vote on rod rosenstein and say he cannot a fair. that he has some -- somehow an appearance of a conflict of interest necessary to point a special counsel. which, by the way is also reports to the leadership at the department of justice. give mr. rosenstein a chance to demonstrate that he is capable of leading that the departmentf of justice understanding that our role in congress is not to pursue a criminal investigation and case. that is the job of the department of justice but our forin parallel fashion oversight reasons and to let the american people and ourselves know exactly what happened. that is why the investigation of , selectrtisan senate committee on intelligence is so important. in addition to the hearings we are having on the judiciary committee which the senator from a soda and i happen to be on as well. bottomeed to get to the of what happened and i am confident we will. it is our duty and we will get the job done. democraticning, the cause for this caucus met to discuss the consequences of mr. comey's dismissal. there are many questions to be answered and many an

leadership at the department of justice. i think we awt -- ought to give mr. rosenstein a chance to demonstrate he's capable of leading that role at the department of justice understanding our role in the congress is not to pursue a case. that's the job of the department of justice. but our job, in parallel fashion, for oversight reasons and to let the american people and ourselves know exactly what happened. that's why the investigation of the bipartisan senate select committee on intelligence is so important, in addition to the hearings we're having on the judiciary committee which the senator from minnesota and i happen to be on as well. so we do need to get to the bottom of what happened, and i'm confident we will. it is our duty, and we easily. now on the topic of the day, mr. president. this morning the democratic caucus met to discuss the circumstances of mr. i come's -- of mr. comey's dismissle by the white house. there are many actions to be taken. we will pursue many things in the coming days and weeks that we decided in our caucus and we will have more to say about that i

. the democratic leader just a few weeks ago praised mr. rosenstein for his independence and said he had developed a reputation for integrity this is what we have now, mr. president. our democratic colleagues complaining about the removal of an f.b.i. director whom they themselves repeatedly and sharply criticized. that removal being done by a man, rod rosenstein, who they repeatedly and effuse civilly praised. mr. rosenstein recommended mr. comey's removal for many of the reasons they consistently complained about. two investigations are currently ongoing. the senate intelligence committee's review of russian active measures and intelligence activities and the f.b.i. investigation disclosed by director comey. today we'll no doubt hear calls for a new investigation which could only serve to impede the current work being done to not only discover what the russians may have done; also to let this body and the national security community develop countermeasures and war-fighting doctrine to see that it doesn't occur again. partisan calls should not delay the considerable work of chairman

attorney general rod rosenstein's letter, which cited his handling of the hillary clinton e-mail investigation as the primary reason comey should be fired. >> he took the advice of the deputy attorney general who oversees the director of the fbi. they made a decision to remove him. >> reporter: the president's explanation changing yesterday amid mounting scrutiny. >> why did you fire director comey? >> because he wasn't doing a good job. >> he had been considering letting comey go since he was elected. >> reporter: sara telling reporters wednesday that the reason for the firing actually went beyond rosenstein's letter. having a letter like the one that he received and having that conversation that outlined the basic just atrocities in circumventing the chain of command in the department of justice, any person of legal mind and authority knows what a big deal that is. >> calling comey's actions an atrocity. but in november she had a very different take on "new day." >> i think everybody wants to attack comey and make him the enemy here. i think he's done the right thing by opening

before the senate. attorney general sessions and deputy attorney general rosenstein should brief all senators on these events separately and in the classified setting and they should do it soon. the questions are swirling. there are more every day, every hour. first, it is the overwhelming view of my caucus that a special prosecutor should now be appointed to conduct the investigation into the trunk campaign ties to russia. mr. rosenstein cannot be the person to appoint him. cast ondoubts have been mr. rosenstein's impartiality. are many reports director comey met with deputy attorney general rosenstein last week to make a request for more resources for help with the investigation into the trunk campaign ties to russia. that would make the timing of this firing even more suspect. nameosenstein signed his to a highly political memo arguing for director comey's dismissal and made no complaint about the involvement of the attorney general who would recuse himself from all matters relating to the russian investigation in recommending the firing of the man leading it. it is hard to believ

must happen right away. first, mr. rosenstein should not be the one to appoint a special prosecutor. that responsibility should gl to the highest-serving career civil servant at the department of justice. second, mr. comey is needed more than ever to testify before the senate. third, attorney general sessions and deputy attorney general rosenstein should brief all senators on these events separately and in a classified setting, if necessary, and they should do it soon because the questions are just swirling about. there are more every day, almost every hour. let me go over each. first, it is the overwhelming view of my caucus that a special prosecutor should now be appointed to conduct the investigation into the trump campaign ties to russia. mr. rosenstein cannot be the person to appoint him. serious doubts have been cast on mr. rosenstein's impartiality for two reasons. first, there are many reports that democrattor comey met with deputy attorney rob rosenstein to help with the investigation into the trump campaign ties to russia. that would make the timing of this firing even mor

