former cia director, speaks out ted in front of the house kmejs intelligence committee saying trump campaign associates were interacting with russian officials during the campaign, that the russians tried to recruit mechanics of the trump campaign during the election. he said there was clear contact between trump associates and russian operatives. >> i was aware of russian intelligence and information about contacts between russian officials and u.s. persons that mazed concerns in my mind about whether or not those individuals were cooperating with the russians either unwitting or t witting. >> new to be clear, russian operatives tried to get trump associates with collude with them. the big question is did trump associates collude knowingly or unknowingly. we have more on cray director brennan's bombshell words in a moment. but breaking news, stonewalling, lawmakers threatening to hold him in contempt? >> any thought of the general -- that was blown apart today. documents laying out the details of any meetings between general flynn and members of the russian government. now they have, as you know, issu

he is denying he had contact with trump associates or trump campaign.believe that his denial is credible or does it seem clear to you that he does appear in these communications is he may have been involved in this somehow? >> i have to go with what he told us in an e-mail that he totally denied having any contacts. the only thing you can point out is that obviously he's ukranian and there were very senior people in the trump campaign including paul manafort who served as mr. trump's campaign manager for a period of time who have ties to ukraine. that's about all i can say in terms of this denial. >> one of the things we've been sort of trying to track over time is whether or not the white house explanation and story for what happened here makes sense given the other corroborateble facts we know in the world. the vice president obviously denied at one point there were any contacts between the trump campaign and russia. he denied that he had any knowledge of mike flynn having contacts with foreign vernments. lied to mike pence about mike flynn's discussi

beyond the logic of a former federal prosecutor who would conclude that an investigation into trump associates and the trump campaign and trump transition officials at high-ranking positions in the organization might eventually lead to the president of the united states, if that evidence is followed and there's culpability at the lower level, there might well be at the top. the point is we can't prejudge the investigation. it's the investigation and its integrity and credibility that are important. the deputy attorney general of the united states who is responsible for this investigation has severely compromised his integrity by joining in calling for director comey's designation and firing him. so there is nothing less than full-scale tumult and turmoil. >> we're waiting to hear in chuck schumer. he's going to be making a statement momentarily we're told as well. jeffrey toobin, i want to get your reaction. you heard senator blumenthal say that comey on sflee separate occasions told him he himself, the president, was not under investigation. >> i don't know what director comey told president

trump's associates and russia. these interactions included a dinner in whic associates and mr. comey say mr. trump asked him to pledge his loyalty and a meeting in the oval office, and he hoped mr. comey would shut down an investigation into mike flynn. the day after the flynn conversation, reince priebus asked mr. comey to help push back on reports in the news media that trump's associates have been in contact with russian intelligence officials during the campaign. mr. comey described his encounters between the president and the white house including the phone call from mr. trump in detailed memory foas at the tim. not just pressure from the president to the fbi director on the flynn karks but pressure from the president to the fbi director about investigations into the president himself, and then the white house chief of staff, prescribreince priebus, g up one of those apparently inappropriate conversations between the president and the director of the fbi overseeing those investigations. ever since we learned on tuesday night of the existence of the apparent comey memo about

director james comey -- the man leading an investigation into the possible role of trump associates in helping russia interfere with a u.s. presidential election. the timing raising monumental concerns and coming just after comey issued subpoenas and asked for more resources. the democrats have their own dilemma. they were calling for director comey to be fired over his handling of the hillary clinton email probe now say he is essential to an impartial investigation of russian meddling in the election. democratic national committee chairman tom perez was assistant attorney general and labor secretary in the obama administration and on the short list to be hillary clinton's running mate. we spoke to him at the d.n.c. soledad: is there a contradiction in democrats who have long been unhappy with

