okay what does chris wray do now? this is a big moment. >> well it's a big moment but i would put if in the category of a lot of big moments. i'm not sure we'll see anything from christopher wray. we haven't seen anything very much from a lot of cabinet members or from republicans who disagree with what donald trump said. we have seen james mattis the defense secretary who had enough and left. he stood on his principle and left his position. but i don't think we see any outcry from republicans. we are no the seeing christopher wray say anything. i think he is pretty much going to be quiet and keep his head down. i think what's important too we are looking at this as donald trump saying this. but we have to look at the greater picture of this, erin. this is donald trump saying this inside the oval office sitting at the rest will you tell desk saying it's okay to get this information. the optics of in are terrible. and really i wonder what the long-term consequences will be for people to think it's okay with when it's c

wray said, yes, i think that would be wise. him now, the fbi director is wrong because frachlly it. . maybe today you'd see differently but you're seeing a stark break between the president and his fbi director. chris wray said he wouldn't see it like that. the president said that remark was ridiculous. and now you sue the prip going after him again. >> let me play that little clip from the interview. this is the president on the fbi director. listen to this. >> this is somebody who said, we have information on your opponent. oh, let me call the fbi. give me a break. life doesn't work like that. >> the fbi director says that's what should happen. >> the f b bi director is wrong >> kaitlyn, there you have it, a blunt statement about the fbi directorer christopher wray rmgt that's someone was picked. of course, we've seen him have those conversations. bill barr and the president seem to be in common step as to whether the trump campaign was spied on. they say they're not this corrupt institution or bias. it's bus of what happened

director, christopher wray. [applause] director wray: it is great to be here.ould like to extend a special welcome to attorney general barr. i want to thank the families, everyone in this room knows firsthand that our families are the support system that makes law enforcement work. you help us make it through every day and you are home waiting for us when we come back at night. thank you for being here and for all of your sacrifices and support. to the members of the 276, you made it. even though it felt like 10 years instead of 10 weeks. [laughter] you join the ranks of a whole lot of distinguished graduates who came before you. back in 1935, when the fbi f.b.i. police training school opened its doors, i am sure that no one imagined that we would all be here watching our 276th graduation. while each session has been different in its own way, there is one question that comes up almost every single time -- is there anyone here who can translate for the foreign students, especially those for louisiana -- ke [laughter] -- and mississippi, and tennessee, and maine.

the president was asked if he has confidence in director wray.n an interview published by the hill overnight the president respond, well, we'll see how it turns out. joining me now a senior member of the house intelligence committee. if you're christopher wray this morning do you feel good about your job? >> i think you do, john. and the reason you do is the president's opinion of you has nothing to do with how you have done your job. in fact, if you have done your job and been fair and thoughtful and abided by what the american people want rather than what donald trump wants you probably get targeted. it's not just christopher wray. it's the chairman of the federal reserve. it was jeff sessions. the president's opinion of you depends entirely on whether you are serving his interests 100%. so if i was christopher wray, i'd say you know what, i've established myself as something of an independent director of the fbi, and i've got the president's tweet to prove it. >> it is interesting he says christopher wray says he wouldn't call it spying what i

director, christopher wray. ray: -- wray: it is great to be here. would like to spend a show -- and extend a special welcome to attorney general barr. i want to thank the families, everyone in this room knows firsthand that our families are the support system that makes law enforcement work. you help us make it through every day and you are home waiting for us when we come back , and thank you for being here and for all of your sacrifices and support. to the members of the 276, you made it, even though it felt like 10 years instead of 10 weeks. you join the ranks of a whole lot of distinguished graduates who came before you. fbi policen the training school opened its doors, i am sure that no one imagined that we would all be here watching are 276th graduation. while each session has been different in its own way, there is one question that comes up every single time. is there anyone here who can translate for the foreign students, especially those for places like louisiana, and mississippi, and tennessee, and maine. speaking of foreign students, i w

