he said that the reason u.s./russia relations are at a low point at the moment is because it was undermined artificial by the u.s. side. i think that's really an astonishing comment. they are at a low point. this is absolutely true. both the kremlin and white house are saying, there is an absence of trust in a bilateral relationship at the moment. but the reason this is the situation is because of the way vladimir putin's regime has been behaving, both on the international stage, where it has been breaking international law and behaving aggressively towards its neighbors, first of all, of course, ukraine, and giving political pocover to basr al assad, and so on and so forth. also because of the way putin's regime has been behaving in russia. there is the organization for security and cooperation in europe, which is the world's largest security organization. includes the russia and the united states as well as many other countries. one of the pillars of this organization is a set of commitments, clear commitments, like h

coming up, with director comey out, the russia probe is a mess. all kinds of conflicts. see a special prosecutor? and how does that happen? comey is the fourth high profile person president trump has fired. there is a pattern. i'll explain it ahead. the new guy? what new guy? i hired some help. he really knows his wine. this is the new guy? hello, my name is watson. you know wine, huh? i know that you should check vineyard block 12. block 12? my analysis of satellite imagery shows it would benefit from decreased irrigation. i was wondering about that. easy boy. nice doggy. what do you think? not bad. find fast relief behind the counter allergies with nasal congestion? with claritin-d. [ upbeat music ] strut past that aisle for the allergy relief that starts working in as little as 30 minutes and contains the best oral decongestant. live claritin clear, with claritin-d. p3 planters nuts, jerky and whaseeds.at? 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 a moment of

the hill. for ramping comey up russia collusion investigation." om salon, " donald trump was so enraged that the fbi was investigating him, he would scream at the tv." and president trump tweeting "dems have been complaining for months about director comey. now that he has been fired, they pretend to be agreed. hypocrite." we will hear from president trump on the firing of director comey next. followed by remarks by vice president pence. and the white house to questions on the firing. we'll get reaction from senators. you can watch all the video at c-span.org.

yeah, we fired him for the russia thing, to stop the russia thing, to bring the russia thing to an end. what are you going to do about it? a lot of people are talking about obstruction of justice today if the president did do what he said he did because he wanted to effect the fbi's investigation into his campaign and its ties with russia, that would be -- that is -- that's the kind of example you might make up if you were teaching a low level class on op obstruction of justice and you wanted to give your students a crystal clear example of what that might look like in a banana republic where things like that happen. as far as that goes though, the remedy for obstruction of justice is committed by a president, there's only one remedy which is impeachment. it was the third article of impeachment against bill clinton. any such investigation by the inspector general. justice department would only cover the actions of justice department personnel. it would not cover the actions of the president of the united states. if the president obstructed justice deliberately with this firing, if he f

and says he was thinking about the russia investigation when he made the decision. >> in fact, when i decided to just do it i said to myself, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story, an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. >> reporter: trump took to twitter to explain the discrepancy saying as a very active president with lots of things happening it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy. >> that tweet i find amazing, the idea he's so active that his surrogates can't catch up with him to find out what's true and what's not and actually speak the truth at the podium. what are you learning about morale at the white house at the end of this week? >> certainly for white house staffers it's been a demoralizing week. like you were saying about the president's pace some staffers refer to him as the hurry-up president. it comes with high risk and also high reward that he's able to pull the trigger and make decisions. this week they certainly saw the down side of taking those risks. i thi

it was about the russia investigation. and that is inappropriate and potentially open to exposure for obstruction and that -- >> obstruction of justice. >> and that should have a very wide implication for this president of the united states. it's as if he's oblivious are to the fact that the words that he speaks must match the ones of his spokesman and that they have to connect in order to give a compa coherent excan x. plan nation. >> you know a lot of people are drawing comparison to the inappropriate meeting that former president-elect had with the then attorney general loretta lynch who was in charge of the investigation of the hillary clinton e-mail uproar. are these two meetings similar? >> let's see james koechl's sco of things which i hope we get with. but it's certainly not in the good space that you would do. again, we went through this in the campaign a lot. dana makes a good point. donald trump would say and do things where you would think he's running for president, and he's saying and doing that. but it's even

