. >> do you think he is considering firing robert mueller? >> no. >> why? >> because i think he is confident that it will come out in the wash. the president, he and i have talked about it a little bit. >> when is the last time you talked to him? >> last night. >> christopher ruddy is joining me right here in the studio. so you say the president is considering firing robert mueller. >> i said the president was keeping it as an option. it was consistent with what the president' own state's attorney said a day before on national television, look, i think the president is a very savvy business guy. if you read the art of the deal, he says keep adversaries in the dark. >> how do you know it has been an option? is it something you have been hearing from top officials. >> i run news max, anyone can take a look, and you will see that we have very good sources. >> you're hearing this from the administration services. >> when is the last time you spoke to the president? >> i spoke to him last week. >> did he raise the possibility at all of letting robert mueller -- >> we did not talk about

firing special counsel robert mueller. the response tonight has been swift. why do you think this is coming out tonight, april? >> well, one, this president has never left us unexcited and anticipating his every move. he likes this, number one. number two, this president really is not a president of governance. he is a president who goes with a knee-jerk reaction in a lot of instances, but he's also a man who feels that his base is with him. he is not the establishment. he is pushing the envelope. and this might just push it too far, if he does indeed fire robert mueller as special counsel in this probe into the russia investigation, that's dealing with issues of obstruction of justice possibly as well as collusion. >> it seems like that all of this is making the president's own making, these problems. because he's the one who started tweeting about these things. rod rosenstein chose to, i guess, fire him. but to hire mueller after the president fired comey. this is the president's own making, correct? >> right, it is. but the thing that i think we need to understand is that some of

the mueller-comey witch hunt." it says special counsel robert mueller's investigation is turning into a witch hunt and needs to be shut dun immediately. ex-f.b.i. director james comey who admitted sparking the probe by leaking information to the "new york times" is nothing more than a calculating, cunning, partisan political hack at the -- at home in the d.c. swamp. during last week's hearing, comey admitted he intentionally gave a memo to his friend hoping it would lead to the appointment of special counsel. quote, i asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter, unquote, comey told lawmakers. quote, didn't do it myself for a variety of reasons but i asked him to because i thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. and so i asked a close friend of mine to do it, unquote. what comey's admitting to under oath can in the be overlooked here or understated. his end goal was the appointment of the special counsel with -- which just so happens to turn out to be his longtime friend, robert mueller. by leaking information, comey could be put

nothing more to add to what the president talked about. when it comes to robert mueller, the president believes he has the authority to fire him if circumstances warrant it but they have no intention of doing that. it was notable that the president said some things that give you two different paths to look at with respect to how kneels about the special counsel. on the one hand raising the idea that he and james comey are personal friends and he's building a team that include some lawyers who have some ties to hillary clinton. mueller comes from a republican background. he also at the same time said he's an honorable man and hopes he will reach an honorable solution. that seems to be validating the integrity of robert mueller. they same to want to keep every door open. the potential to fire but no immediate plan to do it raiding doubts about robert mueller and his team. >> thank you. >> nice to see you mark. >> nice to see you. >> looking at the president's tweet and i can't believe we're still talking about this because it should be a yes or no, do any tapes at all exist? this tweet t

: anything juicy. special counsel robert mueller moving forward in his investigation into russia meddling in the 2016 election. of the former fbi director expanding his team, hiring an additional 13 lawyers to help in the case. taking a look at who exactly he has hired. >> in legal circles there is a big question these days but whether prosecutors have unchecked power. "the actual decision whether or not to charge a person of a crime is almost completely unconstrained." it's that belief that has alarmed many of president trump's supporters about the investigation of russian collusion and obstruction of justice. their concern is heightened by some of the recent hires by special counsel robert mueller. >> >> the first four names are l democrats, two of them have a record of hiding the defense. in in a justice department were% of the investigations went to hillary. excuse me and explain why i should relax. >> newt gingrich is attacking robert mueller, the reality is members of congress on both sides of the aisle find him to be a man of incredible integrity and courage to serve his country bu

