most people in the fbi lean conservative. if you look at the broad population of the fbi, they do. that doesn't mean they're not fair and do their jobs fair, they do. but without question some of the stories during the campaign -- you know, i think comey did what he did for a lot of reasons, i don't think they were partisan reasons but the "wall street journal" story you flashed on the screen a minute ago, leaks from the new york field office were clearly done to hurt hillary clinton. those were leaks from field agents that clearly were done to target her to make it harder for her to be elected president and it's a sign there is a problem and that makes it surprising that comey isn't more sensitive to that given what happened in the campaign that he then would have this type of conversation with priebus and then mccabe would have this conversation. you think if anything they would be bending over backwards to make it clear that they are going to be independent and accountable to the facts and the law and not to the present. >> matt miller, thanks for your time again. >> thanks. >>>

, with attempts to go to the fbi to get the fbi to spin the truth, they have shown themselves not to be acting in good faith and helping out in this investigation. so, yes, i do think it would be appropriate just as attorney general lynch did subsequent to that meeting with bill clinton in that aircraft, she recused herself from any of the investigations around the e-mail. jeff sessions at this point needs to appoint a special prosecutor. we need to have an outside commission. we need to take this out of the political realm in its entirety and get to the bottom of all of the allegations and problems here. >> there are more questions for you, congressman. i need to you stand by. we'll continue our conversation right after a quick break. your path to retirement may not always be clear. but at t. rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings. so wherever your retirement journey takes you, we can help you reach your goals. call us or your advisor t. rowe price. invest with confidence. ♪ (music pla♪ throughout) announcer: get on your feet for the nastiest bull in the state of

and we will need the cooperation of the fbi. we will need the fbi to share with us what they have found. what leads have not chased down. an investigation them done and not done. so we can evaluate whether they have done a comprehensive job. this is not unlike with the joint congressional inquiry did after 9/11. it did not simply assume the agencies have gotten it right but there was an independent investigation. that is what we need to do. i have yet to be convinced by the director of the fbi that we will have the kind of cooperation we need. we cannot become the fbi. we cannot send out our own investigators all over the globe. we may have limited capacity to do some of them but we cannot re-create everything the bureau may or may not have done. we will need their cooperation and whether or not we get that in as fulsome a manner as we need is yet to be determined. finally, one of the other challenges we will have a doing a credible investigation is whether or not we have the staff to do it. we have an excellent staff, both majo

between the white house and the fbi. there are rules, there are regulations that have been longstanding to block exactly this from happening. >> reporter: it's written in department of justice memos, it's communication between the white house and the fbi is limited. and decade-old restrictions on such contact. specifically, as i pointed out, laid out in two department of justice memos. so if the deputy director of the fbi talked about this to the white house, he may have overstepped, since it is an ongoing investigation, not to mention an investigation involving the president's associates and russia, and the request from the white house is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the fbi on pending investigations. basically these memos say specifically, make it clear that the chief of staff to the president and the fbi's deputy director should not be talking to one another about a pending investigation, which is what this "new york times" article was, poppy. >> and the key phrase there, "pending investiga

they can't even find the leakers within the fbi itself. this could have a devastating effect an the u.s. by now. in the midst of all this media criticism, the white house is not denying the essence of the story, which is that there were communications between advisors to trump and russians and russians known to u.s. intelligence during the time that russia was interfering in the election, and that's really the story. >>> more now on this story from inside the white house, cnn's sarah murray has the story and joins us now. what can you tell us about how all of this is playing out in the white house at the moment? >> reporter: it's been a very interesting day here in the white house, they have been denying the notion that reince priebus has done anything wrong. but there is a little bit of consternation, a little bit of heartburn about these communications between priebus and senior officials over at the fbi. this person said this is the kind of distraction the president really does not need right now, he wants to be focused on his top line

doesn't mind swipes to fbi. obviously leaks going on but why make a big deal telling everybody how dysfunctional everything in washington is all the time. it's disheartening for people who work in the bureaucracy of d.c., people that work for the federal agencies. >> and doesn't -- it's not good for him because the buck stops with him. quickly. i have to get to the break. >> it doesn't make sense. claims everything reading in the newspaper isn't true, all fake news. on the other hand people need to be ferreted out because leaking classified important information. which is it? >> your guess -- you know what it is kirsten. everybody stay with me. >>> next, president vowing to replace obamacare. is that what americans want? done! you gotta shake it! i shake it! glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day. for every social occasion. so the the broom said, "sorry i'm late. i over-swept." [ laughter ] yes, even the awkward among us deserve some laughter. and while it's okay to nibble in public, a lady only dine