because they recognize the threat that russia poses to the united states. ey know that sharing highly he is nottive classified information with russia is a bad thing, an good thing. that donald trump would be well advised to learn that himself. and again this goes back to the fundamental issue that he seems to have on point after point when it comes to the u.s./russia relations. >> you were national security adviser in the white house during the obama administration. if this would have happened on your watch, what would you have done, with the president of the out had an oval office meeting with russians, shared this kind of intelligence? >> this is so far from possible to have happened with president barack obama that i never even thought about what we would have done. he never would have even conceived of doing something like this. it is an impossible hypothetical to answer. >> do you think that u.s. through the president shared with the russians could wined up in the hands of the iranians because russia and iran are allies that try to bolster the regime o

fbi insiders tell nbc news many at fbi headquarters believe he was fired because he would not end the russia investigation, something the president clearly wanted over, tweeting two days ago, when will this tax-pair funded charade end? the justice department and white house say the final steps in firing comey who hustled back to washington after hearing the news came two days ago at the white house. administration 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

you said the president has encouraged this investigation into russia. he wants to see it reach its completion sooner rather than later. how he is encouraging if he just fired the man overseeing the investigation? >> there are multiple people the a part of this. it's not just the fbi. look, the point is we want this to come to its collusion. we want it to come to its collusion with integrity and we think by removing director comey have taken steps to make that happen. thank you so much, guys. >> speaking of integrity, why not have an independent investigation then? that's what a number of attorneys general are asking. >> thank you so much, guys. got to go. got to -- by removing director comey, we have taken steps to make that happen. that's what she says there, because we want this to come to its conclusion. want this to come to its conclusion. we think that we've actually by removing director comey taken steps to make that happen. that's why we removed director comey. so the white house today has just dropped the pretense about why the president fired th

the next person who will oversee the russia investigation. your colleague, congressman charlie crist, told me he essentially in his mind, this is the investigatior picking the investigator. can you assure the american public there will be no impartiality? >> let's be clear. it will be incumbent upon the president at this point in time to propose, nominate, a director of the fbi that both republicans and democrats are comfortable with. and i pray that the president will heed my remarks and those of others who say that that is a critical factor in whoever is going to be the next director of the fbi. we saw what happened during last year's elections. we cannot have an fbi director going rogue, going on his own, making the kind of public statements that mr. comey made that had a direct impact on the election of the president of the united states. hopefully within the ranks of the fbi or without the ranks of the fbi, we will come up with a person who will do his due diligence, both with respect to the russia investigation and all of the other thous

lavrov laughs and this is the view of russia on the investigation.rrible image and who was staffing him when he makes this announcement last night and the very next day he's meeting with the russian more infinster? >> what about that, kimberly dozier, on the other hand, if sergey lavrov is in town he has to meet with rex tillerson and there was this outrage when he was in moscow and should the president be meeting with lavrov albeit under this awful timing? >> he's here and there are things to be discussed like this plan that the russians have agreed with turkey and iran for de-escalation zones which would stop some of the fighting and violence in syria, so it is an opportunity to discuss that face to face, but let's be honest, until these investigations are over, every single interaction between this administration and russia is going to be problematic. timing from yesterday to today? yeah, awkward and i don't see how you get around that. >> so steve hall, overnight you wrote, interesting that potus first goes after cia. now fbi. is nsa next? intel

congressional sources 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 ranken file of the fbi 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 thought of. the law enforcement community thinks very highly of him, and it's just a terrible thing that's happened here. >> reporter: people throughout the fbi are in shock which came with no warning. for the investigation of russia's hacking during the election and whether any trump were involved, that work goes on but some former officials say the firing cast a cloud. >> if you're an in