president is you individually we may not have evidence of you conspiring or colluding but trump associates is another issue. the carter pages of the world, roger stone, paul manafort, were they colluding in some ways? those investigations are still underway by multiple bodies. >> you talk to the associates. you investigate the associates and it could all change. the president could be directly investigated. it would be hugely embarrassing if associates were found colluding. that would be a huge problem. >> we have the white house interfering the with the whole saga of devyn nunes and try to change the subject. so the white house in a sense trying to shut that investigation down. we have reporting that they tried to not have yates yesterday this week. we have the white house telling republican leaders not to appoint an independent committee to investigate and now the white house really in an absurd circumstance advising the whose whose campape is under investigation to fire the investigator. so the thumb is putting their hand on the scales. >> the u.s. attorney that was in charge of the dis

what do you want the fbi director to address when it comes to trump campaign associates and russia? you so much, john. i think we need to get to the bottom of what are the trump white house's ties to the kremlin, what are the affiliates of donald trump's ties to the kremlin. that's what we need the director to address. on the house oversight committee, we're doing the exact same thing, except with michael flynn and others. and i have reviewed various classified documents and they're raising tremendous questions about, you know, was michael flynn don corleone or fredo and we need to get to the bottom of what's going on here. >> if those are the only choices, that's a stark comparison. cnn is reporting that the former acting attorney general will testify next week, that her version of the story of how michael flynn was dismissed is very different than the white house is portraying. she said she warned the white house early on. do you believe that to be the case? >> you know, we have to get to the bottom of this. it is very disturbing that sallyuate's statements are in direct oppositio

told, they're still going to interview witnesses, they have asked for records of a number of trump associates to lay out exactly the context with russian officials campaign officials during the campaign season, and two responses so far including from carter page, that trump foreign policy advisor, who was not actually responsive and did not give them any information. so they're still trying to gather information. but it can be much harder if the fbi is not cooperative, given that they're trying to work in tandem with this fbi investigation. so with don't know the ultimate impact here, but input by prominent senator richard burr. >> in his letter to comey, he thanked him for informed him three times that he was not under investigation. and james clapper confirmed there's no ed of collusion, the fact is neither of those statements are true. the senate intelligence committee is investigating not only russian interfeerns, but possible collusion. today i talked to both republicans and democrats on the senate and house intelligence committee, and i asked them, have you eliminated the possibility as

the potential collusion of trump associates and trump campaign and administration officials, as director comey has told us and made public. there is no classified information here. the meeting that the fbi conducted on january 24 proceeded by one day approximately, the first meeting with mcgann. isn't it a fact that michael flynn lied to the fbi? >> i can't reveal the internal fbi investigation, senator, even though that part would not technically be classified. it's an ongoing investigation and i can't reveal it. >> did you tell donald mcgahn that national security advisor flynn told the truth to the fbi? >> he asked me how he had done in the interview and i declined to answer. >> because it was part of an investigation? >> that's right. >> was it intended to indicate to him that michael flynn had a problem in that interview? >> no, i was intending to let him know michael flynn had a problem on a lot of levels but it wasn't necessarily with respect to how he performed in the interview. i was intentionally not letting him know how the interview had gone. >> and lying to the fbi is a crim

public way, before the senate intelligence committee which is investigating contacts between trump associates and russia. this could happen as early as next week. comey is expected to detail his one-on-one meetings with trump, including any possible pressure he felt from president trump to drop the investigation into fired national security adviser michael flynn and flynn's ties to russia which some say could amount to obstruction of justice. according to comey's own notes, sources say, trump allegedly told comey i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. he is a good guy. i hope you can let this go. congressional investigators now want to speak to or want records from at least nine trump advisers and associates. trump's lawyer michael cohen now says in a statement i have not been subpoenaed to testify. if number subpoenaed to testify, i will comply and gladly as i have nothing to hide. there's no shred of evidence that implicates me and former white house official boris epstein who grew up in moscow has been asked to testify before the house intelligence commi

