we have breaking news about chris wray. there has been speculation about whether he would stay on through joe biden's term. >> we know chris wray is holding a press, rather an event with staffers that's being broadcast to anyone within the fbi. that's what we know at this moment, but obviously what chris wray is going to be doing perhaps in the coming days and actually just now in a reportable fashion i can tell you that chris wray has just said at a town hall that he will, make sure i have this right. he will be, he is resigning per senior law enforcement official. that's according to ken dilanian is what he just announced. so that's what we know at the current moment. we don't know the timing. exactly when that is going to happen, but kash patel has already been nominated and as we saw in donald trump's recent interview with kristen welker, he indicated that someone is going to have to leave for kash patel to go into that position. so the timing is unclear at this point but what we know now and is reportable is that chris

christopher wray, who appointed? >> well, i can't say i'm thrilled with him. he invaded my home. i'm very unhappy with the things he has done. >> the directive mission is not about american policy or people . it's about he got in trouble for materials which they had to search for and they were there. might have been a different call if they did a whole big search and they didn't find the material, right? well, they have that authority, but here, they were vindicated on that. whether or not it went on to trial, he is the president- elect. frank, based on your experience, you did the bulk of your work in this organization. how do you think this place within the bureau which is looking into someone like patel coming in? >> the culture of the bureau is really to not like an unsure future, instability, and that is exactly what they have. the anxiety level goes up. i think they have respect for chris wray. many wish he was out there more pounding on the podium talking about the great work in the fbi but i think

though trump had several issues with wray and wanted to fire him. actually, at the end of his last term, it was that search. once he was out of office, that really cemented his animosity toward him. i also have new reporting tonight that as chris wray was wrestling with his decision to resign or not before trump took office, one thing stood out he wanted to leave the agency on his own terms. once trump had won the election back in november, it was clear to the director that his time at the fbi was likely over, and he wanted the chance to have to say goodbye to the thousands of employees that he has led for the last seven years. instead of being summarily fired once trump regained power. the source that told me this said the decision exemplified really how wray feels about the rank and file workforce inside of the fbi. he was described as sad about his premature exit, but approaching it with an attitude of resolve. now, that announcement came as his expected replacement, the longtime trump loyalist that i mentioned a few moments ago, kash patel, was

that's the point, is not what a replacement do better than chris wray. the question is, we've got a vacancy, who should be filling it and that that really, i think, prevents more harm to the bureau. there's going to be harm to the bureau if kash patel is confirmed, this may lessen it. and i think so. i think chris wray did the right thing by his lights and the honorable thing by by his loyalty to the constitution. >> in a statement commenting on on ray's announcement, trump said, quote, kash patel is the most qualified nominee to lead the fbi in the agency's history. what do you say that's ridiculous. >> i mean, this is typical donald trump. if you have an agency, let's take trump's assessment for, for for granted that that it's true. you have an agency in trouble. who do you appoint to head it? uh, jimmy carter, of all presidents, faced this choice when he was president after watergate. and he nominated william webster, a sitting federal court district judge, uh, a republican, but a man of unquestioned integrity, somebody who had demonstrated his he was

here is what he said about wray in 2018. >> having christopher wray is unique and different. need the opposite and he is moving step-by-step and you can see a whole, new, very proud fbi. i think the justice department will end up being -- it is all going to happen. it will all work out but i try to stay as uninvolved as i can. >> wasn't true at the time and certainly isn't now, but what changed? the new york times says it was the bureau's scrutiny of trump that almost certainly cut short wray's tenure and here is what he told kristen welker this past sunday. >> i can't say i'm thrilled with him. he invaded my home. i'm suing the country over it. he invaded mar-a-lago. i certainly cannot be happy with him. >> the facts are this, the fbi conducted a court ordered search of mar-a-lago after months of wrangling in which the national archives and the department of justice repeatedly tried to get back sensitive national security documents and secrets from donald trump, but the facts were revealed by the work of the fbi that so enraged donald trump that he has now appointed a loyali