let's begin with the russia investigation. we have breaking news and a cnn exclusive, but first cnn's diane gallagher with the very latest. diane? >> reporter: that's right. sources are telling cnn that the russian government officials talked about having that potentially derogatory information during the 2016 election. it was about then candidate trump and some of his top aides. one of those sources saying that the information was financial in nature. the conversations picked up by u.s. intelligence suggest the the russians believed they had the ability to influence the administration with the information. that's according to two former intelligence officials and a congressional source. now sources caution that the claims could have been fake or even exaggerated as part of russia's greater disinformation campaign. former director of national intelligence james clapper acknowledged that's possible, but warned -- >> i will just say that there were a series of communications and dialogs that we grew -- i say we, members of the in

the u.s. system to be used for crimes anywhere, here or in russia. the southern district of new york has announced a $6 million settlement of civil moneylaundering and forfeiture claims connected to russian tax fraud. but, again, a late night announcement from the southern district of new york, as "vanity fair" reports today, that at least according to one fbi insider source, preet bharara was investigating trump moneylaundering concerns with regard to russia at the time he was fired by the trump administration. msnbc live is next. >>> good morning, everybody. i'm dara brown. it's 7:00 in the east and 4:00 a.m. out west. president trump is heading out soon to deliver a commencement address as he and his aides negotiate through a hectic week, including -- >> what about the idea that in a tweet you said there might be tape recording? >> that i can't talk about. all i want is for comey to be honest and i hope he will be. i'm sure he will be, i hope. >> new questions this morning over whether president trump records conversations in the oval office. is it

he's only pursuing the russia investigation. he probably feels bad about how he handled hillary clinton. he's going to come at me really hard. this is how you raise the spector of abusive power. if the president is taking on an fbi director in just such a way. i don't believe what the white house says, that he was following the advice of the justice department. >> chris, this is why it would be really important to hear from rod rosenstein. because obviously if the reporting is accurate, he doesn't want to be seen as the fall guy. i'm sure given his stellar reputation he doesn't want to be seen as a stooj for the white house. so is there any chance we will hear from rod rosenstein? >> i never say never in politics. so sure. but there are two people we need to hear from. well, three. donald trump. but i would say more importantly james comey and rod rosenstein. remember, let's not forget that in the letter that donald trump sent firing james comey, he insisted that he, comey, told me, trump, three times that he was not under invest

i faced great pressure because of the russia. that's taken off. lots of consent headlines about this story and discussion about this story today have been focusing on the fact that the president is also quoted in this official white house account of that meeting calling fired fbi direct james comey, quote, crazy, a real nut job. you know what though? when one of your work colleagues is somebody the presidentalls sleepy eyes, when he says senator kai senator mccain is no war hero, best not to get too caught up in what names this particular president flings at people. that's how he behaves even though he's president of the united states. he calls people all sorts of stuff. so i realize everybody was very excited about him calling the fbi director a nut job. if i'm the fbi director, i am probably very unhappy about that. i'm sure it hurt feelings. it's exercising, it's weird it's a display of his temperament. there is big news in this story, and the news here is, one, he confirmed again on the record that he fired the fbi director to try to alleviate

russia. then, with that backdrop, mr. trump, in the oval office, welcomes russia's foreign minister and their ambassador to the u.s., someone at the center of collusion allegations with the trump campaign. we devote the bulk of the program to this story, as we unpack what we do and don't know this day after the firing. that's tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention. in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contr

it will be the highest level of meetings between the u.s. and russiance president trump took office. we should note we have not seen the president in recent days. no public events in five days. this will be day six. this lavrov meeting was previously planned. the timing here strange to say the least. >> sean spicer yesterday said the president has been preparing for his big international trip. he's been hunkered down with his aides and national security adviser. >> if he doesn't speak publicly about this firing, you wonder how that foreign trip goes. saudi arabia. the vatican. >> tweets at 10:00 last night, crying chuck schumer. >> american people deserve and investigation. >>> the special adviser carl icahn. we'll tell you about it next. >>> let's get a check on money. futures in global be markets lower. turning lower after wall street once again barely moved. still yesterday the nasdaq hit another close. dow and s&p closed lower. energy stocks dragging them down. more earnings on deck today. strong earning season. companies have been making a lot of