lashed out at the man leading what he calls a rich hunt. special counsel robert mueller and the man who appointed him, deputy attorney general rod rose tn stein. he's also the man who urged the president to fire james comey who is, yes, you guessed it, a good friend and former colleague of robert mueller. now rosenstein added another dimension of absurdity to the mess he helped create. rosenstein is slamming leaks to the national media. most whiff originated with the man he recommended be fired from the f.b.i. this is what rosenstein said today in an official statement. quote, americans should exercise caution before receiving as true any stories attributed to anonymous quote-unquote officials. rosensin effect lively telling americans not to trust the national left-wing media, and their reporting, much of which relies on, yes, anonymous sources. it's a strange swamp, washington, d.c. as for the president, he was focused on policy, not the forces trying to subvert his administration and his policies. the president heading to miami to announce a major change in his policy on cuba. john ro

the law he is the only person who could fire robert mueller and right now he says to even entertain that thought going further rosenstein said that he would not follow any orders to do that even if that order came directly from the president of the united states, donald trump. purpose of my appointment of special council mueller was to ensure that there would be public confidence in the outcome of that investigation and he now has responsibility for that and& i think that if there are any questions they should be directed to him and i know he's going to do the right thing, as i would, and defense the he integrity of that investigation you know, jim and shawn it's been interesting when robert mueller was first announced in this position he received widespread praise from both democrats and republicans. that seems to be shifting on the republican side right now, especially many trump support \he\es like neut grin rich the former speaker of the house and saying he has questions about he has aren't republicans into the investigation. the politics of this are starting to change a bit as

president again criticizes special counsel robert mueller saying, we're going to have to see, when asked about mueller's future. but the white house press secretary said the president has no intention of firing mueller. are they on the same page? >>> on putin's orders, an explosive new report says the cia provided president obama with direct evidence that russia's vladimir putin personally ordered the campaign to influence the u.s. election in favor of donald trump. >>> to tell the truth. president trump now admits his 41-day scharade about secret white house tapes was to influence jim comey to tell the truth in testimony. but did the president's deception backfire? >>> and dennis' diplomacy. hall of famer dennis rodman says the president should follow his example and go meet with kim jong-un. rodney did not see the dictator on this trip but in the past they rode horses and sang ca karioke. >>> breaking news, the white house says the president has no intention of firing special counsel robert mueller even though the president is once again criticizing mueller, calling his friendshi

robert mueller, who is the special counsel investigating the russia investigation. >> and that's where today's earlier hearing comes into play. rod rosenstein testified before a different committee and he was asked about this because this really goes to him. the president cannot directly fire robert mueller under the justice department regulations. he would have to ask the attorney general to fire mueller. the attorney general is recused so it would be up to rod rosenstein. rosenstein was asked repeatedly about this issue and said, i see no basis for firing robert mueller and i would only fire him for good cause. so i think he basically put to president trump today, if you want to fire robert mueller, i'm going to quick first. saturday night massacre style the way elliott richardson and william rucklehaus quit in 1973. so the chances of any attempt to fire mueller dropped considerably today after rosenstein's testimony. >> although, matthew, we should point out, president trump is a disruptor and does things differently. maybe two or three weeks ago if someone had said the same t

ruhle. a lot of news to cover starting with the firing line. is robert mueller next. a close confident of donald trump drops this bombshell. >> i think he's considering perhaps terminating the special counsel. i think he's weighing that option. >> you got to be kidding me. will he do it? can he do it? it's tough questions. the attorney general set to testify today in an open hearing about his undisclosed meetings with the russian ambassador and the trump/comey meeting that led to the fbi director's firing. >> my sense was the attorney general knew he shouldn't be leaving which is why he was lingering. >> no, this is not reality tv. a strange, strange trip, basketball hall of famer dennis rodman is in north korea, the former "apprentice" contestant knows president trump and kim jong-un. is he an emissary for the president? >> i'm pretty sure he's pretty much happy of the fact that i'm over here trying to accomplish something that we both need. >> extraordinary. all right. we're going to begin this morning with word that president trump is toying with the idea of firing special counsel b

corrupt intent. this will all be examined by robert mueller. it is very clear that the investigation is going to go on for a long time. and it is going to encompass all of this. the interrogation we just saw, robert mueller is going to conduct an interrogation like that under oath of donald trump. not weather, but when is the only question. >> would he have answered that? >> i don't know that he would have answered that, he might have answered that if he had still been the director of the fbi but he cautiously kept away from the legal significance of the evidence and stayed in the ballpark of "here is the evidence i can bring to you, you decide if it's of legal significance." >> i've got a quick question for you, we find out today that the former fbi director admits he is the one who funneled the information that got out there, these memos that he was keeping throughout friend. some other people outside the doj. so much has been made about leaks, the president had a disagreement with the fbi director, feeling like he wasn't handling them seriously enough. this would happen as he was