appoint ea is fbi agents can be charged criminally, so it's a very severe severe exposure that an fbi agent if they daned to do that, so not to say it hasn't happened and hasn't come out of the fbi before but look who had access to all that information. the fbi has 12,000 employees, the department of justice is bigger than that and all the white house staffers some of the obama administration holdovers and new trump personnel coming in that had exposure to that information, my speculation is i don't believe it came out of the fbi. >> okay. okay. thanks so much as always. >> larry, thank you as well. >> thank you. >> coming up next, so if a let's say a president hillary clinton did this, what we were just discussing, what would happen then? my political panel weighs in next. >>> president donald trump is enlisting the department of homeland security to help build a case for his travel ban but sources tell cnn the move is politically motivated and worries some inside the intelligence community. i have peter bergen, national security analyst and peter we talked because you recently wrote

there are three fbi investigations going on right now. one goes into what happened preelection, what was the influence or connection between the trump campaign and the russians, the other one is the interim between the election and the inauguration. we're trying to figure out exactly who flynn was talking to and who else was involved, was trump involved in really under cutting the bam administration sanctions? and the third investigation is looking at the dossier that was produced by the mi6 former intelligence agent mr. steel to see if there's validity to some things he outlined in that dossier, so there's a lot of fbi investigations but the white house is not cooperating in any of this. and when the chief of staff even talks about this with the number two man in the fbi, he's sending signals. >> let me give another example. because you know, you remember during the campaign and former president bill clinton was sitting on the plane on the tarmac and brought on then attorney general loretta lynch and some people could say that's apples a

the 24th, before the sally yates warning, are you -- did he mislead the fbi or lie to the fbi? is that one of the -- one of the issues that came up during the deposing? >> well, that's a different issue for the fbi to answer, chuck. i am just not in a position to answer it. we've certainly talked about that issue with leadership at the fbi, but i am not in a position to talk about that with you. but listen, we have talked about this. i think we have laid it out very clearly. and now it's up to the d.o.j. and fbi to take it any further if that's what they do. >> by the way, anybody else inside the white house been interviewed by the fbi over the last couple of months? >> not that i know of, chuck. i think the answer is no to that. i would know. >> okay. i want to go to the press conference on the issue of russia. the president never seemed to answer the question that was asked three or four times there, which is did anybody -- does he know for sure that anybody on his campaign, does he -- can he say definitively that nobody in his campaign, nobody that he has been associated wit

he later reached out to fbi director james comey asking for the fbi to at least talk to reporters on background to dispute the stories. >> it's worth underlining why they did that. between the white house and if you have an on going investigation. >> it's not typical for a reason. the communication between the white house and the fbi was unusual because of decade old restrictions on such contact. if he sent this to the white house he may have overstepped. not to mention an investigation involving the president's associates and russia. it limits communication with the fbi on pending investigation. there's specific language from 2007-2009 limiting this communication. >> so what is the status of this investigation. is it on going. it's investigating several members of them. and the investigations are in full swing. >> sources tell my colleague and i the white house made the request to the department of homeland security to bolster it's case for why the seven countries listed in the travel ban should remain after it was blocked by reports. they tell cnn that the department of homeland se

why was priebus reaching out to the fbi? now we find it was the fbi reaching out to priebus. hey, by the way this story is all - - it was mccabe and comey. somebody somewhere just outside of that chain leaked this information. that's an interest question to find an answer to. >> john roberts, thank you very much. you have given us so much to chew on there and a part of the story that i have not seen reported so specifically. the chain. how these things happened on a timeline, it was actually the fbi which began the conversation about this. thank you, john. let's start there. uh, having the fake newses. this is what we're talking about in terms of - - . >> i agree. >> in germest sometimes you'll get a set of facts and the story will breathe a little bit and you'll find out that maybe somebody repeated something wrong. this easy sourcing. you go to the three people and talk to them. >> exactly right. they obsessed over this until this morning. you would think that priebus approached the fbi and was putting pressure on them that wasn't sort of a - - . >> you think that based on