nixon's secretary of state henry kissinger while fighting off claims that his firing was about the russia investigation, he met with two men named sergey. russian. of mike flynn and carter page flame. it was closed to the press. the still photos we are able to show you came from the russian government news agency. today also saw the white house on defense trying to explain the reasoning and the timing for comey's firing. >> the president took the advice of the deputy attorney general who over sees the director of the fbi and they made a decisioning to remove him. >> the president's decision to accept the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and attorney general to remove director comey as head of the fbi was based solely and exclusively on his commitment to the best interested of the american people and insuring that the fbi has the trust and confidence of the people of this nation. >> very much for being here. appreciate it. >> why did you fire director comey? >> because he was not doing a good job. very simply. >> yes or no. did the president direct rod rosenstein to write this

. >> did it have to do with the russia investigation? the administration said this -- >> you want this to be about russia when this is about, quote, restoring confidence. >> this has nothing to do with any investigation into russia. >> that's not what this is about. >> but then, president trump said this. >> the russia thing with trump and russia is a maid-up story. what's the real story? joining me are secretary of state rex tillerson. lindsey graham and chuck schumer. >>> and new words on our poll about what a skeptical public is thinking. >>> and west wing shakeup watch. a report this morning says a frustrated president trump is considering firing many of his top white house aides. we'll get the latest. joining me for insight and analysis are -- nbc news chief white house correspondent, hallie jackson. "washington post" columnist eugene robinson. bbc anchor, katy kay. welcome to sunday, it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, the longest-running show in television history, celebrating its 70th year. this is "meet the pre

how will the firing of james comey affect u.s./russia relations? nslator: there will be no effect. your position looks very funny to me. don't be angry with me. we have nothing to do with it. he's acting in accordance with confidence and the constitution. what about us? we came to play hockey with the hockey fans. >> reporter: officially, he denies russia even has an opinion. but he as as skilled a player on the world stage as he is on the ice. as the president sochi, sergey lavrov was chalking up a win in washington meeting president trump in the oval office. american reporters were shut out, so it was up to the russians to tweet this picture, and this one, with russia's controversial ambassador, sergei kislyak who remains at the heart of the alleged collusion of the trump campaign and russia's meddling in the last election. the pictures would have pleased kremlin spokesman dimitri peskov who in a quiet back room at the hockey arena explained that any mention of washington is so toxic in russia that real relations are a long way off. >> it's quite

and says he was thinking about the russia investigation when he made the decision. >> in fact, when i decided to just do it i said to myself, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story, an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. >> reporter: trump took to twitter to explain the discrepancy saying as a very active president with lots of things happening it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy. >> sara murray joins us now. with that tweet i find it amazing, the idea he's so active that his surrogates can't catch-up with him to find out what's true and what's not and actually speak the truth at the podium. what are you learning about morale at the white house at the end of this week? >> certainly for white house staffers it's been a demoralizing week. like you were saying about the president's pace some staffers refer to him as the hurry-up president. it comes with high risk and also high reward that he's able to pull the trigger and make decisions. this week they certainly saw the down

so you have the optics looking bad in russia. you have the optics looking bad in terms of being able to have people who are reporting to you or a part of other agencies being able to see how they could openly communicate with you and most importantly you have rosenstein who has been nonpartisan across several presidential administrations and now he has said i just can't even think about doing this. this is telling me what we need to hear from the senate hearing today, is that the fbi can be the rock of competence that comey has in this letter and the justice department has to function in the same way. >> and if you read really closely rosenstein's letter, nowhere in it does he say i recommend the removal of comey. people have been pointing to that. we'll be checking in with you later in the hour. there is a lot of ahead for us obviously in this critical morning for the nation. the firing of james comey sending shack waves. we're going to get new insight into the mood of the fbi right now before the president goes there because we