i came in the doj under wray in 2004. this is unfortunate to see but it's yet another person who's heard the intoxicating siren song of donald trump and refusing to buck -- >> i don't know if that's wray affliction. i think wray falls under the category of public servants who's there because he thinks he can protect the institution he leads. i'm not offering apologies but i think they fall in different camps for a lot of the law enforcement and national security people, that's how it's been described to me. >> jeff sessions who is not one i'm quick to defend, he may have thought he was protecting the institution too. but still managed to get dragged into the president's web of insults and miscream. >> as jim comey says, he'll eat your soul. >>> after the break, at long last we have the list, the democratic debate matchups, who's on stage with whom, which candidates get to challenge joe biden and the night featuring four of the top five. that story is next. four of the e that story is next >>> i love that music. we're 12 d

look, what director wray said was spot on. he was a hundred percent right. i don't think he needs to repeat it. by the way, i don't think this is a red line for him. you know, the times that you make public statements are the times when you have i think no other choice. here chris wray said it well, cogently, forcefully, and he was accurate legally. what more does he really need to say? the thing that would happen next were he to take on the president is they would get into a back and forth which doesn't help chris wray and certainly doesn't help the fbi. that has to be the director's primary consideration. brian, we're both baseball fans. you foul some off, you duck others. you live for another inning. >> you also don't buy the argument that for other countries especially bad actors, the president's own words let them know that we have even a more willing mark than was first assumed in the oval office? >> well, look. clearly, the words invite other countries to do what russia has been doing. these are poor -- poor doesn't begin to do it justice. these are a

he just said flat out chris wray is wrong, and chris wray is not wrong. there are legal implications here and if you get information provided by a foreign nation state, particularly if it's coming from the likes of an adversary like china and russia, to me, first duty is call the fbi. >> the -- if the -- if a foreign government reached out to an american citizen and someone said they were of chinese intelligence or a chinese think tank and reached out to an american citizen, you know, asking for documents or willing to give some documents for, you know, some sort of a contact, if that american citizen didn't contact the fbi they could get in trouble. >> well, they could. i mean, depending on the circumstance that could easily happen, yeah. >> what do you think this sends? what message does this send to foreign governments, do you think, like russia? i mean, we talked about this a little bit, but essentially you really believe this sends a message to them that go ahead, the gates are open for 2020 and i'm open for business on this. >> oh, exactly. this sim

i think wray would tell you that is the case.hinking of the reading you played in the mueller report. trump was looking for a loyalist according to his recollection. the thing here is he doesn't have one and wray is viewed as an independent actor. >> just thinking about where we are with iran. we rely so heavily on where we are for intelligence gathering. when you are undermining intelligence agencies in this country and not putting full confidence in the director of the fbi. that is not necessarily a good message to send. let's switch engine let's switch gears now and talk about mitch mcconnell. what do you expect the outcome to be from this meeting today? >> jon stewart basically scadar mcconnell to meet with the first responders. i don't know. i hope that he will ensure future opportunities will pass at the first opportunity rather than letting it sit there for a while. i don't know what to make of all of this except for the fact that jon stewart's advocacy on this has clearly worked. this is a case where it has not just this

i think in this case chris wray has said everything he needs to say. he happens to have said it a month ago. it's awfully tempting to come out every time the president says something that's wrong and rebut him. but then wrist wray would be doing nothing else in his job other han rebutting the president. the law is clear. the director of the fbi was clear when he testified before congress about the law. the men and women in law enforcement and the intelligence community know what's required. rick stengel explained to us that people who work in serious campaigns know what's required. i'm not sure i would tell chris wray that he needed to say something else. he was perfectly clear. >> chuck, what about the attorney general. >> right. so the attorney general is in a different and more political position. i would hope at the very least, to frank's point that the attorney general would sit down with the president and say mr. president, if this is your understanding of the law, then your understanding is flat out wrong. i don't know that heal. but somebody ou