trump also criticized 9 fbi directly, tweeting today, the fbi is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time. they can't even find the leakers from within the fbi itself. classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on u.s. find now. >> what are you learning? >> reporter: on the broader issue of communications between trump advisers during the campaign and other russians none to ouu.s. intelligence, the whi house is not denying that such communications took place. and we know the fbi is investigating those communications. in addition to that, both the senate and house intelligence committees, keep in mind, both led by republicans, they still investigate e investigating those communications. so reince priebus seems to be saying there's nothing to these stories, but the fbi and the senate and house committees are still investigating. >> what he is pointing to is "new york times" reporting which is different than cnn reporting. >> reporter: the white house seem to be zeroing in on this det

the fbi refused. again, it's worth noting they didn't just reach out to the fbi, but to other agencies in an effort to publicly knock down the reporting. >> which ultimately didn't happen. you had reince priebus going on the sunday shows saying it himself. pam, why is this not a typical back and forth between the white house talking with the fbi and their own justice department. what makes this so odd and perhaps against regulations? >> there are decade-old restrictions, poppy, on such contacts between the white house and the fbi limiting those discussions only when it is important for the president's duties and where appropriate from a law enforcement perspective. now, if the deputy director of the fbi, andrew mccabe, said this to the white house, he may have overstepped since it is an ongoing investigation, not to mention an investigation involving the president's associates and russia. the request from the white house is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the fbi on pending in

trump also criticized the fbi directly, tweeting the fbi is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time. they can't even find the leakers within the fbi itself. classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on u.s. find now. on the larger issue of communications between trump associates and russians known to u.s. intelligence during the campaign you heard priebus there seem to say there is nothing to the story but the fact is the fbi is still investigating these communications as are both the senate and house intelligence committee. that investigation, wolf, as you know underway. >> jim sciutto reporting. thank you very much. we're also following breaking news, tension between the white house and the news media escalating tonight after the press secretary sean spicer blocked cnn, the "new york times," the "los angeles times," other major news organizations from an off-camera press briefing. our white house correspondent sara murray has more. you were kept out. >> standing in line ready to go

and forth between any white house and the fbi. >> right. for a reason. there are decade-old restrictions on such contacts between the white house and the fbi limiting those discussions only to when it is important for the president's duties and where appropriate from a law enforcement perspective. so if the deputy director of the fbi, andrew mccabe did say this to the white house, he may have overstepped since it's an ongoing investigation, not to mention an investigation involving the president's associates and russia and the request from the white house is a violation of procedures that limit communication with the fbi on pending investigations. alisyn. >> this is still a pending investigation, correct? >> it's pending, in full swing, the fbi counterintelligence committee investigating, congress is still investigating those alleged contacts. they're starting to collect documents and records, so the investigation is on going. >> pamela, we switch gears a little bit. you've also got reporting on the revision of the president's travel ban. w

and they know that the fbi is not going to be able to respond to this. we're told there's a different version to this story that certainly andrew mccabe was told, that he first reached out to reince priebus to try to have this conversation, either way, it was inappropriate for the white house to have repeated contact with the fbi. let's not forget, it didn't stop there, they started contacting other agencies that are looking at this and investigating this russia matter, and trying to get them to knock down the story, there was a lot of energy placed on trying to knock down a story, when this is still, as you mentioned, an act tifr investigation, andy mccabe is the deputy director, this is something he can't really defend himself against because this is ongoing. >> this is what nancy pelosi said in a same today, the trump white house has been caught undermining an fisher investigati fbi investigation. >> remember the president is the person who's in charge of the department of justice, and the fbi, he's actually the boss of these agencies, and this rigid

we need an accountable fbi also. the fact are on the friday before that interview on your show, reince priebus was told by the number two guy at the fbi it's all nonsense. and then reince said later, can you guys say that? and they said no, we can't and reince said well, why can't you? if comey could say that about the letters with hillary, all this stuff why can't he say it he said you can say it, reince, and he did. what we need they ought to fire people at the fbi who leaked the story about reince's call. the fbi works for the president. if they can't do their job and be upfront drain the swamp call me and mccabe should go. >> chris: we will get to that part of in a second. since reince priebus is the only one on the "on the record" on this story, let's look at what he is saying. he says that he is in a meeting at the white house and the deputy director, a fellow named andrew mccabe comes up to him and says, look, that story that was in the "new york times" about all the contacts we're investigating is b.s., b.s.