in removing wray. i think hegseth is one of the key examples where there is a very high cost, granted at the end of the day there is a cost in not voting for him as well. donald trump can't indefinitely keep putting forward people that he will enforce tough votes for. or can he? >> he may have publicly stayed out of this fight but their are clearly strings being pulled. even if you look at right-wing media that was accurately covering pete hegseth a week and a half ago, they have all dialed it back. >> the question is to what extent do these republican senators stay united and have each other's backs? joni ernst, mitch mcconnell and bill cassidy. bill cassidy is already all but dead to donald trump. he voted to convict him in the aftermath of the january 6 attack. but for joni ernst, i was talking to someone earlier about her role in all of this and this individual told me that what joni ernst insured is that she would not be the backup. anybody who is responsible for one of his picks going down, that

wray actually upheld the law. donald trump thinks that he's above the law. but if i took classified documents home to my house, i would expect the fbi to raid my home, too. that's the right thing for the fbi to do. trump thinks he's above the law, so he wants to get rid of his own nominee. >> do you have worries about the politicization of the department, brianna? >> that's exactly the word for it. trump wants to politicize the fbi, to turn it back to the days of j. edgar hoover, where the fbi has its own really lawless agenda, where the fbi is a tool of the state to persecute americans, not to actually uphold the law for everybody in our land. so it is very dangerous. and the calculation that chris wray made when he decided to to resign is a calculation that hundreds of thousands of federal employees are making right now, all across washington and all across the country. i've heard from a lot of friends who work for the federal government trying to decide, do they wait to get fired? do they resign on their own te

donald trump, of course, fired james comey in 2017, and he appointed chris wray chris wray still had three more years left on that ten year term. but some of that consideration, i think, changed over the last few days. you started seeing republicans in congress. chuck grassley, for instance, sending a letter saying that he lacked confidence in chris wray and the fbi leadership. that is part of what you see, maybe changing the calculation here for the fbi director yeah. >> no doubt. evan, thank you so much. stand by for us, if you would. let's go to kristen holmes, who is live near mar-a-lago. what's the reaction like coming from inside of trump's circle? kristen? >> well, brianna and boris, we just got a statement from donald trump on truth social. moments ago, where he is essentially celebrating the resignation of christopher wray. unsurprisingly, he says the resignation of christopher wray is a great day for america as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the united states department of injustice. obviously, we've heard him say this before. i just don't know wh

. >> will you fire the current fbi director, christopher wray? >> the fbi director resigns before donald trump takes office. >> christopher wray announced that he will leave by the end of the current administration. >> the resignation of christopher wray and the major implications it has for trump's second term. plus, the historian who wrote the book on j edgar hoover on white trump's new pick could be worse. >> we look forward to a very smooth transition. >> next hour, we will walk through the process of taking out an incumbent u.s. senator. >> all in starts right now. >> good evening, one of the most important independent officials in the entire executive branch and u.s. government, the director of the fbi is leaving his job before the end of his term. and in doing so he is taking one of the most important remaining guardrails in our democracy with him. earlier today christopher wray gathered employees of the bureau together and told them that he will not stay on for the last three years of his 10 year statutory term. "after weeks of careful th

what chris wray is saying today is we don't need that to happen. i'll get out before he fires me. >> are you hearing anything from your former colleagues, from the rank and file? >> i am, look, with regards to headquarters which kash patel claims that he was going to shut down on day one, people are starting to leave. this week alone, two assistant directors decided to retire. they were eligible for retirement but they weren't mandatory. they didn't have the age yet. i think more of that is coming. with regard to the field, the concern i'm hearing is that look, we get there's going to be massive change at headquarters but the mormon it affects our decisions in the field in terms of what we can open and close and who we can investigate, i've heard questions being asked, are we going to be allowed to open up a corruption case against a republican mayor or governor, or russia, it appears that trump is friendly with putin. all of these are concerns. and combine that with the fact that all you s attorneys, the chief prosecutors in each district that wor

wray and the fbi are frequent targets of mr.mp's ire, often complaining the agency has become politically weaponized, which wray has denied. turning to kash patel, who will require senate confirmation, the incoming president will have a fiercely loyal defender leading the agency. peter alexander has more, including mr. trump's reaction. >> reporter: fbi director christopher wray tonight revealing the bureau employees he will resign before president-elect trump takes office. >> i've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in january and then step down. >> reporter: wray was selected by trump in 2017 but he is leaving three years before his ten-year term is up. after trump made clear he wanted wray out. >> this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. >> reporter: trump has spent years attacking the fbi and justice department for what he says have been part