. this is huge, pamela. >> this is significant. we are learning that rod rosenstein appointed former fbi director bob mueller to now look at possible connections between trump campaign associates and russia. this announcement coming on the heels of the news that president trump asked director comey back in february if he would stop the flynn probe according to our sources. in this statement just released from the department of justice, rob rosenstein says considering the unique circumstances of this matter i've determined a sperm council necessary in order for the american people to have full confidence in the outcome. our nation is grounded on the rule of law and the public must be assured that officials administer the law fairly. secretary fueler will have the resources to be able to conduct an investigation. he adds that mueller resigned from his position at his law firm so now this is his full-time job overseeing the russian job. we have previously reported, wolf, that rod rosenstein didn't feel the need to appoint a special council shortly after firing james comey last tuesday.

change in leadership. the democratic leader a few weeks ago praised mr. rosenstein for his independence and said he had developed a reputation. our democratic colleagues are complaining about the removal of an fbi director who them -- they themselves sharply criticized. they repeatedly praised. he recommended mr. comey's removal for many reasons. two investigations are currently ongoing. the senate intelligence committees review of russian active measures and intelligence activities and the fbi investigation disclosed by director comey. no doubt hear new calls for investigation, which will only serve to impede the current work being done to not only discover what the russians to lete done, but also the national security community develop countermeasures to see that it does not occur again. partisan called to not delay the .onsiderable work too much is at stake. rosenstein was just confirmed on a bipartisan vote 94 to six. that sort of consideration should continue when the senate receives a director nominee. as i said yesterday, once the senate receives a nomination to fill

ago praised mr. rosenstein for his independence and said he had developed a reputation for integrity. mr. president, our democratic colleagues complaining about the removal of an fbi director whom they themselves repeatedly and sharply criticized that removal being done man, rod rosenstein who they repeatedly praised. mr. rosenstein recommended mr. comey's removal for many of the very reasons that they consistently complained about. two investigations are currently ongoing. the senate intelligence committees' review of active measure and intelligence activities and the fbi investigation disclosed by director comey. today we'll no doubt hear calls for a new investigation, which could only serve to impede the current work being done to not only discover what the russians may have done, also to let this body and the national security community develop countermeasures in war fighting doctrine to see it doesn't occur again. partisan calls should not delay the considerable work of chairman burr and vice chairman warner, too much is at stake. deputy attorney general rosenstein was just conf

decision. >> rod rosensteiner fbi director robert mueller. >> a welcome and applaud. >> it is good for the country. >> 16 days before the inauguration, the trump transition knew there was an investigation looking into michael flynn. >> it is reaching a point of watergate size and scale. >> i want to see the documents. >> we cannot deal with speculation and i inuendo. >> he has shown zero opposite for any investigation of donald trump. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning. welcome to "new day." alisyn is off. brooke baldwin is joining me this morning. >> good morning. >> we begin this morning with the investigation into russia's election meddling. it is now in the hands of a special counsel. the deputy attorney general taking it on his own behalf. naming former fbi chief robert mueller to head up the probe. remember, rosenstein, deputy ag. he said he did not think we needed one. what changed? trump saying he looks forward to the end of the situation. >> the special counsel comes fired fbi director james comey who is the most wanted man in washington

highest-ranking civil servant at the justice department. mr. rosenstein and other political appointees should not be the ones who decide on a special prosecutor, let that decision be seen as influence or worst, made at the direction ofi the administration. i think my colleague from california, senator feinstein for speaking so eloquently on this proposal. in addition, mr. president, there are several things that should happen here on capitol hill that will help get us to the bottom of the events this week. first, mr. comey should testify before congress. there are so many questions tham only mr. comey can answer.ns so, i applaud senators for inviting him to appear before the intelligence committee nextt week, it was the right thing to do. we are to hear from mr. comey. i urge mr. comey to come and tell the whole, whole story. second, attorney general sessions and deputy attorney rosenstein should make themselves available to congress. i am renewing my request is the majority request to : all senators it briefing where they can answer the questions swirling about from tuesday night's fi

rosenstein. he was just confirmed by the senate 94-6 at the end of april. he was in charge of the investigation into russian interference in the u.s. election because attorney general jeff sessions was not forthcoming about his meetings with the russian ambassador and recused himself. so rosenstein came into the job. he looked at comey's behavior relating to the clinton e-mail investigation last year. he found it wrong, he found it deeply troubling and he recommended that since comey has refused to admit his errors he should be fired. he recommended that to jeff sessions and passed it on to president trump. end of story according to the white house. here are the problems according to those who are skeptical of this decision and this president. president trump shares exactly zero of rosenstein's concerns about how unfair comey was to hillary clinton. the only problem that president trump has ever had about comey's behavior relating to hillary clinton was that he did not charge her with a crime and president trump clearly loved it when comey essentially reopened the clinton case lat