awkward timing for the white house. russia's only hours after president trump fires the fbi director investigating possible links between the trump campaign and russia's election hacking. >> does the comey firing cast a shadow over your talks, gentlemen? sergey lavrov's joking response before heading the the white house where all reporters were barred but just official photographers let in. russia's official news agency releasing more than 20 photos of the meeting, president trump with the russian foreign minister, president trump with the russian ambassador, a central figure in the controversy over the firing of michael flynn. no pictures released yet by the white house. not a lot was released about what they discussed, but we know they agreed on one thing, the russia investigation is fake news. vladimir putin, after skating in a celebrity hockey game asked by cbs how comey's firing will affect u.s.-russia relations? >> there will be no effect he says. president trump is acting in accordance with his competence and his law and

the u.s. system to be used for crimes anywhere, here or in russia. r the southern district of new york has announced a $6 million settlement of civil moneylaundering and forfeiture claims connected to russian tax fraud. but, again, a late night announcement from the southern district of new york, as "vanity fair" reports today, that at least according to one fbi insider source, preet bharara was investigating trump moneylaundering concerns with regard to russia at the time he was fired by the trump administration. it's friday night. so that means the news is going to happen all night long. that does it for us tonight, though. we will see you again on monday. now it's time for "the last word." ari melber is in for lawrence this evening. >> i think the saying every action has a reaction, or this week ten reactions. >> that's exactly right. no rest for us. >> have a great weekend, rachel. appreciate it. i am ari melber in for lawrence tonight. tonight donald trump just releasing the short list of candidates to lead the fbi. it is the opposite of nonparti

it did not mention the ongoing probe of russia's meddling in the u.s. election. today on capitol hill, vice president mike pence said comey's dismissal had nothing to do with russia. >> it was time for a fresh start at the f.b.i. >> reporter: but sources tell cbs news just last week comey asked rosenstein for more resources for the f.b.i.'s russia investigation, something the justice department denied. on monday, president trump tweeted, "the russia-trump collusion story is a total hoax. when will this taxpayer funded charade end?" the president's decision made without a successor in mind caught his press staff flat footed and with few answers on tuesday night. >> why wasn't he fired at the beginning of this administration? why was >> i think biggest reason is really, really simple: he'd lost the confidence of the rank-and-file members of the f.b.i. >> reporter: on twitter this morning, the president pointed to democrats who faulted comey's handling of the clinton investigation. the democrats have said some of the worst things about james comey, but now they play

there's some validity to the russia story. u came out without question that there was something going on with russia. it wasn't if. it was what and the degree of it. i think it caught them off guard. it was there from the beginning of the hearing and by the time over. this is the waters they're in. >> we're in them together. karen greenberg, thank you. >>> sean spicer and sara huckabee-sanders. a look at the growing gap with the president contradicts on twitter almost in real time of their press briefings. coming up next hour one congressman starting to use the word "impeach" when talking about president trump. dear predictable, there's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia ♪ time's up, insufficient we're on prenatal care.es. and administrative paperwork... your days of drowning people are numbered. same goes

in 4014, it was the number one media in russia, the biggest media in russia ever. 2014, it was the number one media in russia, the biggest media in russia ever. problem which i called the problem of the second -- it is not that hard to record your first good and successful album. then, you start thinking, it , the success is not about us, it's about some condition, some luck. can you do it for the second time? is it possible to make the same thing popular and important but brand-new? you will be compared with your first child. >> how are you doing with being compared your first child? >> we decided to forget about our first child. [laughter] today? about russia your english newsletter, you have this slogan -- "medusa, the real russia today." how does rt treat you? >> we live in different universes. putin. product made for we have our own russian television -- >> the twitter of russia today --much more popular than >> than the actual content. a good twitter personality. , but we don'tches exist for russia today. >> what kinds of stories most interest your readers? >> tough question. story