that day may very well have come for christopher wray. it will be very interesting to see how he handles it. i'm not sure that there is a careful, easy, keep your head down way to address this blatant conflict between the agency and its righteous mission and this misdirection that they've received from the president of the united states. >> and i guess i want to put chris wray in the spotlight because he's now the third director of the fbi under this president to be smeared and undermined by him, jim comey who was asked to see to it to let mike flynn go and then was fired under the auspices of the rosenstein memo that turned out not to be what was on trump's mind, out the door. you served in that job, smeared maligned by this president, out the door via twitter i might add. and now his third person to act in that role called flat wrong on national television for simp simply articulating in testimony on capitol hill what the laws of the land are. >> yeah, you know, and as i've said that time may be coming for chris to determine how forcefu

here is director christopher wray in front of congress nearly two years ago. >> to the members of this committee, any threat or effort to interfere with our elections from any nation state or any non-state actor is the kind of thing the fbi would want to know. >> the president's response. >> i've seen a lot of things over my life. i don't think in my whole life i've ever called the fbi, in my whole life. you don't call the fbi -- you throw somebody out of your office, do whatever -- >> a stolen briefing book and he called the fbi. >> that's different, a stolen briefing book. this is somebody who said we have information on your opponent. oh, let me call the fbi. give me a break. life doesn't work that way. >> the fbi director says that's what should happen. >> the fbi director is wrong. >> we've got our team with this story and the many many others we're bringing you. i'll start with kasie hunt on capitol hill as well as hans nichols. kasie, we'll want to hear from chuck schumer beginning his remarks. we believe he's going to be addressing the president's comments that we just played.

this is a test for christopher wray.his is a test for the fbi director and every other republican in america to not keep coddling the president, and are you going to stand up or not? >> is there any suspense on how that test ends? are you waiting for an outcome? >> we're not, and it's a shame because, look, i came into the doj under wray in 2004, and i worked with him in the criminal division. this is unfortunate to see, but it's yet another person who has sort of heard the intox caicati song of donald trump -- >> i don't know if that's wray's affliction. i think that wray falls into the category of public servants who's there because he thinks he can protect the institution he leads. and i'm not offering apologies, but i do think they fall into different camps and i think for a lot of the national security and law enforcement people, that's how -- that's some of their mind-set. that's how it's been described to me. >> jeff sessions, who is not one i would be quick to defend, but, look, jeff sessions might have thought h

christopher wray said it was wrong. please explain why the fbi would need to know this kind of information. >> this is essential, stephanie, in the fbi's fight, counterintelligence fight against foreign influence. a new effort that's not new but a new foreign influence task force was set up by director wray recently. i can tell you it's very, very busy. so for a candidate to -- to receive an overture from a foreign power offering help and not report that to the fbi is as suggested by the director a dereliction of duty to actually accept such help could be a felony. this is a clear case of the fbi director being absolutely right. the president is absolutely wrong. but it's a pattern i would submit that we've seen over time, a pattern that we've seen over the campaign, a pattern that frankly caused the president's sewn deputy attorney general rod rosenstein to appoint a special counsel to investigate. this investigation, i think we all understand, most of us do, it's not a hoax or witch-hunt, predicated in part to this ex

president trump picked christopher wray. thank you for joining us on this busy evening. one of the president's potential 2020 opponents responds. what senator kamala harris thinks of the president accepting what he calls opposition research and we say interference respect from foreigners. that interview ahead. foreigners that interview ahead it's a new buick envision. and i got it with wi-fi for all of your wi-fi stuff, wireless charging for your phone. cool! wait til you check out the back! that's a lot of groceries. look at my strong man! don't patronize me... the new buick envision is full of surprises. current eligible gm owners get up to 16 percent below msrp on most of these 2019 buick models. that's just over 7 thousand on this envision premium. the first survivor of ais out there.sease and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight. compare comcast business to your current provider. my current service provider does not provide half of what you provide. and to know that i could save m