general rosenstein should brief senators on this event separately and in a classified setting if necessary and they should do it soon because the questions are just smiling about. there are more every day, almost every hour. let me go over each. first, the overwhelming view of my is that a special prosecutor should not be appointed to conduct the investigation into mr. ro russia. mr. rosenstein cannot be the person to appoint him. serious doubts have been cast on mr. rosenstein's impartiality. first come in many reports director coming up with deputy attorney general last week to make a request for more research is towards help with the investigation into the trunk campaigns ties to russia. would make the timing of this tiger even more suspect. to second, mr. rosenstein signed his name to a highly political memo, arguing for director comey's dismissal and made no involvement of the attorney general to recuse himself with more investigation. in recommending the firing of a man he met. ses retired without iis or to allowo citizens -- to be part of this. delivering such a mama which

? eporter: sir, your impression, rosenstein take any responsibility for the firing of jim comey and the memo he wrote and if not, where does the responsibility lie? >> i think obviously he stressed the responsibility of the decision for the president. it's an executive branch decision and it was an executive action. senator cassidy: his memo was written within the context of it. he very much avoided giving specific answers as to circumstances around the writing of the memo and if someone helped him, did someone review it, saying that should be the province of mr. mueller 's investigation. he totally backed away from kind of ever going there. reporter: did he tell you that may 8 was the day the point which he knew f.b.i. director -- senator cassidy: i missed the beginning of his opening statement. i cannot say for sure. reporter: follow-up -- is it your impressioned based on the briefing this has now crossed the threshold from a countertenls to a criminal matter? senator cassidy: he said to go beyond that would prejudice people's opinion. he said there is no predetermination someone comm

. let me read a little bit from a letter from rod rosenstein who is the newly minted deputy attorney general over there the department of justice who said that i cannot defend the directors handling them, the conclusion of the investigation and secretary clinton's emails and i do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken. the director was wrong to usurp the attorney general's authority on july 2016, speaking of loretta lynch here and announced his conclusion that the case should be closed without prosecution. in this kind of speech to what happened last week because this is when he came out and said look, when i saw that meeting on the tarmac between president clinton, former president clinton and loretta lynch, i felt i had to act. the deputy attorney general says the director now defends his decision by asserting that he believed attorney general brad lynch had a conflict. but the director of the fbi is never empowered to supplant the prosecutors and assume command of the justice department. so rod rosenstein basically saying here that

the senators. the man who appointed robert mueller is the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein and he is briefing all 100 senators in a closed-door meeting as i speak. and he is expected to reveal what he knows about why president trump fired former fbi director james comey. but first, let's get to more breaking news because sources are telling cnn that former senator joe lieberman is the front-runner to replace comey as fbi director. let's begin there with our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny and phil mattingly on capitol hill. jeff zeleny, first to you, what are we hearing from these senior administration sources on the president's thoughts on senator lieberman. >> brooke, we know that the president would like to name an fbi director before he leaves washington which is exactly in 24 hours or so. so we are learning from several sources that joe lieberman is right now, at the moment at least, the leading contender this position. it was less than 24 hours ago, just at the end of the day yesterday, where senator lieberman was here at the white house having an interview.

are you learning? >> reporter: yes, we found out minutes ago that rod rosenstein didn't notify the white house or general sessions about this investigation that puts mueller in charge of the investigation. this is a significant step for the deputy attorney general to take himself and the department of justice out of the equation, erin, and hand the reigns to outside special counsel. this is very rare. this hasn't happened in the last several years. in fact, the last time outside special counsel was brought in was 2003, but reading the statement from rod rosenstein, it is clear he made this decision because he thought it was in the best interest of the public, particularly when you look at the last week and all of the developments, the latest one, of course, erin, this revelation that former fbi director comey wrote in his memo that president are trump asked him in february to end the michael flynn probe. so it pashs that that factored into the decision. we can tell you through talking to our sources, evan perez, my colleague and i, he had been considering appointing outside special

president said he acted based on the recommendations of deputy attorney general rod rosenstein and attorney general jeff sessions. "fox news" has obtained the president's letter to director comey. it reads in part, i have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from your office effective immediately. while i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i am not under investigation, i nevertheless concur the judgment of the department of justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau. it is essential that we find new leadership that restores public trust and confidence in his lawn fourchon and -- law enforcement mission. a senior white house official telling "fox news" that it is coincidental that this firing, this termination occurred on the same day of the news that director comey overstated to congress that omar abedin was forwarding classified information to her husband anthony weiner for him to print pray now. here now to discuss this firing of james comey which some believe to be long long-overdue former u.s

