that is just an additional fact in the steps leading up to this decision to fire him. i think a fundamental question that remain social security what is the genesis for the memo. was it tasked to the department. did rosenstein come up with this independently, and is this what they have been looking for? we just don't know the false so that yet. >> and one of the things you're working on is who might be nominated to replace jim comey. >> they said they talked to talk to part-time for interim fbi director. there is a director right now, but

. >> he took the recommendation of rob rosenstein. >> when you receive a report that's so clear in a recommendation from somebody like the deputy attorney general, you have to act. >> he is taking the recommendation of his deputy attorney general. >> and i penalrsona personally that we have a president that's taken the strong and decisive action against the fbi director. >> the white house even gave us a timeline on paper pushing the phony narrative. so as you can see, there was no game of gotcha, then the president said it was something else entirely and we reported that. we and so many others, because it doesn't take a rocket scientist noticed the difference between the two and reported that. jeff, you have been following all the day's twists and turns, what is the latest right now? >> well, anderson, as we end the week here, there are so many questions hanging over the white house, one is a question of credibility, of course, one is a question of who the next fbi director is going to be. but we're doing some new reporting tonight and talking to so many people here on the west wing

i think rob rosenstein was thinking about what his reputation will be. people care deeply -- >> calling it a witch hunt is consistent how he blasted the russian investigation in the bas. the irony is that it was made by rosenste rosenstein. he has been praising in the days after comey was fired. >> let's cut to the -- exactly what the cover up has been about, what it is that the president of the united states does not want us to know, what it is the president of the united states thought he needed to impede an investigation; to undermine it, to dismiss it, to treat it with disdain we don't know yet the specifics. we know he feels very threatened by this investigation and what rob rosenstein has said enough already. this president try today use me, manipulate me. i have to choice but to make sure the rule of law prevails. trump is threatened by this. the idea of self-pity is part of his ammo. it has been part of his ammo throughout his adult life, throughout his dam pacampaign. what we are seeing in the trump presidency is all of the things that worked so

the full senate will get a briefing on thursday from deputy attorney general rob rosenstein. >>> a cyber attack hitting someone on friday spreading to asia. today the malware program is supposed to sell microsoft operating systems. here is how it works. it encrypts files and hackers demand some $300 to decode those fi more than a thousand users have been affected. the security experts say the u.s. did not get hit as hard as some other countries because most people in this country have updated versions of microsoft. let this be a hint not to ignore the software update notices that you get regularly for your device. >>> tonight north korea talking about what it calls a successful test of a new ballistic missile designed to carry a heavier nuclear warhead. the video shows the leader inspecting the launch site and celebrating afterward. the white house is calling for sanctions against north korea. the u.n. security council will hold closed-door talks sometime tomorrow. >>> president trump paying tribute to law-enforcement officers who gave their lives in the line of duty. >> is not here near

the deputy attorney general rob rosenstein is in charge, jeff sessions is recused from it.ing of jim comey will have zero impact on the investigation. zero impact. inspector clouseau was not jim comey, not doing the investigation, the team doing the investigation will continue and that's the tway should be. the notion that you turn this over to independent counsel is a mistake, it's been a mistake going back to the watergate investigation. congress itself recognized that the concept of an independent counsel was wrong when they let the independent counsel statute lapse. it's just a way for congress to do more political interference. melissa: ambassador bolton, always crystal clear, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. david: it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy a fistfight. southwest is the latest airline now to be in the spotlight, look at that one. time for a fullout brawl. details and more video coming up. melissa: plus democrats who called for james comey's removal are slamming president trump. the hypocrisy next. >>> and former governor mike huckabee sounds

resources we know that is not true, acting fbi director mccabe told us under testimony earth articles rob rosenstein was looking to resign we know that is not true because he said so himself, so i think it is a dangerous place to be no, when media is uninterested in getting things right. >> david obviously you are going to see things differently but before you go into this, what -- okay, every little detail of the trump presidency seems leaked, when he likes diet coxe how he orders what he eats to men's room there is not a shred of evidence leaked about any ties to you russians does that not strike you as surprising. >> leaks get used to it because the president of the united states is going to have the face leaks, it happened before. >> before -- >> the leaks on russian ties if leaking every thing about guy can't find one evidence tying him to so many sort of russian collusion at least maybe there are aren't any. >> the need for investigation, the appointment of a special prosecutor muleel to rein in hearings getting to the facts as opposed to a conjecture leaks and otherwise, and all of this is tr