post" claims special counsel robert mueller is investigating the president for possible obstruction of justice. mr. trump is calling it the biggest witchhunt in history. a brief time ago i discussed the issue with rajini vaidyanathan. a week is a long time in politics so take us through worthy allegations have come from. rajini: it really has been a long week and politics. if you think that just seven days ago james comey testified before the senate intelligence committee. it was while he was testifying that he confirmed that president trump wasn't being investigated as part of the russian probe, at least not on his watch. of course, he was fired in may, and special counsel robert mueller took over the investigation. what these reports are saying -- the story was broken by "the washington post" -- is that robert mueller has broadened the scope of the investigation and they are looking at the possibility that president trump may have obstructed justice. two main areas, did he obstruct justice by firing james comey, who was overseeing the investigation, and by asking mr. comey to let go

rosenstein. remember, he is the one with the power to fire special counsel robert mueller, and he is the one that came under attack from the president today. who wrote earlier, i'm being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director, witch hunt. there are new developments in all this tonight. evan perez joins us with that. the new question is, will the attorney general rob rosenstein recuse himself from the russia probe. what are you learning? >> john, it's looking more and more like that's where he's going to be, probably not in the next couple of days, but certainly as probability mueller starts staffing up his investigative staff, he's got about a dozen lawyers now, the real possibility is that rob rosenstein is going to become a witness in that investigation, because obviously he was part of the decision making to fire james comey the fbi director, and now that is going to be wrapped into whether or not the president was trying to interfere or obstruct the ongoing russia investigation, obviously this is something that has been on rob roseste

that you believe president is considering firing special counsel robert mueller. what do you base that belief on? guest: i'm a journalist in addition to running newsmax. i have some good sources in the administration. i think it's an accurate statement. i have not spoken to the president about the matter. i believe it's an accurate statement. it's really not different from what the president's own attorney said this past sunday. where he said the president is leaving open the option to terminate the special counsel. host: you're a friend of the president. you're at the white house yesterday? guest: correct. host: what did you talk about? guest: i didn't deal with president. i met with other white house officials yesterday. i usually don't discuss conversations i do speak to the president from time to time. unless there's some go ahead from him to reveal something publicly. i don't put that out there. host: did you offer any advice when it comes to special counsel? what advice did you give? guest: the advice i give is the same advice i give on publicly. i thought it was a mistake t

robert mueller, the washington post claims claims president trump is being investigated for possible obstruction of justice. hello. with fires still burning in parts of grenfell tower, more than 2a hours after the west london tower block was engulfed in flames, scores of people are still missing. 12 are confirmed dead, but police expect that figure to rise significantly. fire crews have not yet been able to search every floor of the 2a—storey building. 3a people are in hospital — 18 of them critically ill. our coverage begins with the bbc‘s home editor, mark easton. oh my god, they're screaming! it is a tragedy that plays to our darkest fears. the fire started between midnight and 1am. the screams from the flats and the acrid smell of burning, waking neighbours. it was just people jumping out, literally. and putting sheets down to try to get out of the building. windows exploding, big, massive pieces of debris falling to the floor. we came here, saw people jumping off. people calling... you saw people jumping off? yeah. people had jumped off because they had no other option to.

the nitty-gritty, there was very little. charlie: robert mueller is now special counsel. >> right. sessions said that he has had no contact with robert mueller and there was a lot of discussion when rod rosenstein was testifying before the that jeffions panel sessions was supposed to appear before and there were questions about will robert mueller have independence and will that be influence coming from the white house. rosenstein said, i am not going to fire robert mueller without cause and i have to greenlight it. says, i have not been talking to the trump administration about this. i was never briefed on it. how was i supposed to be a part of it? discussionsts of and understandings that could be happening that are not in the written record from around one comey was fired and afterwards with the special prosecutor being appointed. are they taking him and others is thereitten word or speculation that there is more going on in discussions behind the scenes that are not written down? have senators asking to see the notes and jeff sessions says that he does not deep notes. -- keep n