president trump picked christopher wray. thank you for joining us on this busy evening. one of the president's potential 2020 opponents responds. what senator kamala harris thinks of the president accepting what he calls opposition research and we say interference respect from foreigners. that interview ahead. m foreigners that interview ahead ♪ ♪ make ice.d be mad at tech that's unnecessarily complicated. but you're not, because you have e*trade, which isn't complicated. their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. don't get mad. get e*trade. mno kidding.rd. but moving your internet and tv? that's easy. easy?! easy? easy. because now xfinity lets you transfer your service online in just about a minute with a few simple steps. really? really. that was easy. yup. plus, with two-hour appointment windows, it's all on your schedule. awesome. now all you have to do is move...that thing. [ sigh ] introducing an easier way to move with xfinity. it's just another way we're working to make your life simple, easy, awesome. go to xfin

and it leads to immense power and that is what the fbi and christopher wray are all about.ill give you one quick example, the kathleen cadillac memos that came out, just a fraction of them, christopher wray heavily redacted them and then he retroactively classified them so that nobody can see them until 2041. that's a 22 years from now. i'll be dead, so you'll have to tell me up there or down here what's in them. this just underscores that concealing evidence and secrecy is what christopher wray's fbi is all about. they will not be transparent or honest or honest. >> the attorney general needs to get beyond the classification debate and just focus on transparency, generally, about this tremendous corruption scandal. we've been waiting too long for these secret documents that we know we will expose this illegal targeting of the president. >> sean: the last word. to speak at the fbi, the cia, the doj , all these agencies and departments work for us, the american people, they are paid for by our taxpayer dollars, they need to be open with us, we need to clean house and we need

i say christopher wray is james comey in a different suit and rod rosenstein.e he left the department of justice, it's outrageous and i'm hoping that with bill barr at the helm now, all of this nonsense will stop and that these documents will be turned over. >> when i was chairman of the committee, i actually issued some subpoenas that were never responded to from the department of justice. there has been a lot of flow walking and we have that but we also have this inspected general report and we do have attorney general in attorney general barr. >> attorney general william barr isn't going to hold back here. he said he has promised the american people that he will get to the bottom of this. he wants to know the origination of the fbi's investigation into president trump, and all of these allegations in which he was conspiring with russia. he brought up a great point that andrew weissmann, and peter strzok as well, the anti-trump fbi agent who is famous for all of his text message with his paramore, lisa page. the fact that they are writing all of these apparen

isn't this a moment where christopher wray needs to say, you're wrong about this. >> wray has two options one is to speak out and speak up. not only to send a message that he takes this seriously but the american people have to have confidence in the institutions that they are going to do their job and speak up when they think there is lawlessness happening in their midst. speak up. that's one option. second, he could pack up and head for the door. we have seen officials resign on principle. they see something so egregious they can't stick around. i don't think staying quiet now when you have the president forecasting he's willing to commit a crime and undercutting his own fbi director is wrong. we can't let it wash over us and move on to the next thing. >> thank you for helping us understand how stunning the comments were in a field of stunning comments. these seem to rise to the top. thank you, sam and josh. >> i'm waiting to hear the with wave of republican lawmakers condemning this. >> any minute. the phone lines are open. >> it is deadline day for democratic debates. who misses the c

he says fbi director chris wray is wrong if he thinks the correct thing to do there would be to call the fbi. >> well, like many things with donald trump, at first you're shocked, and then of course you realize, yes, that's exactly him. there is no ethical standard. there is no bar below which he will not go. what i find so striking about this is, he went to such trouble to deceive the country about that trump tower meeting. he dictated that false statement about adoptions to mislead people. so if this was so perfectly okay as he would have us believe, then why did he go to such trouble to deceive the country about that meeting? i think what the president is really saying is, yeah, i knew this was unethical, maybe illegal, and i would do it again. plainly, i think we're going to have to spell it out crystal clear in the law that getting dirt from a foreign power is considered a prohibited foreign contribution to a campaign. we can call it the donald trump act if we need any further clarity, but plainly, he hasn't learned the lesson. rudy giuliani is going off to ukraine or was going