unfolding, yet serious drama right now. one of them is rod rosenstein, who we have learn willed go to capitol hill to brief senators in a closed door meeting next week about his role in the firing of james comey. of course, remember, the white house first claimed it was all based on a recommendation from rod rosenstein. this turns out not to be true. yesterday you say either rosenstein didn't realize he was going to get played or he did. the former makes him seem like a fool. the latter comes off much worse. explain. >> i think the real question is why does someone like deter rosenstein, someone who has been around the block, why does he write that memo if he even suspects that it is going to be appropriated the way it was. and if he does write that memo knowing it is going to be used as cover for a decision the president makes, is rosenstein then complicit in this entire matter. this this is the most important point, yes, all of this noise, all of the inconsistencies from the white house are alarming, but let's not forget what this is all about. this is about the underlying investiga

rosenstein who wrote the letter. let me say one thing rod rosenstein's long letter detailed a lot of complaints that a lot of democrats had about james comey, that he shouldn't have gone on on july 5th after he cheered hillary clinton and the email controversy and said, okay but she is reckless. and he shouldn't have sent that letter on october th and turned the election upside down maybe that's why dan an the white house wasn't expecting this to be a disaster. >> that's exactly right. >> for them. but you know rod rosenstein doesn't speak for the president who at the time these events occurred was applauding them. so, you know. >> is this a firing in search of a cause gloria. >> well i think it's a firing in search of a rationale, right. and -- and the rationale here was provided by the deputy attorney general. but -- and the deputy attorney general i'm sure believes it as do lots of other people in this country, democrat and republican. but i don't know that donald trump really believes what the attorney -- what the deputy attorney general wrote. because he was applauding comey

investigation, quote, hurts our country. explaining his decision, deputy attorney rosenstein reached the full senate and lawmakers said he new fbi director would be fired before the memo recommending the firing. naming a director, the president says he is very close to deciding on a replacement for james comey and says one of his top picks is former senator joe lieberman, the 2000 democratic vice presidential nominee turned independent. and flynn's troubling ties. new details on the fired national security adviser michael flynn's foreign connections. did he scuttle a u.s. military mission against isis because of his ties to turkey? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." ♪ >> this is "cnn breaking news." >> breaking news. president trump publicly slams the special counsel investigation into russia's election interference and contacts with his associates. he calls at witch hunt that divides the country and insists no collusion with russia. earlier speaking to me and other television network anchors the president called the probe -- and i'm quoting him now -- a very

recommendations of the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein, who's only been in that post for two weeks now, and the attorney general, jeff sessions, to fire abruptly, as it would be, the fbi director, james comey, right now. the question that i asked sean spicer late last night was whether or not anybody at the white house ordered rosenstein, that deputy attorney general who oversees the fbi, to complete this review about comey. it seemed striking that only two weeks after taking office that all of a sudden he would have been able to put together this notification to the president and on that information the president would act. we're told the president made his decision only yesterday, although one of the focuses today will be why it happened yesterday and whether in fact this is a decision that had been made in advance and they were just looking for sor of the rationale that would be necessary behind it. we are hearing from president trump already this morning on his favorite megaphone, that is twitter. let's put up some of the tweets we've seen from him over the course of

general rod rosenstein. >> right. >> did you ask for a recommendation? >> what i did, i was going to fire -- my decision. >> you had made the decision? >> i was going to fire comey. there is no good time to do it, by the way. >> because in your letter you said i accepted their recommendations. you had already made the decision. >> oh, i was going to fire him regardless of recommendation. he made a recommendation. he is highly respected, very good guy, very smart guy. the democrats like him. the republicans like him. he made a recommendation. but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. >> the president might have changed the white house story because of a report in "the washington post" saying that the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the white house on tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire comey, and that the president acted only on his recommendation. the "wall street journal" reports rosenstein pressed white house canal don mcgahn to correct what he felt was an inaccurate white hous