house that sought access to the highly classified fisa court surveillance order that affected trump associates. the same white house that y issued that the perfunctory statements to clear president trump's name. even the president's letter informing fbi director comey of his dismissal indicated and the president asked the fbi director whether he was under investigation three times. that should never happen. no president should be asking such a question, it is stunning. but also informative. it is clear that any credible investigation must take place outside the political chain of command. a special counsel must be a way to to lead the investigation. theecial counsel unlike deputy attorney general cannot be fired by the president. ours is a government of laws. not on the whim of a president. our nation is at a precipice. there is a counterintelligence investigation into a campaign and administration of a sitting president. there is evidence that the campaign colluded with the foreign government, a foreign government that is an adversary of hours in the presidential election. he has fired the le

james connelly just as theÑi investigation intoÑi russ campaign meddling and its contacts with trump associates speed. will the next fbi chief have any independence in the conflicting story. the white house says the in comey over several months, but just last weekñr itt(xd said it confidence in the fbi chief, and theçó president has repeatedly praised comey. now the knives areñr out. what's the realñrçóÑi story?>l+r >>> the investigation. what happens to the multi-pronged investigation inti russia's election interference and its contacts with the trump camp. democrats are demanding an independent special prosecutor. will they shut down the senate until they get one. >>> and the optics. could it look any worse? hours after firing comey the president was all smiles as he met with russia's ambassador to the united states, a key figure in the investigation and with russia's foreign minister who early joked to reporters about the fbi directors's firing. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> breaking news. president trump sends off shock waves with sudden firing of fbi director james

i am told that, really, the committee has only gotten a handful of requests back from those trump associates, and some of them have not even satisfied what the committee is looking for, including carter page, that former trump adviser, foreign policy adviser, not giving details that the committee wants. so, expect some more subpoenas, potentially, in the coming days. now, this comes as later today a major hearing happening in the senate intelligence committee where national security leaders will come and testify about concerns they have worldwide. one person who will not be there, james comey. now, he was scheduled to testify there. also next week, comey invited to testify before the senate intelligence committee, but one catch, this is going to happen in a closed-door session and will not be open to the public, so we may not know what questions comey is presented with and what answers he gives, particularly behind why he was fired by president trump. guys? >> all right, manu. thanks very much. and the first meeting between president trump and russian president putin, that's apparently set a

principles. >> reporter: comey was also pressed about where the fbi's investigation into trump campaign associates stands tonight. >> do you stand by your testimony that there is an active investigation, counterintelligence investigation regarding trump campaign individuals and the russian government as to whether or not they collaborate? you said that in march, is that still true? >> to see if there was any coordination between the russian effort. >> is that still going on? >> yes. >> has the white house cooperated? >> with the investigation? >> correct. >> it's not something i'm going to comment on. >> let's get to pierre thomas live at the fbi. you heard director comey pressed about the investigation and members of the donald trump campaign and any possible collusion with russia. he acknowledged the investigation is ongoing but he's not saying anything more? >> david, senators got nowhere. comey said you won't hear a peep from him until the russian investigation is over. david? >> pierre thomas in that room today, pierre, thank you. >>> we turn next tonight to breaking developments in president

lawmakers want new details of his investigation to alleged ties between the trump campaign associates and russia, and for the first time he will be pushed to publicly defend his letter on hillary clinton's e-mails that she just said was one of the key factors in costing her the election, and we do understand that he wants to get some stuff off his chest on this subject. we have a lot to cover. let's begin at this hearing outside this hearing with cnn's manu raju on capitol hill. manu? >> reporter: that's right. i just caught him walking in on the door behind me. we do expect him to face new questions about the russia investigation that he announced at a different hearing back in march in which he said there is this ongoing fbi inquiry into these alleged coordinations between the trump associates and russian officials during the time of the election. the question is will he be able to advance the narrative beyond what we already know that the investigation is ongoing. he declined on a number of fronts and last hearing to give any specificity about the investigation. what will he do dif

presidential election and contacts with trump associates. yates testified she warned the white house on two separate occasions that the then national security adviser mike aol flynn had lied about his contact with russia and was compromised and could potentially be subject to russian blackmail. yates and clapper were both asked about leaks in the russian probe and both denied having revealed any classified information to journalists. let's bring in our correspondents, our political and legal counterterrorism specialists and jeffrey toobin, let me start with you. you were listening so very, very carefully to the former acting attorney general and the former director of national intelligence. >> think about this, wolf. there has never been a conversation like the one sally yates had with mr. mcgann in all of american history. she goes to the white house, new president in office, and says your national security adviser can be black mailed by the russians. the next day she goes back and says it again. and what happens after that? >> load hon. >>