there's some validity to the russia story. you came out without question that there was something going on with russia. it wasn't if. it was what and the degree of it. i think it caught them off guard. it was there from the beginning of the hearing and by the time over. this is the waters they're in. >> we're in them together. karen greenberg, thank you. >>> sean spicer and sara huckabee-sanders. a look at the growing gap with the president contradicts on twitter almost in real time of their press briefings. coming up next hour one

so a person of interest in the trump-russia investigation. not just who was a trump associate or worked in business with trump or was part of the trump campaign or is a fired official who used to be in the campaign. but somebody currently working in the white house at a very high level, working as a senior adviser to the president. and in addition to that, the person who was the person of interest for the fbi's investigation in the trump-russia probe is described as being someone, quote, being close to the president. that is what we had as of friday night. and now, nbc news reports that the person of interest has a name, and that name is jared kushner. jared kushner, senior white house adviser. he is the president's son-in-law, unlike any other presidential family member in u.s. history, he has a vast policy portfolio. we've had, you know, a member of the president's family in the cabinet before as attorney general. we've had a member of the president's family working on a specific policy, hillary clinton working on health reform for bill clin

for now the russia investigation doesn't stop. it goes away. the acting fbi director has been briefed on it. he won't drop a step here in terms of picking it up. the question is what impact does it have on the agents working on the case, does it take the wind out of them. as a practical matter, the investigation certainly keeps going. anything that was going to happen yesterday is going to happen today. >> pete williams, thank you for that. i want to mention that sergey lavrov has just arrived behind me at the white house. we don't have videos to show you. this is considered a closed press meeting. the small pool of report ares who would normally cover this not allowed in the oval office with this meeting. he was just over at the state department and andrea mitchell got a little reaction out of him. >> does the comey firing cast a shadow over your talks, gentlemen? yes, he was fired. >> what you don't hear is sergey lavrov go he was fired, really? real sarcastically. i want to bring in jeremy bash. i want to get reaction from you on sergey lavro

muller must have broad latitude to pursue the russia investigation. in the appointment order, it stipulates the special counsel is authorized to investigate, quote, any matters that rise directly or indirectly from this investigation, unquote. that's a really important power, given the recent reports about an active f.b.i. investigation into general flynn. i am heartened by the news of mr. muller's appointment, but in no way it diminishes the need tn active role in helping to get to the bottom of recent events. intelligence committee chair burr, ranking member warner should still pursue the congressional investigation into these matters with just as much vigor. that investigates has been proceeding in a -- that investigation has been proceeding in a bipartisan way, and it absolutely should continue with such. we should still seek testimony from mr. comey in both the judiciary and intelligence committees to discuss the events surrounding his dismissal and be given access to his memos and any transcripts or tapes of his conversation with president trump.

the initial story on russia. in conversation with lavrov and kislyak had 22nd donald trump potentially betraying a foreign intelligence asset which we later learned was israel. we had mcmaster come to the camera saying it was wholly whoemt, a phrase he used several times. it looks like the "new york times" has some sort of transcemetery of that may 10 meeting in the oval office. it will either exonerate or frankly implicate president trump on what he told the russians, vis-a-vis syria and the threat. >> and you and i have been back and forth talking about there was some very specific goal the president had in going to saudi arabia. and part of that was that they are going to announce what the white house is calling the biggest arms, u.s. arms sale in history. $110 billion in arms. that was in part designed to dhaeng narrative. these were american companies, lockheed martin, selling arms, that's a lot of arms. this narrative will challenge before the president's plane lands. >> i think they have an easier chance of

comes up in all of our conversations is all the other nations want the u.s. and russia to work towards improving our relationship as well for all the reasons i just mentioned. i think it is largely viewed it is not healthy for the world and not healthy for us for the american national security to remain healthy at this low level. whether we can improve it remains to be seen. it's going to take some time, it's going to take lot of hard work. but i think the president is committed, rightly so, and i'm committed with him as well to see if we can do something to put us on a better footing with our relationship with russia. >> can you get on a better footing if you don't address this issue of russian interference? your counterpart, foreign minister, mr. lavrov, said you guys didn't even talk about this issue of russian interference in our election because, as he put it, president trump himself says it's fake news so it's not an issue. why haven't you brought it up with him? >> chuck, i think we have such a broad range of important issues that have to be addressed in the u.s.