wray has a ten-year term.in your opinion wray stayed, make trump fire him, this happens with kash patel's confirmation far from a sure thing. >> whether he should have hung in there and been fired, that's way above my pay grade to figure out. he decided to take action himself. i mean the larger question is, the morale and the caliber of the fbi going forward, whether it's kash patel succeeding wray or whoever succeeds wray, they'll have a job just rebuilding morale because the fbi has been the subject of extraordinary and intense attacks from the incoming administration, from the incoming president-elect. if you're an agent out in the field, new york fbi agency is basically the most important agency that the fbi has in this country and the fbi around the world is important still. they do a lot of work globally that we investigative work that we don't know about it. the impact it has on morale as the fbi being agency, is takin a toll. >> mike, let's talk, let's shift back to president biden, he delivered an eco

one of his biggest obstacles was christopher wray. he was facing enormous pressure to resign from trump's republican allies who are mad at the fbi for among other things searching trump's mar-a- lago home to recover the classified documents he stole and were definitely there. on monday, senator chuck grassley, the top republican on the senate judiciary committee sent wray a letter blasting his leadership writing, quote for the good of the country, it is time for you and your deputy to move onto the next chapter in your lives. pressure on wray also intensified after trump's named the guy he wants to run the fbi. that is kash patel, an a loyalist who hosts conspiracy theory podcasts and vowed explicitly to, quote, come after anyone critical of trump including folks in the media and other politicians. on capitol hill today, patel took wray's resignation is a green light for him to take the job. >> we look forward to a smooth transition. i will be ready to go on day one. >> reporter: have you talked to president-elect trump? he issued a s

. >>> plus, wray's exit.r announces he'll leave before trump's return to the white house. >>> also, the nypd detailing more evidence tying suspect luigi mangione to the killing of a health exec. >>> later president biden commutes sentences for almost 1,500 people and pardons dozens. details on the biggest act of clemency. >>> it's 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm ana cabrera. >>> president-elect trump just rang the opening bell at the new york stock exchange after "time" named him person of the year. he made news about pardons for january 6th defendants. trump saying, quote, it will start in the first hour, maybe the first nine minutes. he walked back his pledge to bring down grocery prices. let's go to brian cheung. what did the president-elect say about grocery prices? >> reporter: he spoke about the grocery prices saying once prices go up, it's hard to get them to go back down. yesterday a report showed that grocery prices went up about .4%. across the board food away from home, dining out, remai

he sacked christopher wray�*s predecessorjames comey wray�*s predecessor james comey after wray�*s predecessorjames look at the terms that fbi directors are appointed for, it is normally for ten years, to enslave them from the rest of politics, and yet again what you've seen here is the fbi director effectively being dragged into politics. what is trum - dragged into politics. what is trump saying _ dragged into politics. what is trump saying about - dragged into politics. what is trump saying about this? - dragged into politics. what is trump saying about this? he | dragged into politics. what is - trump saying about this? he has called it a great _ trump saying about this? he has called it a great day _ trump saying about this? he has called it a great day for- called it a great day for america and he said it would end the weaponisation of the us department of injustice. he is effectively double down on his criticisms of the fbi, and again his criticism of their raise on mar—a—lago, but worth noting he was actually charged with offences around mishandling of classified documents, ultimate leave t

wray really couldn't avoid crossing donald trump. he oversaw a massive fbi investigation, as everyone remembers, of thousands of people who stormed the capitol on january 6th, and also the investigations into mr. trump's role in the effort to overturn the election in 2020 and into his handling of classified documents. director wray, of course, approved the fbi search of donald trump's mar-a-lago compound in 2022. and that's something mr. trump never forgot. in fact, he brought that search up over the weekekend.n his interview with nbc's kristen welker, when he said that mr. wray, quote, invaded my home. and he added, quote, i'm very unhappy with the things that he's done. mr. trump also made clear he was annoyed when chris wray a few months ago questioned in a congressional hearing whether mr. trump actually was hit by a bullet during that assassination attempt against him. wray later clarified that it was either a bullet or bullet fragments that struck mr. tmp. mr. trump said in that interview that he had a lot of respect for the fb