he didn't just undermine chris wray. he made his job a lot harder. the fbi is the lead agency on counterintelligence when it comes to our domestic affairs, and the president's comments mean that the counterintelligence risks are now elevated while he's undermining wray. he's adding to his workload. >> what do you think, phil, especially many in congress on both sides of the aisle want to see something done to make sure this doesn't happen again? >> they have been working on election security legislation and trying to find bipartisan support and agreement in the house and senate. it hasn't always been super effective for a couple of different political reasons. one of the interesting things in talking to republicans on the hill trying to figure how the why he would do this, someone who talk to him on a regular basis made this point, and kaitlan made this point. if the president feels there's anything that calls into legitimacy in 2016, the prism through which he views it, he'll take the opposite side. why would you actually be talking about this post-

christopher wray was wrong. >> yeah, it is remarkable thing, isn't it? >> how do you think that the people in the intelligence community and what does it do? >> it is awful. it is awful. now, the next day they go to work and do the best they can. but, you know, that is really hard. >> so it is good to see him. >> great. >> and we will get to you in a second, but it is great to see him and you have to watch the full interview with general michael hayden ahead and that is the first since he suffered a stroke, and as well my interview with presidential candidate pete buttigieg. and let's also bring zakaria and i know that you are a fan. >> yes. i want to see that. >> and so, this is if the korean president sees this, i want to meet him at the dmz border just to say hello and shake his hand. and so the idea came to him and it seems that he is enthralled by kimk a and it sounds like a strange desperation, and what is going on here? >> it feels like that. >> romeo, romeo, where art thou? >> and the rule number one of how not to get a high school date, don't se

he actually said to stephanopoulos, wray is wrong. you just heard my conversation with chuck when the president said something about roughing up suspects he said that's wrong. where do you go with that then? you've got the head of an agency versus the president providing two different interpretations of the law. you've got someone not rrpting the fbi and was urging not to respect it also, and perhaps get him to resign so that the president can then have an fbi director as subserveiant to him as attorney general barr has proven to be, which would be a very dangerous thing for this country. >> michael, thank you for being with us. >>> still ahead, the trump administration says it has evidence of a foreign adversary doing wrong. when have we heard that before? much more on that. stay with us. t before much more on that. stay with us honey have you seen my glasses? i've always had a knack for finding things... colon cancer, to be exact. and i find it noninvasively... no need for time off or special prep. it all starts here... you collect

it's certainly the calculation chris wray has to make as the director of the fbi. you cannot respond every time the president says something irresponsible. because, ali, you would be responding every hour of the day. and chris wray has more important things to do than address every utterance of this president. please believe when i tell you there are 37,000 men and women in the fbi, 36,999 are apolitical career civil servants and they will continue to do their work. >> chuck rosenberg, always great to see you. thank you for joining us on a friday night. former u.s. attorney, senior fbi official, former acting head of the d.e.a. and now an msnbc contributor. joining us is michael beschloss. good to have you here. >> thank you, ali. >> give us a sense of the history of this. a thing like the president saying publicly to various constituencies, it's okay to break the law. we have some examples of this from watergate. but is this messaging new? >> yeah, it really is. you know, the idea of the constitution was that the president would be a chief of state, one of the thi

he begged chris wray at the time during his 2017 confirmation to make that loud and clear and chris wray has made that clear. >> and just to kind of simplify it, what is the difference? because again you see lindsey graham saying this is apples and apples but there is a difference offering dirt on a presidential campaign and a spy for an ally intelligence agency. >> wright. and christopher steele was a former spy for british intelligence and they are one of the closest allied governments to the united states and what he did was compiled this dossier, these documents which was provided to the fbi to investigate. they used it as part of their evidence to provide -- to provide to the fisa court, the surveillance court to get a warrant on carter page. now it wasn't the only evidence. but it was part of what the fbi provided. and as you said, this is a big difference between, again, a former spy for the british government for the u.k. of intelligence services, one of our closest services, and the russian government which is an avowed hostile power, wants to damage the u.s. political system. t