the fbi refused. the fbi refused to comment on this story. the communication with the white house and the fbi was unusual because of a decade restriction on contacts. the request from the white house would appear to violate procedures that limit the communications with the fbi on pending investigations. a white house official says that mccabe initiated the conversations. the white house asking the fbi help refute the stories runs contrary to justice department procedure memos in 2007 and 2009 that are supposed to limit direct communications on pending investigations with the white house and the fbi. christine, dave. >> thank you, evan. >>> today, donald trump addresses the conservatives. he speaks at the conservative political action conference shortly after 10:00. his warm-up act went before the faith on thursday. vp mike pence. >> let me assure you. america's obamacare nightmare is about to end despite the best efforts of liberals at town halls across the country. the american people know better. obamacare has failed and obamacare must go.

trump also criticized the fbi directly tweeting, quote, the fbi is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time. they can't even find the leakers within the fbi itself. classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on u.s. find now. now, on the larger issue of the existence of communications between advisers to trump during the campaign and russian officials and other russians known to u.s. intelligence, reince priebus said there's nothing to the reports but the fact that the fbi is still investigating the communications as are both the senate and house intelligence k349s. christi and victor. >> jim sciutto, we appreciate it. thank you. >>> joining us, eric bradner cnn politics reporter and jack kingsston, former commentator and former adviser to the donald trump campaign. gentlemen, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> jack, let me start with you, your level or discomfort, if you let me know, about the communications between the fbi and white house, should these specific players -- bec

in the end it was the fbi who brought down richard nixon. and the fbi is sworn to the rule of law. if you had said to your audience a couple months ago that james comey and senator john mccain were standing between president trump and the survival of american democracy, your entire audience would have fallen off its collective couch. i think that's true. i think that's where we are now. >> does -- how does that assessment of director comey, his role and what you think he's capable of, how does that square for you with the way he behaved around the clinton e-mail investigation during the campaign? >> that was a serious mistake, i think he knows it. he called mrs. clinton extremely careless. carelessness is not a violation of federal law. lying to the fbi is a violation of federal law and if michael flynn was sticking to flynn facts as they used to say at the defense intelligence agency when he talked to the fbi a couple weeks ago he is in a world of pain. >> tim, in terms of the fallout here, one of the things i'm worried about, and part of the reason i wanted to talk to you tonight

fbi refused. and fbi has refused to comment on this story. >> interesting. white house chief of staff reince priebus denied that story. week ago on fox news. >> "new york times" last week put out article with no direct sources that said the trump campaign had constant contacts with russian spies. basically treasonous accusations, all kinds of people looking into this. i can assure you, been approved to say this, top levels of the intelligence community have assured me that that story is not only inaccurate but grossly overstated and it was wrong. there's nothing to it. >> and jim the investigation is still ongoing correct? >> listen, to say there's nothing to it is at minimum premature. we know the fbi is still investigating the communications. several members of the house and senate intelligence kmeets tell us. starting to collect records and documents and will call witnesses to testify to these questions. still open question what the contacts were and what the significance and meaning were. >> criticizing sources on background and that's what they're askin

there is nothing illegal about talking to the fbi. no one has to talk to them unless they are carrying a subpoena or acting for a grand jury. there is no grand jury at this stage of any inquiry into his or his aides' conduct. a policy written in the late to thousands between the fbi and anybody in the executive branch or congress talking to them about an ongoing investigation. that appears to be the regulation that may have been violated. directors assistant told -- pulled reince priebus aside after a meeting and said the new york times story is a little bit overboard. -- the fbi story was a little bit overboard as reported by the new york times. get moreiebus tried to out of them and that is probably where he crossed a regulatory line, not a legal line. also, a call to comey, to get them to say the stories between the contact of trumps people and russia were not true. john: it was an effort on behalf of the white house that failed. buy into not about to it. he has an ongoing investigation and he was not about to undercut it by giving

the fbi deputy director -- and this is confirmed by both cnn and nbc -- the fbi deputy director refused that request from the white house. said no, we're not going to do what you want on this investigation. and now, of course, unnamed officials are telling reporters at multiple news organizations about the white house leaning on the fbi with regard to this incredibly important incredibly sensitive investigation. you can't do that. i mean, one, take a civics class, as a matter of principle. when there is an ongoing serious investigation that affects the president, you can't have the president's chief of staff meddling in that investigation or giving directives to the people conducting that investigation. just as a matter of basic principle. ask a fifth grader. as a matter of the rules, though, it would appear somebody like reince priebus is not cleared in any circumstance to be talking to the fbi. about any of their investigations. unless jeff sessions changed the rules without telling anybody. this happens in the broader context of jeff sessions, the new attorney general, refusing to re