trump, his associates or any members of congress? >> no. >> question two. did either of you ever review classified documents in which mr. trump, his associates or members of congress had been unmask told? >> yes. >> you have. >> can you give us details here? >> no. i can't. >> miss yates, have you? >> yes, i have, and no, i can't give you details. >> did either of you ever share information about unmasked trump associates or members of congress with anyone else? >> well, i'm thinking back over six and a half years, i could have discussed it with either my deputy or my general counsel. >> miss yates? >> in the course of the flynn matter, i had will discussions with other members of the intel community. i'm not sure if that's responsive to your question. >> in both cases, you can't give details here. >> no. >> no. >> the fbi, the democratic national community of the russians are' intrusion into their systems in august of 2015, but the dnc turned down the offer to get the russians out and refuse the fbi access to their servers. instead, it evidently eventually

trump, his associates or any member of congress? >> no. >> question two. did either of you ever review classified documents in which mr. trump, his associates or members of congress have been unmasked? >> yes. >> can you give us details here? >> no, i can't. >> have you? >> yes, i have. no, ien can't give you details. >> did either of you ever share information about unmask trump associates or members of congress with anyone else? >> well, i'm thinking back over six and a half years, i could have discussed it with either my deputy or my general counsel. >> ms. yates? >> in the course of the flynn matter, i had discussions with other members of the intel community. i'm not sure if that's responsive to your question. >> in both cases, you can't give details here. >> no. >> the fbi notified the democratic national committee of the russian's intrusion in their systems in august of 2015. but the dnc turned down the fbi's offer to get the russians out and refuse the fbi access to the servers. instead, it evidently hired a private firm in the spring of 2016. wikil

president after this fbi director just about five or six weeks ago talked about how there may be trump associates who may have conspired with the russians who interfered with our 2016 election. so the whole thing was very strange. >> so let me play devil's advocate here. the trump white house is saying that this was all predicated on this letter from deputy attorney general rod rosenstein in which he says comey's handling of the clinton e-mail server was wrong and that undermined public and congressional trust. do you disagree with anything that rosenstein wrote in that letter? >> well, certainly many of us on both sides of the aisle have had issues with director comey's actions, and everybody has been clear about that. as i said a few months ago in january, i believe, that i trusted jim comey to be more independent than anyone that donald trump might appoint as fbi director and it's also suspicious that as you mentioned in the opening of your segment, president trump actually complimented jim comey after he took the actions that he did with regard to hillary clinton. and senator jeff sessions so

trump, his associates or any member of congress? >> no. question two. did either of you ever review classified documents in which mr. trump, his associates or members of congress had been unmasked? >> oh, yes. >> you have? can you give us details here in this -- >> no, i can't. >> ms. yates, have you? >> yes, i have and no, i can't give you details. >> okay. did either of you ever share information about unmask trump associates or members of congress with anyone else? >> i'm thinking back over 6.5 years, a good have discussed it with either my deputy or general counsel. >> miss yates? discussions with other members of the intel committee. i'm not sure if that is in response to your question. and in both cases you cannot give details here? >> no. >> the fbi notified the democratic national committee of the russians intrusion into their systems of august 2015. but the dnc turned it down the fbi's offer to get the russians out and refuse the fbi access to their servers. hired ait eventually private firm in the spring of 20 16. releasing then hacked dnc emai