? deputy attorney general rosenstein sat in the judiciary committee and promised to appoint a special prosecutor at the appropriate time. that time is right now. the american people's trust in our criminal justice system is an rosenstein's hands. mr. rosenstein, america depends on you to restore faith in our criminal justice system, which is going to be badly shattered after the administration's actions today. this is part of a deeply troubling pattern from the trump administration. they fired sally yates. fired preek barrara. fire director comey, the very man leading the investigation. this does not seem to be a coincidence. this investigation must be run as far away as possible from this white house and as far away as possible from anyone that president trump has appointed. given the way the president fired director comey, any person who he appoints to lead the russia investigation will be concerned that he or she will meet the same fate as director comey if they run afoul of the administration. the american people need to have faith that an investigation as serious as this one is b

breaking news again tonight. the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, who wrote the letter that outlined the reasons for firing fbi director james comey has now pushed the russian investigation into a special prosecutor. that person is former fbi director robert mueller. now, the president has fought hard to put this story that he that he sees essentially as an emperor who has no close situation behind him. but now, just four months into his presidency, he has a special prosecutor's case. the deputy attorney general sent the statement out a short while ago. "in my capacity as acting attorney general, i determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter. my decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. the person at the helm of this new probe, as i said, former fbi director robert mueller, well known to everyone in this country. he now has the power to have a grand jury, issue subpoenas, and to sign a slew of federal agents to this cas

are participating in a closed door briefing right now with deputy attorney general rod rosenstein on the james comey firing. we're hearing reaction from the president himself on the appointment of the special counsel. he is not happy about it. president trump tweeted, this is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in american history with all the illegal pacts took place in the clinton campaign and obama administration, there was never a special counsel appointed. all this comes as we're following more bombshell reports about michael flynn. reuters is reporting that michael flynn and other advisers to president trump's campaign were in contact with russian officials in at least 18 calls and e-mails during the last seven months of the presidential race. "the new york times" is reporting that flynn told the transition team weeks before the investigation that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for turkey during the campaign. it is not known whether the president himself was told about flynn's reported disclosure. to help us break it all do

the house of representatives have just been briefed by the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein, the man who shocked washington by appointing a special counsel to investigate any ties between the trump campaign and russia, the man that, yes, also the white house also said recommended the firing of fbi director james comey. this closed-door briefing was intended to shed some light on that firing, but of course, the questions went far beyond that. we'll discuss. >>> also at the white house, the president is getting set to leave shortly on his first overseas trip as president of the united states. he and the first lady will be visiting five countries in eight days, a high-stakes tour that the white house hopes will help reset a presidency that's been bogged down in crisis. so, let's get to it. first to the capitol and that crucial meeting that just wrapped up. cnn congressional correspondent phil mattingly is there. so, phil, what are you hearing from members as they're leaving this meeting? >> reporter: as you know, kate, lawmakers starting to stream out of this briefing, and that

that's been in the work for quite some time. i think the fact that rosenstein, you know, put this memo together, i think think were looking for someone to lay this out and give them, as you have seen, the rational to do it. i frankly would not have waited for that. i said when i was running dur the campaign, i would have fired him right away. this is a political animal in the fbi and we don't need political animals in the fbi. >> senator, the stated justification for firing jim comey is that he was too mean to hillary clinton. do you believe that? do you believe that's why he was fired? >> i believe he was fired because he mishandled the office of the fbi, that he sought fame above doing his job. he injected himself repeatedly in the political process. he conducted investigations improperly. he provided information about who was being investigated, who wasn't being investigated. these are things that should not be done. >> he did all of that with great praise from donald trump during the campaign. donald trump thought that was great. he said it publically over and over again. how can h

went like this. the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein and the attorney general jeff sessions came to see president trump to recommend that he fire james comey, the head of the fbi. the president agreed with them and took action. that was the white house story for two days. today we found that wasn't true and we found out from a reliable source, president trump. here's part of the president's interview today with "nbc nightly news" anchor lester holt. >> monday you met with the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. >> right. >> did you ask for a recommendation? >> what i did was i was going to fire comey. my decision. it was not -- >> you had made the decision before they came in the room? >> i was going to fire comey. there's no good time to do it by the way. >> because in your letter, you said, i accepted their recommendation. so you had already made the decision? >> oh, i was going to fire regardless of recommendation. he made a recommendation. he's highly respected, very good guy, very smart guy. the democrats like him. the republicans like him. he made a recommendation.

of a criminal investigation. >> did you get an explanation from rosenstein about why comey was fired? >> this is limited to what congress can do. i find it hard -- i would be reluctant to subpoena someone or a document in their position if i truly believe they were part of a criminal investigation. >> did you get a satisfactory explanation from rosenstein about why comey was fired? >> mr. rosenstein viewed the whole process as something that mr. muller will speak on, not him. >> were you satisfied with the answers you received about the firing of director co me? >> mr. rosenstein wrote the memo, the fact that what he believed the fbi director did in july was inappropriate. >> senator, was he tasked to write that memo? >> he did not. i'll let you ask him that question. now that we have a special counsel about all things related to the process of the memo, i think you'll need to talk to mr. muller. i have to go. >> thank you, senator. >> shepard: lindsey graham speaking on capitol hill. so much to get through. catherine herridge is live with us. catherine, to you. >> senator graham was