what was the fbi's response? plus senator bernie sanders ready to launch more than 100 rallies across the nation. he talks president trump and the gop town hall outrage. he's my guest tonight. trump's right-hand man steve bannon making a rather public appearance. he breaks his silence. let's go"out front." >>> good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front, we have exclusive reporting tonight that the white house asked the fbi to knock down media reports

the fbi refused. fbi refused to kbhecomment on t story. the communication with the white house and fbi was unusual because of a decade old restriction on contacts. the request would appear to violate procedures that limit the communications with the fbi on pending investigations. the white house official says that mccabe initiated the conversations. either way, the white house asking the fbi refute the stories runs contrary to justice department procedure memos issued in 2007 and 2009 that are supposed t limit direct communications on pending investigations between the white house and the fbi. christine and dave. >> evan perez in washington. thank you. >>> today, president trump addresses the conservatives who put him in office. he speaks to the cpac this morning shortly after 10:00 a.m. tal kopan is leading our digital coverage. a big day yesterday and the president is the main event today. >> good morning, christine. the marquee event. yesterday, they were already talking about looking forward to the president's speech. in fact, the firs

so are you investigating the fbi's investigation? and that is the case, why wouldn't you wait until the fbi finished its investigation? >> well first of all, we can't do everything the fbi is doing because we don't have the resources. and frankly, we shouldn't attempt to do everything the fbi has done. indeed, when we look at the intelligence community's analysis of the russian hack we are not going to be starting from scratch. we are going to look at the conclusions they reached, the raw intelligence they looked at. and among other thing we are going to be trying to determine, did each of the conclusions they reach, were they supported by the actual intelligence? we'll go beyond that, but that is certainly an important part of what we're going to do. why shouldn't we wait until the fbi is finished? we have our own responsibility to the public to investigate what the russians did, what impact it had, whether there were u.s. persons involved. and we ought to conduct our investigation. if the fbi is still doing one contemporaneous with

trump also criticized the fbi directly, tweeting, quote, the fbi is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time. they can't even find the leakers within the fbi itself. classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on u.s. find now. >>> we learned today at friday's briefing the members of the intelligence committees both the senate and house congressional sources say fbi director james comey did not dismiss the existence of any communications between russians and trump advisors. fact is, the fbi is still investigating the significance of these contacts as are the house and intelligence committees. when reince priebus makes the broader denial there is nothing to these reports whatsoever of communications, that contradicts the fact that there are, in fact, ongoing investigations, fbi and two on the hill as well. >> all right, jim sciutto, thank you so much. joining me now is former homeland security secretary janet napolitano. she is going to come with us in the next block. but we are right n

the fbi has declined to comment. brianna, i can tell you the communication between the white house and the fbi was unusual because of decades-old restrictions on such contacts, specifically laying out -- laid out in two department of justice memos. if mccabe did say this to the white house, he may have overstepped, since it is an ongoing investigation, not to mention an investigation involving the president's associates and russia. the request from the white house is a violation of procedures that limits communications with the fbi on pending investigations. and these memos are very clear, brianna, saying who from the white house can speak to the department of justice, the officials in the department of justice. it's very clear that there should only be communication about pending investigations if it has to do with the performance of the president's duty or if it's an important law enforcement matter. and as we know, brianna, the fbi's counterterrorism, counterintelligence division, i should say, is still investigat

trump also criticized the fbi directly, tweeting quote, the fbi is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time. they can't even find the leakers, the fbi itself. classified information is being given to media that could have a devastated effect on u.s. find now. >> and on the larger question of the existence of communications between advisers to trump during the campaign and russian officials and other russians known to intelligence, reince priebus has said there's nothing to it. the fbi is still investigating these as are both the senate and house intelligence communities. fred. >> thanks so much. now, "the washington post" is reporting that the trump administration reached out to some members of congress to dispute these reports. let's talk more about that with wrynn, washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun-times" and jay newton small. good to see you. democrat s are calling this a breach of the fbi's dependence. it raises an old question, can the white house discuss an open investigation with the fbi as jim was spellin