but it is unclear if there are other trump associates under investigation. nn joined the trump campaign in february of 2016. a three-star general, he had previously headed the defense intelligence agency but was fired by president obama. flynn was selected as mr. trump's national security adviser shortly after the election. the u.s. intelligence community became especially concerned gering the transition that sensitive information being provided to the trump team could be passed on to the russians. flynn was also fired by president trump just 24 days into his term for lying to vice president pence about his contacts with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. former director of national aitelligence james clapper said flynn changed after leaving the military. that do you think changed him? was it that he was fired? >> i don't know. that could be. i'm speculating. i really don't know whether-- he just became angry about it. i don't know. >> reporter: but there was, something changed? >> well, it appeared to me, yes. >> reporter: russia was looking for relief from

trump campaign officials and associates had repeated contact with senior russian intelligence officials and other russian officials while russia is attacking the united states. then, to try to sway the election in trump's favor, bombshell comes out february 14th, comes out one day after the mike flynn resignation, which was over his surreptitious contacts with russian officials but steps on the tail of that story. it's huge, sort of oh clouds the impact of the mike flynn story because this story the next day is even bigger than that. but then something happened to that story, remember? february 13th, flynn resign, feb 14th, "new york times" posts this bombshell story. what's the headline? trump campaign aides had repeated contacts with russian intelligence, february 14th. february 15th, the next day, the deputy director of the fbi went to the white house for a 7:30 a.m. white house meeting on what was reportedly an related intelligence matter. at the end of that 7:30 a.m. meeting, the deputy director of the fbi had a private pull-aside, a private pull-aside one-on-one meeting with the w

and the former national security adviser, michael flynn, but it is unclear if there are other trump associates under investigation. flynn joined the trump campaign in february of 2016. a three-star general, he had previously headed the defense intelligence agency but was fired by president obama. flynn was selected as mr. trump's national security adviser shortly after the election. the u.s. intelligence community became especially concerned during the transition that sensitive information being provided to the trump team could be passed on to the russians. flynn was also fired by president trump just 24 days into his term for lying to vice president pence about his contacts with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. former director of national intelligence james clapper said flynn changed after leaving the military. >> what do you think changed him? was it that he was fired? >> i don't know. that could be. i'm speculating. i really don't know. he just became angry about it. i don't know. >> but there was something changed? >> well, it appeared to me, yes. >> reporter: russia was looking for reli

this is coming to get information from at least four of trump's former associates includes paul manafort. >> i have been researching. >> rejecting the request to provide records of communications with russians saying in an unusual letter that if the committee wants details they will need to ask former president obama because of surveillance that occurred during his administration. >> when carter page wants to be cooperating and all of a sudden we get another message, that's not the way to kulconduct a tho reinvestigation. >> yates expected to tell that she gave a warning. >> the attorney general informed the white house council they wanted to give a heads up to us. >> moments ago donald trump between twooetieeting about mic flynn saying he was given the highest security clearance but the fake news talking about that. of course those foreign payments michael flynn failed to disclose back in 2016 now at the center of a congressional probe and also from the defense department inspector general but also a lot of questions about the vetting process to name michael flynn as national security a

at least nine trump associates so far. house intelligence committee issued subpoenas to michael flynn and president trump's personal attorney michael cohen. cohen initially resisting requests saying demands were overly broad but has said he would cooperate with the subpoena and that he has nothing to hide. michael flynn is expected to hand over business and personal records to the senate intelligence committee by june 6th. and the house intelligence committee has asked for documents from former white house communications officials boris epstein who is working with his attorney to cooperate. >> his testimony postponed indefinitely at the request of democrats. >> this moment on fox news about former trump campaign adviser carter page seemingly grabbing trump's attention. now it is reported that the democrats who have carter page about russia don't want him to testify. carter page tells cnn his testimony before the house intelligence committee was tentatively scheduled for next week but is pushed back a week. >> quick question

but do you believe, do you have evidence that there was in fact collusion between trump associates and russia during the campaign? >> not at this time. >> that's pretty precise answer. i know the investigation is continuing. senator, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> senator dianne feinstein joining us, a member of the judiciary committee, ranking member and member of the intelligence committee. let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. build attendance for an event. help people find their way. fastsigns designed new directional signage. and got them back on track. get started at fastsigns.com. and got them back on track. usaa gives me the and the security just like the marines did. the process through usaa is so effortless, that you feel like you're a part of the family. i love that i can pass the membership to my children. we're the williams family, and we're usaa members for life. fmy doctor recommended ibgard. abdominal pain and bloating. now i'm in control of my ibs. nonprescription ibgard - calms the angry gut. >>> fbi director james comey strongly defending