chris wray knew it.the end of the day, he decided the best course was to resign, instead of forcing donald trump to fire him. many people believe that would have been a way to underscore what a norm shattering moment this was, the second fbi director donald trump is pushing out before having ved a full ten year term. he thought it would be dramatic for the bureau, and thought the best course was to leave quietly. >> wray had three years left in his term. fbi terms are ten years. they're not beholden to the president who happens to be in the oval office. decisions are supposed to transcend politics, span administrations. this is the second time in a row with donald trump. is this setting a bad precedent? >> i think the ten-year term is now over. that was a post watergate reform, meant to do what you said, take the fbi out of politics, not make it like a cabinet officer that changes every four years or eight years. that's now essentially done, a dead letter, if you essentially fire any fbi director if you

they have managed to avoid this fight with wray, though i do think that now that wray is stepping asideanian, but that's going to shift now with more focus on him. my question to you s as someone who covers this day in and day out, we know, joe went through it. we know what kash patel has gone through were he confirmed. will there be people in the fbi that carry out his orders, will there be resignations or loyalists, people who say, i will do that, even if it's morally or legally questionable? >> i don't think there are going to be very many people inside the fbi who are willing to carry out illegal orders, when you put it that starkly, jonathan. i should say that taking wray's place here as the acting director on january 20th is paul le bay, not a man who trump world loves at all, paul was key to the decision to search mar-a-lago. it's not a win as far as paul abbate, and confirming him as acting director, they would have to find a senate confirmed figure, or someone in the fbi. just putting that out there. back to your question. david is right, current and former fbi officials are co

donald trump hired wray in 2017, but now the president-elect complains that wray "invaded" his home in search that turned up those classified documents. and the man set to replace wray is one of trump's most fiercely loyal associates, kash patel. cbs's ed o'keefe lead us off tonight with more on what this means for the future of the fbi. >> reporter: fbi directors are supposed to serve 10-year terms, overlapping presidencies to avoid politics. but chris wray will now be leaving about two years early. attacks on him on him and the bureau taking their toll. something wray alluded to this afternoon. >> my goal is to keep the focus on our mission, on the indispensable work each of you is doing every single day. and in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray. >> reporter: trump nominated wray in 2017 after he fired the former director, james comey. at the time, he praised wray's credentials. >> i think i've done a great service to the country by choosing him. >> reporter: but trump soured on him after several fbi-led investigations into his ties to ru

wray made the announcement at an fbi town hall. this is the second fbi director trump has forced out. trump actually handpicked wray to replace james comey after he was fired. here's abc news reporter perry russom with more from washington. >> today, fbi director christopher wray says he will resign in january at the end of president biden's term. wray making the announcement at an fbi town hall, saying he loves the mission and the people, but did not want to drag the bureau deeper into the fray. wray has led the agency since 2017. >> if i am given the honor of leading this agency, i will never allow the fbi's work to be driven by anything other than the facts, the law, and the impartial pursuit of justice. period. >> wray has three more years to serve in his ten year term, but will resign before president elect trump takes the oath of office. trump once called wray a model of integrity, but the words of praise soured in 2021. wray labeling the january 6th attack at the capitol as domestic terrorism. that attack, that siege, was cr

fbi director wray said the decision came after weeks of thought.hing the fbi director spoke about today. this is it a political organization and he talked about the mission of the bureau today in his remarks. director wray: our dedication to independence and objectivity, and our defense of the rule of law -- those fundamental aspects of who we are must never change, that is the real strength of the fbi -- the importance of our mission, the quality of our people, and their dedication to service over self. laura: the fbi's dedication to the rule of law, being a nonpartisan bureau, was more established after the watergate scandal. fbi director wray added the fbi is only on the side of the constitution and it has to follow the facts. he said no matter who likes it or does not. amna: take a step back and tell us how unprecedented this moment is in history and for the fbi. laura: it is incredibly unprecedented. fbi directors are confirmed to a 10-year term and all to date have been republicans, including wray. the 10 year term is designed to insulate the

naming a successor to wray when wray's job wasn't up for another three years is about as much publicssure as you can put on someone to show them that the decision is either they resign or they're going to be fired. and donald trump was asked about that on sunday during an interview where he essentially said, look, i've put kash patel. i've named kash patel as the person i want leading the fbi that would go to show you or go to reason that that needs to job needs to be open by the time kash patel gets there, meaning christopher wray would either have to resign or i would fire him. and donald trump has had a real turning with christopher wray, the person that he himself appointed to this job, particularly after that 2022 search of his mar-a-lago home for classified documents that ultimately led to his indictment in 2023. it was just a matter of time, and donald trump's team is celebrating the fact that christopher wray decided to go down this path of resignation rather than waiting to be fired by donald trump. >> and tom, former attorney general bill barr threatened to quit when trump