officially by rosenstein's letter, an investigation of russian interference into the u.s. election and other matters. it's up to mueller to decide the other matters, to include the firing of the fbi director. michael flynn, a meeting between the fbi director and the president in the white house. >> just to be clear, the fbi investigation that's been going on, that was under director comey, that continues and that is what mueller is overseeing? >> he has oversight over the entire probe as it were. you're not going to stop any activity in the fbi anymore, you've got a whole team there, and that's something you've heard from the acting fbi director, as they search for a new director, that they're continuing their work. i have spoke to people inside the bureau, but this is a very independent-minded mueller. one other thing i'll note. i have been talking to people around washington in reaction to this, yes, comey's out, if you want to replace comey with somebody who's comey like, it's robert mueller. just a reminder to folks at home. these two were at arms in 2004, that led to that famous standof

rosenstein knew comey was going to be fired before writing the memo? >> he did comment that the president has made such statements already. make of that? what do you make of that? hat the president knew he was going to fire comey before he had a conversation with memo?stein about writing a >> rosenstein pointed out no action is final until it's final. you can imagine the president's frustration saying i want to fire the guy but until it appens, you don't know that it's going to happen. >> the president directed him to write the memo. >> i don't recall that. >> the white house initially said that the president made it decision to fire comey based on rosenstein's memo but it turns out now that's incorrect. raised as a point nd he deferred the rest of the exploration of that to mr. muller. > what's your view of a potential nomination of joe lieberman to be fbi director. have not heard that. e emerged as the leading afternoon.this >> robert muller was a very good good as that the american -- public has ever reason to wonder what is happening to our government. manipulated by russia, a country

attorney general rod rosenstein, you can see right here. he arrived moments ago up on capitol hill. he will discuss the investigation of russia's meddling in the election and possible ties to the trump campaign. cnn's phil mattingly watching the members file into this room right now. let us know what's going to happen here, phil. >> reporter: well, it's going to actually have a similar format to what we saw yesterday in the senate, or we didn't senate, but at least heard about it. rod rosenstein, who you saw last hour, just walking into this briefing. once he starts, he will give the same opening statement he gave to the 100 senators who were gathered for his classified briefing yesterday. he'll give that same statement and then open it up for questions. you can see lawmakers streaming in behind me. i'll just lay out how this actually works. they walk into a room for this classified briefing. before they do, they put their phones into a separate compartment. they can't bring any of those in. and then once they sit down, once the opening statement is read, they have an opportunity to as

subpoenas and prosecute federal crimes if any discovered. mueller appointed by deputy rod rosenstein. >> rosenstein said the move was not a finding crimes had been committed, but quote based on the circumstances the public interest requires me to place this investigation under authority of the person who exercising the degree of independence from the normal chain of command. >> the appointment following a series of damaging headlines from the firing of the fbi director james comey to the president divulging sensitive information to comey's memo saying the president asked him to end the investigation of michael flynn. >> on capitol hill, the news of the special counsel is being greeted with relief. that includes democrats demanding answers and republicans who just want the barrage of questions to ease. we begin with justice correspondent pamela brown in washington. >> reporter: good morning, dave and christine. a significant move with the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein handing the reins to robert mueller. he appointed him as special counsel. he said in a statement he did this

removal being done by a man, rosenstein, whom they praise. he recommended his removal for the very reasons they complain about. intelligence committee and intelligence activities and the fbi investigation disclosed by director comey. today we will no doubt hear calls for a new investigation which will impede the work what the russians may have done, but let this body develop to see that it doesn't occur again. delayan calls should not the work. too much is at stake. generalttorney rosenstein was confirmed on a 94-6.an vote of consideration when heontinue scimmends the firing of a director. director -- fbi director. president, the democrat leader, yesterday the president fired the director of the fbi, jim comey, who is leading an active investigation into the trunk campaigns possible collusion with russia. the president provided no reason for the firing, other than he had the recommendation of his attorney general, who had already had to recuse himself from the russian investigation for being too close to the president and his deputy attorney general. mr. president, there's little r

not. reading from rod rosenstein's letter. the senate confirmed him yesterday. over the past year the f.b.i.'s credibility have suffered substantial damage and affected the entire department of justice. drop in here now. >> democrats are willing to concede the status quo is unsustainable. i appreciate their willingness to knowledge that obamacare hasn't lived up to its promises. that is the reality that senate republicans entirely agree with. it's why we're working to keep our commitment to the american people to move beyond the failures of obamacare. if our friends on the other side of the aisle want to join us with replacing obamacare with reforms i welcome their input. it's disappointing it's taken our democratic colleagues this long to come around but i enjoy a robust debate as we pursue smarter healthcare solutions. as we continue working to address this critical issue it is tore po remember why we need to act in the first place. across the country americans are feeling the pain of obamacare. listen to these recent headlines. thousands of obamacare customers left without opti