that on monday the attorney general and the deputy attorney general, jeff sessions and rob rosenstein were at the white house and the president asked to meet with them. and he said he had concerns about james comey and thought comey should be fired and asked what they thought. according to this account, rosen stinl said yes, i've been thinking about the same thing and i've come to the same conclusion. the president said, would you put your thoughts down on paper? and that's the genesis of this three-page memo blasting the director for his handling of the clinton e-mail investigation. that's how that came to be made. so they said that rosenstein had already reached the conclusion that comey should go even though he hadn't written a memo. the memo was written at the request of the president but that the conclusion came before. >> lots of call for special counsel. can you explain how the law works now? right now, is it the attorney general? or in this case since he recused himself from russia, is it up to rob rosenstein to call for special counsel? explain this process now under the law.

deputy attorney general rob rosenstein chose former fbi director robert mueller for the job. >> a specialounsel mueller will have extraordinary power. he can replace all the agents currently working on the case if he chooses. he has 60 days to put together a team of lawyers to work with him on the case. >> reporter: mueller's appointment is a blow to the white house. >> i am told that the senior staff here at the white house did not get word of this until about 30 minutes before the news was shared with the news media. completely taken off guard. >> reporter: tonight the president issued this statement. "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." the president made no secret of his wish for the russia investigation to end. >> as trump todd nbc's lester holt, it was on his mind when he decided to fire fbi director james comey. >> in fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know? this russia thing with tr

rob rosenstein has said he must be fired. and so they fired him. yet, mika, what do we find out?at reporting, that it was, in fact, donald trump who ordered a recused, a recused attorney general to come to his office to talk about firing the director of the fbi because he was enraged that the russia investigation would not stop and that the director of the fbi would not give him an oath of loyalty. the kind of oath of loyalty that you might expect from autocrats in turkey or dictators in russia. this is a frightening, frightening day. >> and here is reporting from robert costa in "the washington post" about that timeline you spoke about. at work monday morning in washington, trump told vice president pence and several senior aides, reince priebus, stephen k. bannon, donald mcgahn, among others, that he was ready to move on comey. first, though, he wanted to talk about attorney general jeff sessions, his trusted confidant and attorney deputy general. trump summoned the two of them to the white house for a meeting. according to a person close to the white hout house. the president

but rob rosenstein.ent saying or his team saying it was his recommendation and that's why we acted. how damaging could his words be? >> the onus is on him to appoint a special prosecutor and move the investigation forward in a credible manner. >> it will be an exciting day. thank you. >>> coming up a member of the senate foreign relations committee called trump's revealing of classified info, quote, deeply troubling. senator chris coons will be here. what's that? p3 planters nuts, jerky and seeds. i like a variety in my protein. totally, that's why i have this uh trail mix. wow minty. p3 snacks. the more interesting way to get your protein. there's nothing more than my vacation.me 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. and with their price match, i know i'm getting the best price every time. now i can start relaxing even before the vacation begins. your memorial day weekend is very important. that's why booking.com makes finding th

yes or no, did the president direct rob rosenstein to write this memo on james comey. >> no, the presidentnfidence in director comey, and frankly, he had been considering letting director comey go since the day he was elected. but he did have a conversation with the deputy attorney general on monday where they had come to him to express their concerns. the president asked that they put those concerns in their recommendation in writing, which is the letter that you guys have received. >> so it's the white house's assertion that rob rosenstein decided on his own, after being confirmed, to review comey's performance? >> yes, and i think america had decided on their own that director comey was not the person that should be leading the fbi based on numerous comments we've heard from the house, the senate, members of the fbi and across the board. >> rosenstein sa, it is said, w told something different. >> heskedim to put that recommendation in writing but they came to him on their own. the president lost confidence in comey from the day he was elected. >> on may 3rd, he said he had full confide

writing a memorandum for the attorney general, the deputy attorney general rob rosenstein said as you and i have discusse discussed, talking about jeff sessions, "i cannot defend the director james comey's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of secretary clinton's emails, and i do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken in what he did. almost everyone agrees the director made serious mistakes." to the substance of what happened, the deputy attorney general rob rosenstein, writing about comey's handling last year during the election campaign of the clinton email issue said "the director was wrong to usurp the attorney general's authority on july 5th, 2016. it's not the function of the director to make such an announcement. the director should have said the fbi had completed its investigation presented its finding to federal prosecutors. the director now defends his decision, and he said this last week, by asserting he believed attorney general loretta lynch had a conflict. but the fbi director is never empowered to supplant fe