fbi director christopher wray announcing that he will step down before the inauguration. president-elect trump had already nominated a new director, meaning wray would be expected to resign or be fired. nbc's peter alexander has more. >> reporter: fbi director christopher wray revealing to bureau employees he will resign before president-elect trump takes office. >> i've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in january and then step down. >> reporter: wray was selected by trump in 2017, but he's leaving three years before his ten-year term is up, after trump made clear he wanted wray out. >> this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing e values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. >> reporter: trump has spent years attacking the fbi and justice department for what he says have been partisan prosecutions against him, as he slammed wray ian interview with kristen welker over his role in the classified documents investigation. >> i can't say i'm

bureau and firing chris wray.mean, he's saying mean thin about chris wray as it is. less so. it's not as high profile. and so at the end of the day, chris wray decided that the better course was to agree to resign and clear the way for donald trump's achoice to be t next fbi director. >> yeah, i mean, when wray steps down on the 20th of january, who's going to be in charge of the fbi until a new director is confirmed? >> it's a great question. we are told that the current deputy, paul abbate, a counter terrorism expert will become the acting director on january 20th when christopher wray resigns. now, the thing about paul abate, he was instrumental in the decision to search donald trump's home in mar-a-lago. he's not going to like him any more than he likes christopher wray. to install a different acting director, he would have to comply with a federal law withat gives him very narrow choices.ow it would have to be somebody senate confirmed or a senior level in the fbi. he can't just put anybody he wants in to rep

president biden never considered tampering with chris wray's 10 year term as fbi director, which was scheduled to end in august of 2027. during this transition period, donald trump decided to do something no president has ever considered doing, which was select someone as the next fbi director and send that person around to senate offices to meet with senators to discuss being confirmed for a job that was not vacant or available. the president has the legal right to fire an fbi director for cause. the cause has to be put in writing. the cause that donald trump actually used as his reason for firing fbi director comey was the way james comey handled an investigation of hillary clinton. the world knew that that was a lie, the world knew that donald trump loved the way james comey investigated hillary clinton and made huge news about that investigation in the weeks and days leading up to the 2016 presidential election. today, fbi director christopher wray, who was appointed by donald trump 7 1/2 years ago, announced in worldwide meeting with fbi agents that he would make it easy for don

christopher wray.t depends on whether we can see the confirmation of kash patel or anyone else. >> true. perry, this is not kash patel's first go around for being considered for a position. trump floated the idea of making him the deputy director of the cia or fbi. bill barr, trump's then attorney general wrote, mr. patel would become deputy director over my dead body. >> look, right now, what we have seen from trump's nominations so far, i mean, gaetz, that imploded. he is appointing his -- who he views as his biggest and best loyalists. we are seeing that -- how people are reacting to that. you just showed clips from the sunday morning shows. it seems like republicans in the senate are saying okay. let's go for it. in the first term, you are right, there was a lot of resistance and pushback to getting people like kash patel to run these big agencies or to have big leadership positions in them. >> let's all listen to kash patel. this is on the sean ryan show podcast earlier this year. sharing his thou

reporter: president-electee celebrating the word that christopher wray will be stepping down in january. president-elect said to go to new york tomorrow, he will ring the bell at new york stock exchange in morning. as newly minted "time" magazine person of the year. larry: peter, a great story. the steks stock exchange story and time man. the year, do you know if mr. trump will be overnight in his new york apartment or in bedminster, if he is in new jersey that is where drones are, or else they are angels. reporter: a great question, if he was at bedminster there are a lot more aerial assets that the president and president elect would have around them, they have helicopters, that are flying low, they have fixed wing aircraft that fly high. over where a president or president-elect prod would be it would be a real test of the united states' abilities to detect and catch or destroy or deter or whatever they need to do with the drones -- if they are drones, we have not been told where he will stay. and since butler, pa they have kept details about his whereabouts a lot more close to the v