director christopher wray said they would be back. we need this information. i hope that maybe after the weekend that my colleagues on the other side will reconsider and take up this issue. i'll close with this. i just can't imagine and i know some of my colleagues on the other side have already started to speak out and i appreciate this. i appreciate them speaking out at a time when there is a huge fear of this white house and this president's willingness to take vendettas out against anyone who raises a voice in opposition. think for a moment, think for just a moment about what donald trump said yesterday from the oval office and the president's words from the oval office still carry weight. the president of the united states said, well, everybody does this so he'd take a look at assistance that might come from russia or china or some other adversarial nation. my goodness gracious, the modern father of the republican party ronald reagan must be spinning in his grave. so again, mr. president, i'm not here to relitigate 2016. i'm here to make sure that we do o

>> this is nuts, an issue that chris wray needs to consider resigning over.he president is basically saying i will disregard the fbi and commit illegal acts. that is extremely alarming behavior. and by the way, don, can you imagine what donald trump would say? >> the attorney general also agrees with the fbi director? >> absolutely. this is the law. there is no doubt that this is the law and this is the oath that the president takes which he is now violating. can you imagine what trump would say if joe biden came out and said hey, iran, if you have information on trump please share it with me do you think trump would be saying that's okay or would he be saying that's treason? >> kirsten, how much does this undercut what the fbi is trying to do to prevent future interference from foreign adversaries? >> well, i mean, i think that you have sort of two tracks that run, you do have people in the government still doing the jobs they're supposed to be doing regardless of what the president is saying. but at the same time this administration hasn't made it a particu

here's what he said to hill tv today, tonight, actually, about christopher wray and this is not a ringing endorsement of the fbi director he appointed. "president trump on monday declined to say he has confidence in christopher wray and stressed he disagrees with the fbi director who has said he does not believe there was spying on the president's 2016 campaign. well, we'll see how it turns out, trump said in exclusive interview with the hill when asked about his level of confidence in wray. i mean, i disagree with him on that. i think a lot of people are disa greeing, you may disagree with him on thatthat". counselor, this is not the first time the president cast doubt on one of his hires or doubt on the director of our premier law enforcement agency. >> yeah, just starting with jeff sessions, the idea the president said that's the one mistake he made, appoint a guy who had one shred, one day when he issued something of independent judgment by stepping aside in the whole russia inquiry, that that's the guy you regret as opposed to, say, michael flynn, a convicted felon who's your nationa

christopher wray is wrong. no, christopher wray, the fbi director, is right.hen you try to blame and deride george stephanopoulos, this was no gotcha moment. >> jesse: doing this to every republican since there was no collusion. since you're not colluding, would you accept foreign dirt? >> juan: essentially you are insulting the president because the president knows exactly what he's doing, knows exactly what he's saying. this is no gotcha moment. >> jesse: you have no answer on the dossier. you have no answer. where do they get it from? >> katie: fusion gps was working with christopher steele is an american opposition research. >> jesse: you are upset over trump. >> katie: if you let me finish the sentence. the question is, does it apply to everybody, does the standard apply? during the 2016 election, it apparently was okay to reach out with cash and money to pay foreign actors to get research from russian adversarial sources. nancy pelosi is saying that if someone reaches out to you as a republican, that's unethical. it's a criminal cover-up and it's not all

we're looking right now at the information that you requested from director wray, and you write in thebi was informed about the transmission of information from kathleen kavalec including the information now known as the steele dossier. she was the number two person at the fbi -- at the state department in europe, and she basically raises her hand, raises a red flag about the steele dossier. she does her due diligence. she says, look, this is not trustworthy, christopher steele's work is not credible, and that memo from kavalec is not shown to fisa court. this was excull a pa story evidence that was not included. do you think that the fisa judge may have reacted differentlied had he known that there were state department people who were saying this information is not credible rather than just handing over a warrant to wiretap on carter page? >> i think all americans should be furious at this, right? so on one hand, we now know for sure that someone at the fbi kept this from the court. number two,ing they also kept this from congressional investigators, meaning the republicans that have