politico's reporting the president would scream at the televisions during news riports on the russia investigations. trump found comey sankmonious. and the president talked about firing comey for at least a week. there's this pair of quotes from the times. after president trump accused his predecessor in march of wire tapping him, james b. comey was faber glasted. the president was outside the realm of normal, crazy. and the president telling his aids quote there's something wrong with comey. and just days before he was fired he was asking for more resources for the russia investigation. and michael flynn received a subpoena for documents possibly relevant to its russia investigations. they requested those documents in a letter dated april 28th. a senate historian tells msnbc news this is the first time the senate intelligence committ has subpoenaed documents since the 1970snd on the flynn front the daily beast siting two sources toonts that white house lawyers repeatedly had to warn the president since flynn was fired in midfebruary. threats rrer bring in tonight's opening panel. jul

from your perch investigating the russia issue, what does today mean? >> chris, i'll also say from my perch as a judiciary committee member who oversees the fbi, the separation between our justice department and the fbi from our leaders, the independence that they must show, is a bedrock principle of our democracy. and the president firing the guy who was investigating his campaign is a violation of that bedrock principle. i'm very worried about the future of the fbi's investigation into the president's campaign. i hope whoever is appointed next is someone who is independent, who is completely removed from the 2016 campaign, and can continue to allow this investigation to proceed. >> well, but what the white house would say is, look, the president has this authority. it's both statutory authority and constitutionally it is the executive branch. all the people in that branch serve at the pleasure of the president. you know, lots of people complained about james comey from all quarters. so what's your problem, congressman? >> that authority, though, a grea

russia. of course we want to appear as links in the american free press about what is happening in russia. if you want to work for these people you need to speak english. for god sakes, please speak russian here. but in the world, i mean in the western world, not as much. it means that if you want to reach these people you have to make something in english. our idea is to produce something that part of western society have special interest in what's happening in russia. scientists, authorities and people like that. >> so just add in the final comment. i wanted you as my audience, got you so i think i got it. >> it's on demand. sometimes we really understand that this article has to be an we actually don't know sometimes is it interesting for english readers. >> i think you'll have more english readers after the presentation today. i like to congratulate you. this is a project less than three years old it is one that has generated 70% of its revenue through commercial means which is very hard. it generates hundreds of thousands of unique visitors every month. millions, 65% of your readers ar

and firing him took the pressure off the russia investigation. the white house not denying it. >>> and another report that the probe has reached a current senior white house official close to the president. a significant person of interest. >>> pleading guilty, anthony weiner breaks down as he admits sexting a minor. how much time he could face as huma abedin files for divorce. >>> cyber insurance, as hikers strike, a new way to lock in protection. >>> kill them all, what investigators say the times square driver told them about mowing down a crowd as shocking new video emerges. >>> and the end of an era for the greatest show on earth. "nightly news" begins right now. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. in a week of fast and furious developments regarding the russia investigation, we can add two more breaking as we come on this friday night. there is word now that the law enforcement investigation is now looking at a current white house official as a person of interest in the case. the name not yet made public. that news coming late today

and why -- nothing may come of the russia investigation. maybe there was nothing untoward that happened. why is the president acting so on suspiciously? this firing of comey is incredibly suspicious, incredibly suspect. and another point that i'd be interested in about getting jeffrey's take on as well which i don't thinking has been adequately addressed by others, so rod rosenstein is deputy attorney general. he is tasked with investigating comey's behavior. why? well, forget the politicians, we know people who are actual life long prosecutors all condemned comey for his handling of the e-mail investigation. in fact, the department of justice's own inspector general is already investigating those practices, is probably going to issue a blistering report. why ask rosenstein to investigate it separately? does rosenstein ask do that? that to me suspicious, as if they were setting him up to come out with a report with that very pretext. >> or if rosenstein is investigating this, why not wait until the inspector general who has been conducting i