wray. now, this is a big 'ob. a lot of powerfi wray. now, this is a big 'ob., this is a big job. a lot of power in the hands of. lot of power in the hands of who�*s in charge of the fbi. so who�*s in charge of the fbi. so who might take his place? who's in charge of the fbi. so who might take his place? well, donald trump — who might take his place? well, donald trump says _ who might take his place? well, donald trump says that - who might take his place? well, donald trump says that he - who might take his place? well, | donald trump says that he wants to dominate a guy called kash patel to take over. kash patel started the career as a public defender and then prosecuted terrorism cases and held various behind the scenes roles within the last trump administration. ultimately, he ended up as chief of staff to the acting defence secretary. but i think what his critics would say about kash patel is that the defining characteristic as far as they�*re concerned is that he is seen as a trump loyalist and someone who in their view will do trump�*s bidding. and the

so, for wray, the writing was on the wall. today, saying his decision wasn't easy, but it was right. >> my focus is, and always has been, on us and on doing what's right for the fbi. our adherence to our core values, our dedication to independence and objectivity, and our defense of the rule of law, those fundamental aspects of who we are must never change. >> reporter: trump bluntly declaring the resignation of christopher wray is a great day for america. patel, who has been meeting with senators on the hill, once wrote, "the fbi has become so thoroughly compromised it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken." mr. patel, christopher wray just announced he's resigning. what is your reaction? >> we look forward to a very smooth transition. and i'll be ready to go on day one. >> reporter: are you going to be seeking retribution against donald trump's political opponents, sir? but democrats are concerned about the independence of the fbi. >> there was a reason we put in place the idea that an fbi dire

no surprise wray's resignation. decision to step down, on truth social and he said under wray's leadership the fbi illegally raided my home, it is false that it was an illegal search of mar-a-lago, a search conducted for classified documents that the former president had. but he also said in the post "w e want our fbi back and that will happen i look forward to patel's confirmation so the process of making fbi great again can begin to trump appointed wray after he fired james comey and 2017 angry that comey was investigating russian interference in the 2016 election at that time trump said that wray was a model of integrity and a guardian of the law but since trump has soured on the fbi and called it the deep state, including cash patel, his nominee, saying he wants to fire multiple people across the fbi. >> on your reporting you talk to former and current law officials -- law enforcement officials. >> multiple officials said they are disappointed but not surprised. a number of them said they thought christopher wra

christopher wray closed his remarks to the fbi today this way. remember that you chose and earned this job. you chose and earned the privilege of serving your country. the fbi needs you. the american people need you. so thank you for making that choice. thank you for earning that privilege. leading off our discussion tonight is senator to sheldon whitehouse, democrat of rhode island, a member of the senate judiciary committee, and he chairs the subcommittee on federal courts. he's also a member of the senate finance committee and and is the chair of the senate budget committee. begins his fourth term in the united states senate next month. senator whitehouse, the contrast we see there between what christopher wray had to say and what kash patel had to say in that same collection of comments, kash patel is saying he wants to destroy the intelligence division of the fbi. the people who are preventing the next 9/11. >> in fact, the intelligence division operation of the fbi was set up to remedy the problem of the firewall between the intelligence co

and yet director wray is, it's as though they made the problem. and that's exactly what trump wants him to be. >> yeah, there is a saying that napoleon used to say, i am the state. nixon, his term, if the president does it, it's not a crime. now we have essentially a reverse j. edgar hoover. donald trump controls the new fbi director, kash patel, he will get through, i am sure. let me let you listen to some of the things that susan collins said. she is already ready to put in the guy that donald trump wants for whatever position. here is what she said back in the day. she wants it to put in hegseth. brett kavanaugh back in the day, there would be no overturning of roe v. wade. kavanaugh says -- collins called it consistent with what kavanaugh said during hearings. they are trying to pretend that donald trump is promising that everything is going to be fine and hegseth is not going to drink any more and everything is going to be good. they want to be fooled. >> yeah. well, i mean, that's who they are. i mean, we have seen this movie before. i mean,

what should become of christopher wray, appointed by president trump?well, i think he will make a choice. i think either he will resign or president trump will fire him, but it's no secret to anybody, including chris wray, that he is not going to continue to serve as the head of the fbi under donald trump. listen, if you look at james comey and chris wray, there has never been a period in our nation's history where the fbi has suffered a greater loss of respect, where more americans doubt the fundamental integrity of the fbi, and it's because james comey and wrist wray presided over allowing the fbi to become a partisan cajole to be used to target parents at school board meetings, to be used to target people who chose not to take the covid vaccine, to be used to target president trump and to target the political opponents of joe biden and the white house. it is tragic, that is not what the fbi is for, that is not what the doj is for. i've got to say pam bondi and kash patel, i think together, are a very strong slate of nominees to go and restore integri