this is the same white house that reportedly sought access to the fisa court surveillance of trump associates. this is the same white house that demanded the f.b.i. director and department of justice issue prefunctory statements to clear president trump's name. even the president's letter informing director comey of his dismissal, indicated that he asked if he was under investigation three times. that should never happen. no president should ask such a question. it's stunning. it is clear that any credible investigation must take place outside the political chain of command. that's why i said that a special counsel should be appointed to lead the russian investigation, a special counsel unlike and f.b.i. director or deputy attorney general cannot be fired by the president. the american people must have confidence that ours is a government of laws, not of the whim of president -- any president. frankly, madam president, our nation's at a precipice. there's a counterintelligence investigation into the campaign and administration of a sitting president. there is evidence that campaign clueded --

subpoena, another trump associate is declining to cooperate with lawmakers.ney, michael cohen, says the intelligence committees are on a fishing expedition. >>> trogity information. in a cnn

democrats from the senate called outrageous as it comes in the midst of an investigation into trump associatesties with russia. so, that was a press conference of senator chuck schumer. let's return to one lead story, the elections in south korea, and they have a new president, moon jae—in, liberal candidate, and we will speak with the professor of diplomacy at kyoto diplomacy on foreign studies. sorry, we had to interrupt the interview earlier. so, what do you make of a potential relationship of south korea with the united states and japan given the leanings of the new president, moon jae—in, to favouring more dialogue with north korea and, basically, reviewing the anti—missile defence system ? reviewing the anti—missile defence system? i think there is an opportunity for south korea to become a key player. obviously with this press conference there is a lot going on in washington that is occupying or preoccu pying going on in washington that is occupying or preoccupying the minds of many americans. it is interesting with the win in korea it has a lot to do with uniting the country against al

>> david, the intelligence community is saying they have evidence that trump associates with talking to top russian officials. and they're demanding that the fbi get to the bottom of it. >> pierre thomas on the story >>> next to another developing headline involving millions of americans who could lose their health insurance. at town halls across the country, we have reported on americans angry and concerned, asking questions about what will happen to their insurance. tonight, the new independent report just out. looking at the new plan that just passed the house to repeal and replace obamacare. how many fewer americans will be insured over the next decade? abc's mary bruce on the hill tonight. >> reporter: for months, americans have crowded town halls, voicing fear and frustration. president trump and republicans have already declared victory. >> this is a repeal and replace of obamacare, make no mistake about it. >> reporter: and tonight, we finally know what the house healthcare bill could mean for you. the congressional budget office releasing their report card, finding the bill

trump, his associates or any members of congress? >> no. >> question 2. did either of you ever review classified documents in which mr. trump, his associates or members of congress had been unmasked? >> oh, yes. >> you have? can you give us details here? >> no, i can't. >> mrs. yates, have you? >> yes, i have. no, i can't give you details. >> okay. did either of you ever share information about unmasked trump associated or members of congress with anyone else? >> well, i'm thinking back 6 1/2 years. i could have discussed it with either my deputy or my general counsel. >> mrs. yates? >> in the course of the flynn matter, i had discussions of the intel community. i'm not sure if that is responsive. >> in both cases, you can't give details here? >> no. >> no. the fbi notified the democratic national committee of the russian's intrusion into their systems in august of 2015. the dnc turned down the fbi's offer to get the russians out and refuse the fbi access to their servers. instead, evidently eventually hired a private firm in the spring of 2016. wikileaks