rosenstein on the firing of former f.b.i. director james comey. we will bring you more comments from members as they happen as we also bring you a part of this morning's "washington journal." host: ok, so the deputy attorney general on capitol hill yesterday in an all-senate senators briefing, house members will get their chance, your chance to talk to him today. what questions do you have for him? guest: well, a lot of us are very interested in what he knows about the sequence leading up to the firing of james comey which, of course, to be everybody up here completely offguard and created a real political firestorm. and the white house, of course, has had two or three different stories about why it happened. the first story was this was purely on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and then the president reversed himself. i was always going to do it. that's what the deputy said. so we got to really understand what went into this decision. for this decision, even though i'm on within of the committees questioning the russia hack and whether there were ties to the t

russia. rod rosenstein will brief the senate today and house tomorrow about the context and confines of the russia probe. rosenstein's memo. why comey should be released helped to create the recent drama. will the mueller move tamp it down? >> now three committees want comey to testify about what trump told him making him the most wanted man in washington. this as there are several new damning reports about fired national security adviser michael flynn that add to the crises facing the trump administration. we have it all covered for you this morning. joe johns. let's start with you at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, brooke. this is a ray of hope for the trump administration to finally put this behind them or the law of unintended consequences at work. how the firing of fbi director james comey could lead a top trump administration official to name bob mueller, a towering figure in american law enforcement to lead the investigation into russian interference in the last election. the white house issuing a statement from president trump responding to the appointm

pertains to michael flynn, as it pertains to rod rosenstein and the firing of donald trump, as it pertains to more and more things -- >> the firing of donald trump. >> mike pence, the vice president of the united states is either a sucker and a dupe for donald trump, is being set up that way to go out and lie and lie and lie again or he's a liar. there's no middle ground. if it is the first, i think it's about time for mike pence to go to donald trump and say, as i think most of us would, if you set me up to be your liar again, i'm walking. >> but it's not just pence. it's the whole team in the white house. if you look at this from some distance, it's very clear trump and this team were not ready for the presidency, not even close to it. all of these troubles lead back to no one who can come to trump and say, you know, you need to put the cork in the bottle. we need to plan. we need to think strategically, even if it's just in 24-hour cycles, and it does not happen. i've never -- we describe it as unraveling. it's really not unraveling. it started that way and there was no way to sit down

position of writing a defense of the firing of comey -- rod rosenstein -- that actually contradicted trump's own explanation when he went on national tv and said "i was thinking about the russian investigation when i showed this guy the door." carol: up next, a profile of the man with the most important job in the department of justice, deputy general rob rosenstein. oliver: this is bloomberg. ♪ oliver: welcome back to "bloomberg businessweek." carol: you can also listen to us on radio on sirius xm channel 119. oliver: and the politics and policy section, a look at the reputation of deputy attorney general rob rosenstein. carol: which has suffered after his memo to president trump led to the firing of then fbi director james comey. matt: he wrote the memo president trump use justify the firing of james comey. our sources indicate rosenstein was not very pleased he was used as a scapegoat, even though he laid out quite a damning picture of james comey. what we got was the naming of -- what we got on wednesday night was the naming of the former fbi director robert mueller as the spec

because of rod rosenstein's memo. the president contradicts that in a high profile way. >> chris, let's take a moment and listen to that. this is the second time the vice president has been misled by seemingly by his own white house. first flynn and now the president himself. >> the mendacity montage. >> i was going to fire comey. >> he took the recommendation of the deputy attorney general. >> that makes no sense. >> he made a determination that the fbi director lost confide e confidence. made recommendation. >> the president took strong and decisive leadership here to put the safety and security of the american people first by accepting the recommendation of the deputy attorney general. >> the president accepted the recommendation of his deputy attorney general to remove james comey from his position. >> cillizza? >> i mean, it is clear there, right? look, what happened here? i think the white house did their best scrambling after they were surprised, many of them, surprised that donald trump made the decision to fire james comey. they did their best to say this is a long time respect

general, rod rosenstein, saying that he had made up his mind that he would fire, he would be firing the fbi director james comey, regardless of that recommendation. andrea? >> and kristen, we've been hearing from capitol hill from senators grassley and feinstein in oblique ways that the suggestion that she have been told by james comey that the president is not under investigation, which does not mean that the campaign and other possible links to the russian government and the russian hacking are not under investigation, but importantly, from this interview from the president's own words, the president is not under investigation, and he asked james comey, who assured him of that. >> that's right. and i think peter's right to point out the notable part about what we heard is that he actually asked that of the fbi director. andrea, i go back to my q&a with the vice president yesterday and i said, did president trump direct the acting attorney general rosenstein to write that memo. effectively had he made the decision about comey prior to that memo. he sort of punted on that question.