we have reince priebus was asking to correct the story that the fbi after the fbi told them they were mistakes? >> that's correct. the democrats would say the fact talk about this and talking about how to deal with stories in the press is improper. the fbi is supposed to be independent. >> for me, on the other hand do we want incorrect stories or exzag rated out there. fbi does not want to jeopardize their investigation. i see the problem. >> it's a difficult dilemma. >> kent, thank you, very much. >> great to be you with. >>> the department of justice inspector general must open new investigation into conversations held with the fbi on ongoing investigation. that is new nbc wall street poll believe congress should investigate whether or not there was improper contact between russian government and the trump campaign. with me -- >> glad to be with you. >> thank you, very much. i appreciate it. i'm happy to be here. this -- i assume you heard my conversation with ken, right, the issue. do you have any problems with reince priebus if an fbi agent says a story in the "new york times" say

you're saying the fbi told you that it was b.s. the fbi hasn't said that at all. i was asking a different question. the fbi investigation is continuing right now. the intelligence committees are continuing their investigations right now. and the question at hand is, is it appropriate for the attorney general to oversee that investigation? here are the justice department guidelines. no doj employee may participate in a criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship with any person or organization substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation. how can it be appropriate for a key member of the trump campaign to oversee an investigation into the trump campaign? >> george, we're confident that whatever review congress wants to do, i think that is the first step. if they want to take that on, which there are two committees that are currently doing that. we're confident that they're all going to come to the same conclusion. that we had no involvement in this. if democrats want to continue to relive th

nunes: we have had discussions with the fbi director and others within the fbi. and i do expect they will be briefing us again this week or next. [inaudible] mr. nunes: what is that? that is way above my pay grade. i don't know at this point, what what the attorney general, what he would recuse himself from. [inaudible] nunes: the way this works is the fbi is, and some point, if they are conducting an investigation, they would have to go to the appropriate places to get a warrant to do something, and as far as i know, that has not happened. reporter: you have any concerns with reince priebus talking with the fbi? mr. nunes: i don't want to speak -- i think you need to ask him, but i think they have been clear about the discussions. the fbi regularly briefs both branches of government. the fbi would brief the president, vice president, chief of staff, any other appropriate personnel, the same with a brief the senate and house. it would not be unusual, in any of those cases, for us to make the request of the fbi, or any other intelligence agency. reporter: has anyt

. >>> president trump takes aim at the fbi, saying the fbi is totally unable to stop the national security leakers. adding, they can't even find them within the fbi itself. >>> and, the amber alert across six states. and the race to find a 6-year-old girl, 300 miles away. >>> good evening. it's great to have you with us on a very busy friday night. we begin with a deadly police shooting. the suspect shot and killed. tonight, there's video of the scene as it unfolded. one officer seen falling to the ground. they're trying to figure out if there was friendly fire. pierre thomas is on the scene tonight in washington. >> reporter: disturbing video shows police swarming over the suspect at the end of a dramatic foot chase. as shots ring out. it's not clear what triggered the gunfire or who shot first since the officers are in such close quarters, struggling with the suspect. but four shots can clearly be heard on the video. at least one apparently striking this officer, who can be seen falling forward to the ground. both officers were wounded. the suspect later died of his wounds at a d.c. hosp

the fbi reg ularly briefsette both branchs of the government. they would brief the president, vice president, and chief of staff and any other appropriate personnel in the same way they brief the senate and the house. so it would not be unusual in any of those cases for us to make requests of the fbi or any other intelligence agencies, yes. >> and a in terms of the briefings has anything in the trump dossier been verify ied? >> not that i am aware of. >> and you said that it is not about knocking down reports, but what are they suggesting? >>le le with that, is a good point. you guys were the ones that were there and as a matter of fact i think that you were there and i spoke to you the morning of the story breaking, and i was very clear with all of you about what i thought about that new york times' story, and this is way in advance of the white house send meg one phone number and i still don't know what is the prob el lem of the white house sending me a number of a press person to call, and isn't the whole issue of the press to be transparent,