director wray announces he will step down. and would a member of the senate judiciary committee make of that move? plus a mystery in the night skies over new jersey. swarms of drones with no clear answer. where they're coming from or why they're here. good evening. thanks for joining us. new york police now say they can directly tie luigi mangione to the sidewalk execution in midtown manhattan exactly one week ago this morning. >> first, we got the gun in question back from pennsylvania. it's now at the nypd crime lab. we were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in midtown. at the scene of the homicide. also able at our crime lab to match the person of interest. fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the kind bar near the scene of. >> that's new york police commissioner jessica tisch acknowledging what cnn was first to report today, that the fingerprints matched those of the suspect. luigi mangione. now, additionally, the new york times today revealed a key detail

donald trump hired wray in 2017, but now the president-elect complains that wray, quote, invaded hasin the search that turned up classified documents. the resignation comes less than two weeks after donald trump revealed his choice to head up the fbi, kash patel. one of the most fiercely loyal associates of the former president. cbs' ed o'keefe has more. >> reporter: fbi directors are supposed to serve tenured terms, overlapping presidencies to avoid politics. but chris wray will now be leaving about two years early. president-elect's attacks on him and the bureau taking their toll. >> my goal is to keep the focus on our mission, on the indispensable work each of you is doing every single day. in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray. >> reporter: trump nominated wray in 2017 after he fired the former director james comey. at the time, he praised wray's credentials. >> i think i've done a great service to the country by choosing him. >> reporter: but trump soured on him after several fbi-led investigations into his ties to russia, attempts to

wray will step down.idence about carkin patel. >> jessica: donald trump put everything in that one social media post. lawfare realm is he upset about. people who have spoken on camera have been positive about it. but there are 53 republican senators to talk about him. tulsi gabbard is people with a lot of concerns about her. and a lot of speculation over the weekend as finally assad fell and made past comments that were pretty positive about him and talked about how the syrian people were actually fans of his starting to lack out the meetings with tulsi gabbard are not going as well as people might think necessarily. >> bret: they can only afford to lose 3. >> former polling, the most important figures is anywhere from 25 to 35% of people are saying i don't know who this is. r.f.k. jr. gets to 48% in the yes. no at 43%. but only 6% haven't heard of him. because he has been out there and we have opinion talking about him and he does a lot of interviews. a lot of these people are anonymous, including kash p

wray was soft on that and warned biden camp ahead of time.rn the trump people ahead of time. he was a bad actor and bad guy basically. >> that's right and very well president trump because he was president could classify the documents on the way out and never fully litigated and it was true and the special prosecutor was unconstitutionally appointed by merrick garland and every which way you look, this was rigged and chris wray went along with it and on the hunter biden and jill biden piece, they're literally in the garage and in joe biden's garage with his son with all of his dealings with foreign actors for this in the garage and sent pictures that you can see with joe biden is i know going into the skiff, larry, i have to check my phone and can't walk out with anything and going for them and ultimately they did move forward because guess what, he wasn't competent to stand trial yet he was president of the united states. this whole thing, by the way, november 5, larry, is the date where the fever broke on all this stuff. they rejected every

director christopher wray says he will resign. his term is not set to end until 2027, but he announced he will stay on only until the inauguration in january. nbc's brie jackson joins me now from d.c. good morning, brie. president-elect trump was the one who selected wray for the job to begin with. >> reporter: good d morning, frances. that's right. then-president trump appointed wray back in 2017, but mr. trump has spent years attacking the fbi and the justice department for what he calls partisan prosecutions against him, complaining recently about wray's role in the classified documents investigation. wray addressed the bureau, saying his goal is to keep the focus on their work. >> in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. this is not easy for me. i love this place. i love our mission. i love our people. >> reporter: president-elect trump called wray's resignation a great day for america, saying thi