sway the presidential race. the move by deputy attorney general rod rosenstein came one day after reports emerged that president trump had personally asked former fbi director james comey to end the agency's investigation into trump's former national security adviser, michael flynn, who was fired for lying both publicly and privately about his contacts with russian officials. mueller's appointment came as the "new york times" reports flynn told president trump's transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for turkey during the campaign. that is far earlier than the administration previously admitted. meanwhile, reuters is reporting flynn and other advisers to trump's campaign were in contact with russian officials and others with kremlin ties in at least 18 undisclosed calls and emails during the last seven momonths of the 2016 presidentil race. the communications are being examineded as partrt of the fbi probe. and in another development, mcclatchy is reporting one of flynn's first decisions as nati

. president, let's get your reaction to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein's decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate the russia -- russian interference in the campaign. was this the right move or is this part of a witch hunt? >> well, i respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch hunt, and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always speak for myself, and the russians, zero. i think it divides the country. i think we have a very divided country because of that, and many other things. so i can tell you that we want to bring this great country of ours together, jon. >> reporter: behind closed doors, in a meeting with network anchors, the president went even further. david muir asked him about his upcoming foreign trip, saying that world leaders would undoubtedly ask him if he supports the idea of a special counsel. the president's response -- "i believe it hurts our country terribly, because it shows we're a divided, mixed-up, not-unified country. it also happens to be a pure excuse for the democrats, having lost an electio

director as the special counsel, what else can you tell us? >> rod rosenstein, the deputy, saying he has chosen bob mueller, the former fbi director to take the reins of the special probe. so essentially the department of justice is now out of the equation, and bob mueller will run the investigation, and have the same jurisdiction as the grand jury. he can interview the president, anything he deems necessary in this investigation. and what is so interesting here, don, rod rosenstein and his team did not give much advance warning to the white house or the attorney general, jeff sessions who as you know recused himself from the russia probe. in fact the white house found out just an hour before rod rosenstein wanted to do this by the book, clearly. >> so he says my decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or any prosecution is warranted. i have made no such determination, what i determined is based on the unique services. this requires me to place this under the authority of the person who exercises the degree of independence from the normal chain of command. so when t

general rod rosenstein, the one who signed this order naming former fbi director, robert mueller as the new special counsel spelling out the terms and what he will be investigating. the white house was not even notified that this was happening until a half hour after the order was signed. gone are the days when the president appointed the special counsel. now, the attorney general, jeff sessions, has said he has recused himself for matters involving the trump-russia investigation. that recusal is very much in question because of jeff sessions admitted role in the firing of fbi director, james comey leading the trump investigations in the fbi. this order today, to hand over oversight tov those investigations, hand over robert mueller as special counsel, it wasn't signed by jeff sessions, by rosenstein who says he was acting as acting attorney general on this issue. we will have more on exactly what that means and why that's important in terms of how much we should all trust this is now going to be an independent and capable uninfluenced unimpeded real investigation. we'll have more o

under more scrutiny today. in his second visit to capitol hill in two days, rod rosenstein told house members today that he knew president trump was going to fire james comey a full day before rosenstein then wrote that memo. remember, this was a letter that he sent to the president to highlight jim comey's behavior and recommend new leadership. so who specifically, then, asked him to write it? rosenstein won't say. house members telling cnn that he was, quote, frustratingly cautious, often deferring answers to newly appointed special counsel robert mueller. so do lawmakers feel that they can put their trust in this special counsel, this independent investigation going forward? listen. >> confidence in the investigation is very limited. it does not reflect on my respect for director mueller but i believe that there are a number of coverups that i question whether or not all of them can be investigated pursing the directions given to director mu mueller. >> mueller is a pro. come on, now. i believe there will be no problem with -- there may be some disagreement, but no problem with us

from the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein. >> to dispose of that first claim about him being unpopular. acting fbi director mccabe said that was not true and he was widely respected. "keeping them honest" to somehow the president describes it. the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein wrote a memo and he read it and persuaded to one extent to fire comey. that was his account today. so was this just seven days ago. >> i was going to fire comey. there's no good time to do it, by the way. >> because in your letter, you said i accepted their recommendation. you had already made the decision. >> i was going to fire regardless. >> i was going to fire regardless. the president also said russia was on his mind when he made that decision. this was last thursday saying it was all him not rosenstein. rewind your brain to a couple days before that interview with lester holt to the day comey was fired, tuesday, on that day according to white house surrogates, it wasn't president trump's idea, it was all rosenstein. as you can see, all rosenstein all the time. >> president trump made the