and christopher wray has every duty and every application to turn these documents over to devin nunes important that we understand what happened at the very beginning of this investigation. without that information, the american public will notio have the answers that it needs in order to make their own minds up about what happened here with this investigation and the malfeasance that apparently took place at the fbi and the department of justice. >> jason: clearly they have been slow walking this, but i don't think attorney general barr, nor will mr. durham, will they put uptt with any of that.p out of all that the president actually went out and put out official notification so that attorney general barr can't be slow walked also by the intelligence offices. i'm glad the devin nunes is on top of it and has the continuity from the past, the previous congress, as well. gregg, have to ask you also about what is going on with wiseman. this guy is a character. there are 110,000 people that work at the department of justice, and mueller has to pick this guy? all of these guys are now cash

listen to what christopher wray says himself. >> my view is that if any public official or member of any campaign is contacted by any nation state or anybody acting on behalf of a nation state about influencing or interfering with our election then that's something that the fbi would want to know about. >> well, and it's not just his fbi director who says that. it is also his handpicked attorney general. >> going forward, what if a foreign adversary, let's now say north korea, offers a presidential candidate dirt on a competitor in 2020. do you agree with me the campaign should immediately contact the fbi? if a foreign intelligence -- >> the foreign intelligence service? >> a representative of the foreign government. >> yes. >> says we have dirt on your opponent, should they say i love it, let's meet or should they contact the fbi? >> if a foreign intelligence service does, yes. >> it's the president who is wrong. but this is who he is. he's shown us again and again, and i almost can't believe that i have to keep saying this, he should be defending this country, protecting us from fo

. >> and you'll recall president trump said fbi director chris wray was wrong that foreign assistance to a u.s. campaign does not need to be reported to the agency. chris wray said it did need to be reported to the fbi and the president said otherwise and the head of the federal election commission disagrees on that and much more. on a tweet that said i didn't think i needed to say this, ellen weintraub said let me make something 100% clear, it is illegal for any person to solicit, accept or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with the u.s. election. she goes on to say that anyone who solicits or accepts foreign assistance risks being on the wrong end of a federal investigation. i want to bring in cnn's sarah westwood at the white house. so i'm guessing this latest fire storm is not exactly how the president wanted to celebrate his 73rd birthday today. >> reporter: probably not, pam. but the president's clean-up attempts her did very little to end the scrutiny of his acknowledge a few days ago that he would accept dirt from a foreign national on his politic

i think wray and barr have been clear. when this comes to you, take it to the fbi.an't make him do the right thing when he's in an interview in normandy, france, and they can't make him do the right thing when he's in the interview with george stephanopoulos. it is frustrating because it's such an obvious answer. i don't think it's out of bounds to note that a lot of people get oppo from unsavory places with unsavory influences and sources, and what we do about that matters. and i have questions about how we regulate it. he's not out of bounds to point that out as long as he says, and next time we'll do better and report it to the fbi. >> we're now defending such basic principles that americans should decide american elections. like that's a very basic principle. listen, the idea that we now have to spend time defending the idea that americans should decide american election lets you know how far off we are. >> we shouldn't defend it. this is not normal. this is way beyond down the rabbit hole not normal. >> right. >> part of -- when he said that, i went back to thi

i think chris wray really needs to stand up now not only for the fbi but also for his own dignity. he has stood up before congress and defied every single thing that the president has said, at some point somebody has to draw the line and he has to speak out. >> president trump, errol, didn't seem to enjoy the past three years of the mueller investigation and yet will not avoid saying something that will trigger one again over. i mean, no at quick study or how do we explain this? >> there are a couple of different theories, the one that makes the most sense to me is that he genuinely has this thing sort of stuck in his throat. he just can't swallow that this report happened. he didn't want it to happen, he tried to obstruct it at every turn, he wanted to fire the people involved, he now wants to smear them, he wants to dismiss it, mischaracterize it, hope that nobody reads it, on and on and on. really right from the start if he had just let it go, if he would just move on to something else, work on the economy, do your job, he probably would be a lot better off. but he's really thro