but it is unclear if there are other trump associates under investigation. n joined the trump campaign in february of 2016. a three-star general, he had previously headed the defense intelligence agency but was fired by president obama. flynn was elected as mr. trump's national security adviser shortly after the election. the u.s. intelligence community became especially concerned during the transition that sensitive information being provided to the trump team could be passed on to the russians. flynn was also fired by president trump just 24 days into his term for lying to vice contacts with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. former director of national intelligence james clapper said flynn changed after leaving the military. what do you think changed him? was it that he was fired? >> i don't know. that could be. i'm speculating. i really don't know whether he -- he just became angry about it. i don't know. >> but there was something changed? >> well, it appeared to me, yes. >> reporter: the white house staff is reportedly in crisis mode, bracing for person

after this fbi director just five or six weeks ago talked about how there may be trump associates that may have conspired with the russians that interfered in the 2016 election. so the whole thing is very strange. >> let me play devil's advocate here. the trump white house is saying this is all predicated on this letter where he says comey's handling of the clinton e-mail server was wrong and undermined public and congressional trust. do you disagree with anything he wrote in that letter? >> well, certainly many of us on both sides of the aisle have had issues with director comey's actions but as i said a few months ago in january i believe that i trusted jim comey to be more indepen dendent than anyon donald trump might have as fbi director and also suspicious that president trump actually complimented jim comey after he took the actions that he did with regard to hillary clinton and so did jeff sessions so to come back now and lay that out as your main reason for his firing seems odd. president trump tweeted something about chuck schumer noting that schumer had said and you have not

trump fired the director of the f.b.i. james comey was leading the investigation into whether associates of mr. trump colluded with the russian government to influence the u.s. presidential election. late today, in an oddly-worded letter in which the president declares his own innocence, mr. trump told comey that he has concluded that comey is not able to effectively lead the pure o. comey, well known for geeing integty, was appointed by president obama and had about another six years to go on a ten-year appointment. recently, he has been controversial with both democrats and republicans, leading the investigation of hillary clinton's e-mails and the russian election tampering probe. >> rose: joining me from warrants is margaret talev of bloomberg news and phil rucker of "the washington post." i am pleased to have both of them to join me for this remarkable story. margaret, i begin with you. tell me what you know, where is this going and what's the context we look at this? >> the context in which we're looking at this comes just after director comey's most recent testimony before congress and se

that's what he said, but there is no indication there that trump associates were not under investigationause that's at the heart of this fbi probe. >> if someone has proof, they need to come forward with it and we'll see what direction it goes. but i still see this as tied up in electoral politics. the clinton people really thought they were going to win. they won the popular vote. they're still very, very unhappy. they hate the idea of comey continuing on. they were for getting rid of him until president trump did get rid of him. now they're all saying it's all watergate, even though every one of them -- the hypocrisy is so thick around here, you could cut it with a knife. every one of them were for getting rid of comey until it actually happened. >> but let me ask you this, senator, do you agree with the fbi, the cia, the nsa, the director of national intelligence that the russians did meddle in the u.s. elections? >> i think most people have come to that consensus. and what is the reaction to that? we need to protect ourselves. we need to set up various cybersecurity walls to try to p

>> not here. >> did you request unmasking of donald trump, his associates or any member of congress? >> did either of you review classified documents and donald trump and his associates or members of congress unmasked? >> can you give details? >> i can't. >> miss yates, have you? >> if i have and i can't give you details. >> did you share information about trump associates or members of congress with what else? >> thinking over 6 years i could have discussed with my deputy or general counsel. >> miss yates. >> in the case of the flynn matter i had discussions with members of the intel committee, not sure that is responsive to your question. >> in both cases you can't give details here. >> the fbi notified the democratic national committee of relations intrusion into the systems in august of 2015 but the dnc turned down the offer to get the russians out, and access to their servers. and in the spring of 2016, wikileaks began releasing the hacked dnc emails last july that took 27,000 of the 27,500 dnc emails that were released or sent after the fbi notified the dnc of the breach. mister