abstraction investigation. do you share president trumps concern that the special counsel, robert mueller cannot be fair because of his close personal and professional relationship with james comey? how can mueller be impartial in deciding whether to believe his close friend versus the president who fired his close friend? >> i don't share the president sentiment on this. of what i know of robert mueller, i don't know him personally, but he is a very honorable person. it's not uncommon for people to make friendships, especially one outgoing fbi director to a new one. plus, washington, d.c. is a small town. most people know each other. i want to see what the results are to be able to judge. the credits ahead of this doesn't do it for anybody. >> gregg: honest people can be influenced in ways they don't recognize which is precisely why there are ethical rules and indeed it's in the special counsel statute that demand recusal even if there's the appearance or partiality and prejudice. >> that is true. i don't think somebody being friends with somebody like jim kelly who is frankly a part of this in

. special counsel robert mueller and the man who appointed him, deputy attorney general rod rose tn stein. he's also the man who urged the president to fire james comey who is, yes, you guessed it, a good friend and former colleague of robert mueller. now rosenstein added another dimension of absurdity to the mess he helped create. rosenstein is slamming leaks to the national media. most whiff originated with the man he recommended be fired from the f.b.i. this is what rosenstein said today in an official statement. quote, americans should exercise caution before receiving as true any stories attributed to anonymous quote-unquote officials. rosenstein effect lively telling americans not to trust the national left-wing media, and their reporting, much of which relies on, yes, anonymous sources. it's a strange swamp, washington, d.c. as for the president, he was focused on policy, not the forces trying to subvert his administration and his policies. the president heading to miami to announce a major change in his policy on cuba. john roberts has our report. reporter: the president ret

campaign and the russians ridiculous. he also voiced concerns about special counsel at robert mueller and his ties to former fbi director james comey that go back years. how close are these two men, catherine? >> the relationship between robert mueller and james comey has been under the microscope since may when mueller took over the russia investigation. this video from 2013 shows james comey as he was nominated for fbi director, taking over for robert mueller who had held the job for 12 years. the president has disputed comey's characterization of their private conversations, specifically over national security advisor mike flynn. he told fox this morning he is taking a wait and see attitude over whether mueller should recuse himself from the current investigation. >> he is very good friends with comey, which is very bothersome. robert mueller is an honorable man and hopefully he'll come up with an honorable solution. >> on the president's tweets thursday that he doesn't have tapes of those private conversations with comey, the white house spokesman said today, it all had a purpose. >>

considering firing the special counsel, robert mueller. here's an exchange. >> has the president ever discussed with you the appointment of the special counsel or discussed the special counsel in any way? >> no, he has not. >> if president trump ordered you to fire the special counsel, what would you do? >> i'm not going to follow any orders unless i believe those are lawful and appropriate orders. under the regulation, special counsel or meal or may be fired only for good cause and i'm required to put the cause in writing. that's what i would do. if there were a good cause, i would consider it. if there were not, it would not matter what anybody says. >> close members to the president say this is just a media reporting. we will be moving back up to the skybox just in a few minutes, once at security sweep is over. >> jon: catherine herridge, busy day ahead. thank you. >> the best thing to do is let robert mueller do his job. the best vindication for the president is to let this investigation go on independent land thoroughly. that is the smartest and best thing to do, and that's what

going to be what will you do if the president orders you to fire special prosecutor robert mueller? >> what was your role in the firing of the fbi director? what was your role in the firing of the u.s. attorneys? what will you do, what will your role be if he tries to fire the special counsel? eventually can he fire everyone? i mean, it's going to be fascinating tomorrow. >> we're going to hear every one of those questions. what we don't know is how many answers we're going to hear. >> yeah. >> that we're not sure of. >> yeah. this question of executive privilege and what they're going the call executive privilege and such a -- i mean that's a difficult legal theory anyway. that's not a cut and dried thing even in the best of circumstances, i think we're going to get into appeals court territory pretty quickly tomorrow. >> and i have a feeling that jeff sessions isn't going to rely on the feelings pleading that we heard last week from dan coats and the director of nsa. it is my feeling that i shouldn't talk about this. >> i have discomfort. yeah. >> yes. >> i have a gavel. >> we will seattl