priebus called him back when he was at the fbi. he said no, there's nothing the fbi can do. we don't get into calling balls and strikes here. priebus talked to the director of the fbi, james comey who said the same thing. so priebus said can i go out and said what you told me? comey said we'll sign off on that. here's what reince priebus said on "fox and friends." >> what i told you, the highest levels of the intelligence communities have told me. it's an inaccurate and grossly overstated story. it's not true. >> the white house says it was absolutely appropriate for priebus to talk to the fbi about this because this was about a news story and not an investigation. we get into a gray area here, shep. the story was about an investigation. could those two things be linked? there's no laws broken here. might run up against guidelines. there's a couple of interesting aspects of this to consider. why did mccabe approach priebus in the first place? who leaked this? the circle was small. it was reince priebus and director of the fbi, james comey. what was the leaker there? the whit

to expect the fbi to say so publicly? >> it is crossing a pretty bright line for the white house to go to the fbi and say, hey, talk to some reporters on background to talk to the media for its own policy aims while this is part of the reporting back and forth president trump is in a strange situation here. he's talked about leaks he's talked about how officials are on the record. none of the anonymous sources to put out the information it seems like they're saying if you think the story is false go do our bidding on that you also have the justifiable outrange on the part of trump folks about former president clinton walking over to attorney general loretta lynch and having a casual conversation while there was an on going fbi investigation of hillary clinton. >> and the fbi director said this is not going to happen. it goes all the way back to the iraq war remember this criticized throughout the campaign. not only do you have hypocracy on leaking but the war going on between the trump white house and the intelligence com

it's no surprise that the white house thinks that the fbi is its partner after what the fbi did in the last two weeks before the election. but, however the time line is parsed, the fact remains that the chief of staff asked the fbi to do something that the fbi denied and that is problematic. this russia situation, martha, keeps getting deeper and deeper. and they are trying to make away but it won't. >> martha: why do you say deeper and deeper when so far and, you know, all we have is what we know about it. so far the reports are that they have not found any connection that's troublesome. so why do you say it's getting deeper and deeper? >> we have a national security advisor who was dismissed after lying about his communications with the russians. we have a chief of staff who asked the fbi to assist the white house politically by publicly down playing a pending investigation. >> martha: you just heard they claim that that went the other way. that the fbi reached out and said hey, you know that story in the "times" this morning that's b.s. that's the report. >> i also heard. >> martha:

reince priebus appearing to go head-to-head with the fbi if this information is coming from the fbi. is that the right thing for the white house to do? president trump, himself, questioning an agency massively important to us. >> you know, actually this information, i'm just learning about standing up here so i really am -- the way i can speak to this issue is i just heard the individuals on the panel saying it is up to the white house to say this isn't true. it's also on the person throwing it out to say, ok, this is what we have, this is what it looks like, show some proof instead of throwing the allegations and everything up against a wall. throw that up there, then say, okay, now, contradict this. what you have, you have allegations right now. you want somebody to say, okay, these allegations are false. prove the allegations are false. >> let's talk about who does what. reince priebus has never been part of the government, he's from rnc. president trump ran a public company, but he's always run a private company. he's able to be commander and chief of trump universe. could they n

did the white house call the fbi or the fbi call the white house? it's the big question after the report the trump administration tried to get the fbi to cut back on claims they were in contact with russian officials during the campaign. we are back with that story and more in a moment. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get on your feet for the nastiest, most terrifying bull in the state of texas. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (crowd cheers) ♪ only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol® ♪ [dramatic ♪ ic begins] ready! charge! charge! (in chinese) charge! let your reign begin. evony, the mobile game. download now. start here. at fidelity, we let you know where you stand, so when it comes to your retirement plan, you'll always be absolutely...clear. it's your retirement. know where you stand. you'll always be absolutely...clear. this is the story of green mountain coffee and fair trade, told in the time it takes to brew your cup. let's take a trip to la plata, colombia. this is boris cal

if you learn the information about the fbi's investigation was leaked to former fbi agents who can potentially funnel it to others, i assume you would need to equip those former fbi agents as well. do you have the authority to interview individuals outside the government if you did not to be necessary. and can you assure us that their review of these allegations and partake other will follow the facts wherever they lead? >> on the latter i can do it sure you will be a thorough review. on the former, we do not have the authority to compel individuals who are no longer justice department employees to speak with us. we hope to have that authority. the ig empowered to enact that the chair, the ranking member of this committee supported had that authority and got removed at the last minute but the justice department on the senate side in the final version did not include that. we do hope to get the authority that this point we do not have that. >> so would you take the information you have and they need that you would have interview individuals no longer with government to some other element in the