trump's associates and russia. now it will show you majority leader, mitch mcconnell, speaking to the gop party lunch today. speaking of. good afternoon, everyone. we then, republican senators, had another extension discussion about the way forward on healthcare at lunch. we'll be doing that as i indicated last week, tuesday, wednesday and thursday. were trying to come together behind a proposal to repeal and replace obamacare. on the floor, regretfully, we had to go through a lot of procedural hoops just to confirm the deputy secretary of transportation number three of justice and i even had to file closure on governor branstad ambassador to china who came out of the foreign relations committee unanimously. you can see the democrats want to make everything go as slow as possible. we'll work our way through that on a confirmation and will be back in touch with you on healthcare. >> our conference has been spending a lot of time talking about the way forward on healthcare. we know that obamacare is broken and needs

also, a source tells cnn two other trump former associates paul manafort and roger stone have turnedver documents requested by the intelligence committee investigators. let's bring in our own specialists. phil mudd, i want to play for you some -- the words of the president as a candidate when he was complaining about hillary clinton associates taking the fifth, pleading the fifth. listen to what he used to say. >> now the people who destroyed the e-mails are all pleading the fifth amendment in front of congress today. fifth amendment, fifth andment, horrible. like you see the mob takes the fifth. if you're innocent, why are you taking the five-day amendment. >> the man that was given the fifth, remember? whatever happened to him? where is he? what happened to him? where did he go? he pleaded fifth. that's the end of him. ay, yi, yi. when you have your staff taking the fifth amendment, taking the fifth so they are not prosecuted, when you have the man that set up the illegal server taking the fifth, i think it's disgraceful. >> now his former national security adviser, the man who wor

investigation into possible links between the trump campaign, trump associates and the russian government. this action should worry every member of the senate. and i know it worries the people we represent. my office has been flooded with calls since this

what are they saying about kind of the trump association or the association with the trump brand anddifferent configurations? caleb: just look at what has happened this week so far. the trump association is changing rapidly every single day. typically not for the better, as of late. so people are concerned about not just being associated with the idea of the trump brand, but also being associated with the idea of exerting influence or trying to buy influence. most people aren't sure what to do with that. we've never had a president with this far-flung assets and businesses before. nobody really knows what it would mean to do a deal with the president while he is sitting in the white house, let alone one who has a habit of tweeting at businesses or people who make him angry on a fairly regular basis. carol: that's a good point. has you said, you don't know when he might come out and tweet about something. and he is not very consistent with his message. caleb: no he is not, and that makes people very nervous. you see that not just with his business, but with the business of jared kushn

who make decisions about whether to prosecute flynn, carter page, roger stone, paul manafort, trump associatesre involved in possibly colluding with the russians, and there's a common thread here, the russians were involved in meddling in our elections, the russians were potentially aided and abetted by those trump associates, that trump ties to the russians were at issue in the investigation, which the president wanted to stop. so there is a threat of evidence here that has to be pursued. >> senator blumenthal, i appreciate you time on this very busy evening. >> back to my panel, jeff lord, if this reporting is true, and right now it seems like it will boil down to what the president claims he said, although we haven't hard him tweet yet, and who knows what he will tweet tomorrow morning and what jim comey believes the president said and wrote down in notes. if the story is accurate as reported -- >> if the story is accurate, it will be a big deal. the question is it accurate? the two quotes from that memo, the president, he is a good guy, i hope you can let this go. comey replies, i agree, h

russian interference in our last election and and potential links to the trump campaign and trump associates. i oppose rod rosenstein nomination. in fact, i was the only member of the judiciary committee to vote against it and one of six on the floor to oppose it for exactly the same reason. i say this to him publicly and n privately: the only way to preserve his own reputation, the departmen , and the trust and confidence in the department of justice was to appoint an independent prosecutor and so f far regrettably, he has failed to do so. that question will be first, my priority when the full senate meets with him tomorrow and we will demand to know from him firing of director comey who said what to whom, why hishe memorandum was written, and whether he will now commit after these most recent startlingrday revelations, just yesterday that the president of the united states suggested, indeed expressly demanded, the director comey stop his investigation involving potential ties to michael flynn of russian interference in our election. chilling effect raised in the last several days now raise