part of the trump campaign, due to give evidence to the special counsel robert mueller in the next few days, possibly even this week. now, that's significant because the initial investigation, the investigation that the special counsel robert mueller inherited from the fbi, was into alleged links between the russian government and the trump campaign to allegedly pervert the outcome of last year's presidential election. well, now, less than a month after he was appointed special counsel, it would appear if the washington post report is correct that robert mueller has widened his brief already and is looking into the possibility of obstruction of justice on the part of the president of the united states. what this would relate to is the attempt that james comey said donald trump made to get him, when he was fbi director, to drop the investigation into donald trump's former national security adviser michael flynn. general flynn, you may remember, resigned in february, effectively forced out after it was revealed he had been economical with the truth as far as his links to the russians wer

post. if confirmed, the move by special counsel robert mueller would mark a turning point in the fbi investigation into russian interference in last year's presidential election. mr trump's lawyer has called the leak of information outrageous, inexcusable and illegal. live now to our north america correspondent david willis. david, the background here, we heard from president trump that he had sought and received repeated assurances from the fbi director he sacked, james comey, that he was not under investigation. the washington post is a much respected paper, this would be a big change? it would indeed. it now appears, mike, that the new york times, another revered newspaper in this country, is getting at least some credence to that report in the washington post —— giving. the new york times reporting that senior intelligence officials, people not part of the trump campaign, due to give evidence to the special counsel robert mueller in the next few days, possibly even this week. that is significant because the initial investigation, the investigation that the special counsel rob

continue to be alarmed by the wave of criticism from the far right of special counsel robert mueller. it seems obvious that because mr. murling, one of the most respected and trusted men in washington, is in charge of investigating russian interference in our elections and any other issues that arise out of that investigation, the far right special interest partisans have set out on a disposable campaign to smear -- despicable campaign to smear his character, to muddy the waters of his investigation. i want to real estate mind my colleagues -- i want to remind my colleagues and the american people that there is no one -- no one -- more qualified or more trusted to do this job than robert mueller. he spent almost his entire adult life in service to his country. he's decorated veteran of the vietnam war, served as u.s. attorney for 12 years. he was appointed by a republican president, president george bush, to lead the f.b.i. in 20 2001, serving his full ten-year term with distinction, and then he was asked for an additional two years under president obama. now congress had to pass a speci

president's fate in robert mueller's hands. >> do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? >> in vivid testimony comey questioned trump's character and honesty. >> those were lies, plain and simple. >> no collusion, no obstruction, he's a leaker. >> but will the president's story stand up to scrutiny from the special counsel? >> would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of these events? >> 100%. >> and what about those tapes? >> i've seen the tweet about tapes. lordy, i hope there are tapes. >> you seem to be hinting there are recordings of those conversations. >> i'm not hinting anything. i'll tell you about it over a very short period of time. >> the key question, did trump pressure comey to end the investigation into michael flynn? was it obstruction of justice? we'll ask preet bharara, the federal prosecutor also fired by the president in his first tv interview since the firing. a "this week" exclusive. responding for the president, new trump lawyer, jay sekulow, only on "this week." key senators from the intelligence

obstruct justice. robert mueller is looking into interview three intelligence officials as early as this week about their interactions with the president. nbc's peter alexander is at the white house. peter, the president has taken to twitter this morning responding. tell us more about it? >> let's be clear, this could be one of the biggest developments to date in this investigation. president trump lashing out on the reports he's being investigate for the possibility of obstruction of justice. from a series of tweets he wrote. they made up a phony collusion with the russian story, found zero proof and now go for obstruction of justice. on the phony story. nice. then later tweeting you are witnessing the single greatest witch hunt in american political history led by some very bad and conflicted people. as you noted, this comes after "the washington post" reports that the special counsel robert mueller is looking into whether the president obstructed justice with mueller planning to entire two of the nation's top intelligence officials right now. dan coats, the dni, director of national i