by president donald trump and by attorney general jeff sessions and by deputy attorney general rob rosenstein, the deputy attorney general usually reports to the attorney general. he was just confirmed 14 days ago. he's well respected across both sides of the aisle, he served as u.s. attorney in maryland under president obama. and he sent out a memo today to the attorney general and the re: line says referring to the investigation of hillary clinton. >> but as a candidate, trump praised james comey, donald trump talked about this on the campaign all the time. all of a sudden, the white house is concerned got james comey's handling of hillary clinton's emails? >> there are many things covered in this letter, it goes to the fact that there's a lack of morale -- >> the main paragraph -- >> the first paragraph. >> the third paragraph, to usurp the attorney general's authority on july 5. i mean why now are you concerned about the hillary clinton email investigation when as a candidate, trump was praising it from the campaign trail. >> i think you're looking at the wrong set of facts here, in other

indicating the vote in the senate from two weeks ago yesterday that was a 94-6 vote to confirm rob rosensteino be the deputy attorney general who is at the center of all this decision in the letter first released yesterday. schumer is saying there is little reason to think that rosenstein's letter was the reason for the termination and repeatedly called for a special prosecutor. we can hear that from democrats for some time now. john thune, senator from the hill with me now. i know this is on quick notice. is it the right thing to do to appoint a special prosecutor or not? >> that's not going to happen, bill. the leader noted in his remark this morning there are already investigations underway for months. senator richard burr and senator mark warner the chair and ranking democrat on the senate intelligence committee have been working this. there is a lot of work done. f.b.i. investigation underway and plenty of investigations out there already into this matter which are independent and objective and going to get to the bottom of all the facts and let the facts lead the investigation and the d

rob rosenstein, the brand new deputy attorney general has a bipartisan background, cites the facts over 100 department officials had been very critical at the time. he cites that in his letter tonight as reasons justifying the firing although very few of those people at the time said comey ought to be fired. >> what about comey and investigations began under comey, specifically the russian investigation? >> that will clearly go on. interesting tonight, there's been bipartisan support for this move by the president, both the republican, charles grassley and the ranking democrat on judiciary, dianne feinstein, they support the move, but you can expect more calls for a special counsel. >> to chuck todd now, our moderator on "meet the press." there are legal distinctions and then there are optics. how do the optics look? >> the optics look terrible for the white house. director comey had lost confidence with members of both sides of the aisle in the united states senate. as early as 20 minutes before the announcement -- before the firing was announced, lester, i spoke with democratic senato

officials say president trump met with attorney general jeff sessions and deputy attorney general rob rosenstein and said he wanted to talk about his concerns that comey should be fired. rosenstein said he reached the same conclusion. and agreed to put his thoughts on paper, which became the three-page memo blasting comey's handling of the clinton e-mail investigation. congressional sources say he asked for more resources for the russia investigation, but a justice department official says that request was never made. a white house spokeswoman says the president has been thinking since he took office that comey should go, believing in part that comey was not respected by the agency he led. >> the rank and file of the fbi had lost confidence in their director. accordingly, the president accepted his recommendation of the attorney general to remove james comey from his position. >> reporter: current and former agents say that's not true, while some thought comey mishandled the clinton e-mail investigation, they didn't lose confidence in him. >> he's a good man. he's well-intentioned. he's well tho

the real substance of that recommendation came from rob rosenstein in the three-page stronglywhich he criticized the handling of the hillary clinton email investigation by the fbi director, james comey. that was a document that is seen as highly controversial. justiceery unusual for department officials to criticize by relying on news stories and op-eds. most intriguingly, the memo does not quite recommend the firing of jim comey. it tiptoes up to the line of recommending the firing, but does not explicitly do so in his memo, rather saying that public confidence and trust in the fbi cannot be restored with the andent director in place, the current director cannot be expected to put in place the reforms necessary. it sounds like a recommendation to fire someone, but it is not quite. that document is being read very closely. host: what does that document due to his credibility? -- do to his credibility? guest: his credibility, i think, has been undermined a bit. justice department officials look at this document and wonder why he would sign his name to this document in this way, why he