referencing the fact in 2017 he put wray in that position and now wray is quite different in trump's hawley, also is glad about this move. >> chris wray is a republican. republican appointee. but i think he was very bad f.b.i. director and i wish he wouldn't have been. i wish he would have been fantastic during his tenure at the f.b.i. and it is hard to find the high points. this is a guy who allowed or recruited informants in the catholic parishes and sent swat teams to the homes of pro-life demonstrators and a guy who did nothing when the f.b.i. repeatedly misled the fisa court. >> harris: that's a lot of low points for christopher wray and for america. we had to live through it. "the washington examiner" editorial board with the headline good riddance to wray. no f.b.i. director is entitled to his ten year term if he doesn't do his job. a decade is a maximum allowable tenure. not an entitlement. the president has every right to replace him. the f.b.i. needs a serious disinfect ant. some democrats feel quite differently. >> the f.b.i. has a 10-year term. the reason is to keep polit

to focus on lowering prices once naughted, 47% say cutting taxes is extremely important christopher wrayncing planning to step down ahead of trump's inauguration. >> after weeks, of carefully thoughtive decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in january and then step down. >> trump reacting to this on truth social saying quote the resignation of christopher wray is a great thing for america as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as united states department of injustice, the picture replaced fbi director kash patel on capitol hill meeting with senators yesterday said his team is going to be ready to hit the ground running listen. >> -- we look forward to very smooth transition, with fbi i will be ready to go day one. >> have you talked to president-elect trump -- >> according to latest fox news polls americans approve more trump selection this time than 2016 asks voters if they would confirm nominees or not if in u.s. senate marco rubio best of those compared to to 35% saying they would not robert f. kennedy,

this time it won't be someone like wray filling his place.s time it will be kash patel, a q nonsupporting, election denying conspiracy therapist or. he would definitely pass that loyalty test. this is, of course, not just limited to kash patel. this time trump is assembling his cabinet in a way that prioritizes loyalty over any basic qualification. i mean, in any other universe, the people that he has picked for some of the highest-ranking roles in our government wouldn't even be considered for far more inconsequential jobs in the agencies they've been selected to lead. qualified doesn't begin to describe how wrong these people are. for trump, unqualified isn't a bad thing. for trump unqualified is kind of the point. because when you put someone in a role that they would never in a million years be considered for otherwise, you can see how that might engender a special kind of devotion and loyalty. kash patel can either run the fbi for the next ten years or he can write another follow-up to his children's book series in which he is a wizard a

chris wray as fbi director back in 2017 and wray managed to stay out of donald trump's line of firethe trump presidency even though there were fbi investigations of mr. trump back then. during the biden administration, once the fbi searched donald trump's home, he began denouncing chris wray. mr. wray has decided to step down rather than be fired. >> keken dinian from washington, thank you. >>> firefighters in california are up against some tough weather conditions today as they try to contain a fast-moving wildfire. >> here's a look at some of the destruction in malibu. the franklin fire exploded in size overnight. nearly 12,000 people have been evacuated including celebrities like cher. >> locals are taking matters into their own hands. look at this video. a resident on roof spraying the flames with a hose. >> reporter: as you can see from the smoke behind me this caon has been burning all morning. there are still some areas with visible flames. for the most part crews primarily from the air have managed to bring this down to a smolder. they have with multiple aircraft flying down

even donald trump who hired chris wray, chris wray is a republican, former justice department officialefore he got to the fbi, even donald trump has not had much bad to say about chris wray but he clearly has resented the fact that wray was overseeing the fbi at a time when the fbi was helping the special counsel pursue criminal charges against donald trump. wray, after all, had to sign off on that fbi search of trump's mar-a-lago home to retrieve those classified documents. trump hasn't explicitly called wray out for that. some other republicans have. they've accused the fbi, without evidence by the way, of being corrupt and being part of the deep state and acting politically. some republicans have, but, obviously, people like mike rounds, the senator, have not seen that and, in chris wray h been a typical fbi director, most of what the fbi does has nothing to do with politics. it's an law enforcement agency, intelligence agency. wray has gotten high marks from many employees for kind of, you know, sailing the ship through these choppy waters and one interesting question whether wray

wray and the fbi are frequent targets of mr.mp's ire, often complaining the agency has become politically weaponized, which wray has denied. and turning to kash patel, who will require senate confirmation, the incoming president would have a fiercely loyal defender leading the agency. peter alexander has more, including mr. trump's reaction. >> reporter: fbi di