breaking news tonight. "the washington post" reporting that special counsel robert mueller is now investigating the president of the united states for possible obstruction of justice. if true, this report would confirm what was only suggested last week in testimony by fired fbi director james comey. this story breaking in just the last hour or so comes on the heels of an absolutely wrenching day in washington after a gunman targeted republican lawmakers this morning in what appears to have been one of the most brazen acts of political violence in recent memory. five people were wounded, including member of house leadership steve scalise who remains in critical condition after being treated at a local hospital. others injured include zach barth, matt mica, crystal griner and david bailey. witnesses said the toll would likely have been far worse if capitol police on the scene had not responded immediately, shooting the gunman. he later died after bng taken to the hospital. the suspect has been identified as 66-year-old james t. hodgkinson of belleville, illinois, who has a history o

investigation, if the president were to try to pressure the justice department to fire robert mueller, what would be the reaction? do you think the -- >> i think -- >> i don't think he would do that, who knows what he would do, but i don't think he would do that. i think the repercussions would be sol serious -- >> he has been sounding off inside the white house about it. >> i think the president needs a few good nights of sleep. he is flirting with obstruction of justice. he clearly has abused power, but that is a different story from obstruction of justice. i ask all of the time, what do the russians have on president trump politically, financially, that he would put in question article five of n.a.t.o.? that he would give back opportunities for diplomats to be here that were exacted -- something is wrong with this picture. something is wrong with this picture. is it criminal? that remains to be seen. is it an abuse of power? very clearly. >> what if robert mueller reports to office and as a case to be made outlining obstruction or some other issue, and republicans in congress refuse to t

dealings are being looked at by special counsel robert mueller. investigators are said to be looking into meetings kushner held with russian officials last december after at presidential campaign. >> senate republican leaders have set a goal for revising the healthcare bill. the lawmakers want the legislation brought to the senate floor by the end of june. despite that ambitious time line, there's still a lot to work out according to some republicans. including disagreements over medicaid. earlier this week president trump called the house version of the bill "mean." >> today president trump is expected to make an announcement about a policy shift concerning cuba. according to the white house the official goal is to stop the flow of u.s. cash to the cuban military and security servic. thinks american money spent on that island has been funneled to the communist government instead of the cuban people t president trump wants to create new restrictions on travel and some on businesses as well. you could still book flights and cruises to cuba but you have to travel with part of a tour group a

counsel robert mueller is in fact focusing on the president not about the russian matter so much right now, but what about he did to quash the investigation, whether he -- i think it's about comey and what he tried to get comey to do, swear loyalty to him, end the investigation of the michael flynn, and ultimately fired the guy. are they the elements of this case? >> well, you know, as people have said before, it's often not the crime but the cover-up. and we knew generally that the comey -- his interactions with comey were problematrom an obstruction of justice poi of view. i'm not say he obstructed justice, but certainly worth investigating. what's novel about this story is they're also talking to dan coats, admiral rogers of the nsa and one of admiral rogers' deputies. i'm very intrigued to figure out what they are going to talk about. and, chris, what makes this very interesting is we reported yesterday that the thing that is driving the president most crazy, the reason why he would even consider trying to get rosenstein to get rid of mueller, is he wanted an exoneration personally

robert mueller. he said it was not stupid to suggest that he had taped of the fired director, james comey. and the north koreans claim they're the real victims in the death of otto warmbier. and dennis rodman is just back from his visit is north creek. he says people don't see the good side of north korea. it involves karaoke. let's get to it. breaking news now on fox news channel. another republican has just sent word that he will vote no on the new republican healthcare bill. the senator is dean heller of nevada. he says he's out. unless compromises change things, the bill cannot pass without democratic support and it's not coming. no comment from the white house or anybody else on capitol hill. this just happened. reaction as we get it. just before we learned that, the white house for a second day in a row banned live coverage of the daily briefings. instead, another off-camera gaggle and embargoed the audio until the gaggle was complete, this is what we saw from the camera at the white house as sean spicer spoke to journalists. one reporter asked him, why does this have to be of

there's a justification? >> for a special counsel. robert mueller, there's some real conflict. he comes from a law firm that represent members of the trump family. he interviewed the day before -- a few days before he was aspo t appointed with the president looking at him to become the next fbi director. it's true. i think it would be strange that he would have a confidential conversation and then a few days later become the prosecutor of the person he may be investigating. i think that mueller should have not taken the position if he was under consideration and had a private meeting with the president and was privy maybe to some of his thoughts about that investigation or other matters before the bureau. >> christopher rud ruddy earlie today. had the white house had anything to say about the comments? >> they have. in the last hour, the deputy press secretary put out a brief statement saying that chris speaks for himself. and then a separate statement from white house officials thereafter saying that chris ruddy did not meet with the president before making these comments. i know becau