and thirdly, the russia investigation continues. the day to day people who were in charge of that investigation right out of the counter-terrorism division will all be coming to work tomorrow. they will all be a bit in shock for a while but they will still report to the same people they were reporting to. it just won't ultimately go up to james comey anymore. and that's got to be something of a delay for it at the very least. >> ashley a friend of the president was on cable tonight talking about his regret that this wasn't done perhaps on day one. big question all afternoon into this evening, perhaps you can take a whack at answering it, why now, why tonight? >> well i actually have to say that that was the key question tonight that the white house really could not answer. it is the question. and one that they seemed very ill-prepared to answer. and i think that is the question you will see in the briefing room tomorrow and for the rest of the week going forward. it's one they are going to have to explain and answer for because it is

the white house saying his firing had nothing to do with russia. is the white house admitting that tonight? and the president's obsession with rosie o'donnell. good evening. i'm erin burnett. president trump speaking out now in his first television interviewer since firing jim comey 48 hours ago. since comey lost his job, the president and his staff have repeatedly changed their story as to why now, that all-important question. the president today contradicting himself, his staff, and his vice president. here is what trump is saying this evening in an interview with nbc's lester holt. >> 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 last an election that they should have won and the reason she should have won it. the electoral college is almost impossible for a republican to win, very hard, because you start out with such a disadvantage. everybody was thinking they should have won the election. this is an excuse for having lost

the firing of the man conducting the russia investigation? did deputy attorney general rosenstein act on his own or at the direction of his superiors or the white house? are reports that the president has been searching for a rationale to fire the f.b.i. director for weeks true? was director comey's investigation making significant progress in a direction that would cause political damage for the white house? why didn't the president wait for the inspector general's investigation into director comey's handling of the clinton e-mail investigation to conclude before making his decision to fire him? was this really about something else? no doubt we'll have an opportunity to question mr. comey, now a private citizen, about what happened. but we need to hear from this administration about what happened and why.and what is going to happen next. that is why, again, i am requesting that the majority leader call a closed and if necessary classified all-senators briefing with the attorney general, the deputy attorney general separately at which they can

. >> did it have to do with the russia investigation? the administration said this -- >> you want this to be about russia when this is about, >>> this sunday. the firing of james comey. why did president trump do it and why now? was it based on a justice department recommendation. >> the president accepted the recommendation of his deputy attorney general. >> then president trump said this. >> regardless of recommendation i was going to fire comey. >> did it have to do with the russian investigation. the administration said this. >> you want this to be about russia when this is about quote restoring confidence. >> this absolutely has nothing to do with any investigation into russia. >> that's not what this is about. >> then president trump said this. >> this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story. >> so what's the real story? joining me this morning. secretary of state rex tillerson and senator lindsey graham and democratic senate minority leader chuck schumer. and brand new numbers about what a very skeptical public is now

now we see russia on the yemen coast. we see russia's presence in libya, supporting the general there, who has committed his own human rights violations and war crimes and has disrupted the government of national accord which is our best chance for peace in libya. we see russia's presence in nicaragua and building a major compound that many believe is going to be used to spy on the u.s. compound. that's russia. so, to president trump, it is not business as usual with russia. there's a reason why we need an independent investigation to investigate what russia was doing in the united states. russia is trying to expand their influence, and expanding their influence are to values that are just the opposite of ours, a corrupt government, no respect for human rights, no respect for democratic institutions or opposition or free press. that's what russia is trying to expand. and we know that in their involvement in the united states they are trying to get a way to expand that opportunity. so it's for all those reasons it cannot be