. >> the growing group of republicans trying to get robert mueller fired, comey was not allowed, what we learned when he broke his silence. >> when i've been reading the stories about how he's been contacting jim comey over time, like deja vu. >> mitch mcconnell and republicans are planning to spring on american sight unseen, all in starts right now. >> and what now may be an investigation to criminal obstruction of justice, attorney general, jeff sessions, the nations top law enforcement officer will testify less than 24 hours from now before an open session, senate intelligence committee. sessions appearance tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. comes just five days after fired fbi director james comey sat before the same committee and accuse the president of the united states of lying and of attempting to possibly the interfere in the russia investigation. according to the president and his legal team, comey was lying under oath. initially, it appeared sessions was trying to maneuver his way out of testifying in public. over the weekend, he cancelled planned appearances before the house and senate ap

. he also named special counsel robert mueller to launch his own russia investigation. that investigation is clearly getting under the president's skin. he lobbed out this tweet as well today, quote, after seven months of investigations and committee hearings about my, quote, collusion with the russians, nobody has been able to show any proof. sad. close quote. i want to bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta. he's traveling with the president in miami right now. jim, first of all, what are you hearing from white house officials? are they trying to explain these tweets? because both were very significant. >> absolutely, wolf. but, no i talked to a white house official earlier this morning and the words, before i even finished the question, the words coming out of the mouth of that white house official was please call marc kasowitz, the president's outside counsel. we talked to sources with the outside counsel earlier this morning who said that the president in those tweets was referring to "the washington post" story the other night that talked about the pr

president trump is considering firing robert mueller. he doesn't like special counsels coming at him. what's really going on there? and would republicans finally turn on trump if he gave mueller the ax? plus we now now the russian hack was more widespread than previously thought. russian hackers broke into election systems in 39 of our 50 states. isn't it surprising that president trump never asked how to keep it from happening again? and trump says he never asked james comey to take a pledge of loyalty. oh, yeah? and yet trump's got a history of doing just that with everyone else around him, getting bows of loyalty. we'll get to that with the "hardball" roundtable tonight. finally let me finish tonight with trump watch. he won't like it. this is "hardball," where the action is. we're on to you, diabetes. ti's up, insufficient prenatal care. and administrative paperwork... your days of drowning people are numbered. same goes for you, budget overruns. and rising costs, wipe that smile off your face. we're coming for you, too. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will

fire, president trump's friend suggesting trump is considering firing special counsel robert mueller. would the president try to get rid of the man trying to lead the russia probe. the cosby verdict watch. the jury in the bill cosby sexual assault trial deliberating, could his own words in his deposition sway the jury. let's start with that highly anticipated public testimony of attorney general jeff sessions with indications he plans to contradict james comey's sworn testimony. the hearing begins next hour. it could well be contentious touching on the firing of james comey, the russia investigation and sessions' own conduct in office. this new story line with one of the president's closest friends saying trump could decide to fire special counsel robert mueller who is charged with investigating all of this. listen to what chris ruddy the ceo of the conservative media news outlet news max told kristen welker last hour. >> do i think that he will actually fire him? no. but do i think it was an option or has been an option? yes. >> you were at the white house yesterday. >> correct. >> meeting

thinking about firing special prosecutor robert mueller. and for now, at least, for now, at least. the white house staff has talked him out of it. >> well, it would precipitate enormous governing crisis in the country, return to 2018 elections into a referendum around the issue of covering up the russia investigation that the american people, i believe, want to get to the bottom of in terms of understanding what happened during the elections. it would put every republican on the spot. it would rupture the republican party. you would have republicans to think that it is a grotesque abuse of power, that it's an over reach, to be compelled to finally speak out and come forward. versus those that would act as the highest calling that would be donald trump apologyist and support their oats to that calling. it will be enormous political event. it will kill the entirety of his domestic agenda. it's what we would talk about every hour of every day going forward, absent in international crisis that his recklessness could precipitate, of course, on any given day also. >> steve schmidt. we'll tak