8:00 eastern on c-span two. >> fbi director christopher wray testifies. he talks about the investigation led by special counsel robert mueller into russian influence and comments made by president trump on twitter about the reputation of the fbi. this is three hours and 40 minutes. >> the judiciary committee look on the order. the chair is authorized to declare recesses of the committee at any time. we welcome everyone to today's hearing. i will begin by recognizing myself for an opening statement. thank you, director wray, for appearing for your first time in front of this committee, and thank you for your service to our country and your new position. there is much to discuss today, and we look forward to your answers. the president recently tweeted that the fbi is in tatters. while some will take umbrage with president trump's assertion, it does appear to me that, at the very least, the fbi's reputation as an impartial, non-political agency has been called into question recently. we cannot afford for the fbi, which has traditionally been dubbed the premier law enforcement

. eastern here on c-span. >> fbi director christopher wray was asked about special counsel robert mueller's investigation into russian influence in the 2016 elections and the ongoing review by the justice department into the fbi's handling of the hillary clinton email investigation. director wray also talked about comments made by president trump on twitter about the work and reputation of the fbi. this house judiciary committee oversight hearing is four hours. >> the judiciary committee will come to order. and without objection, the chair is authorized to declare recesses of the committee at any time. we welcome everyone to this morning's hearing on oversight of the federal bureau of investigation. i'll begin by recognizing myself for an opening statement. thank you, director wray, for appearing for the first time in front of this committee and thank you for your service to our country and your new position. there is much to discuss today, and we look forward to your answers. the president recently tweeted that the fbi is in tatters. while some will take umbrage with president tr

have a meeting on oversight of the fbi. committee members have been hearing testimony from fbi director christopher wray. they are right now in a recess and probably for the next 20 empties or so so members could head over to the house chambers. at the conclusion, this will resume. while we wait, we'll show you testimony from this hearing from earlier today. >> the judicial committee will come to order. without objection the chair is authorized to declare recesses of the committee at any time. we welcome everyone to this moe morning hearing on oversight of the federal bureau of investigation and i'll begin by recognizing myself for an opening statement. thank you, director wray, for appearing for your first time in front of this committee and thank you for your service to our country in your position. there is much to discuss today and we look forward to your answers. the president recently tweeted that the fbi is in tatters. while some will take umbrage with president trump's assertion, it does appear to me that at the very least the fbi's reputation as an impartial nonpolitic

the first year of this presidency, the cops from our hypothetical scenario are the fbi, beloved little brother bank robber getting chased is obviously mike flynn. the way the president allegedly tried to block the cops in their pursuit in this case was by pressuring the fbi director, pressuring director comey for his loyalty, pressuring him thereafter directly to drop the fbi investigation into mike flynn and then, of course, allegedly firing the fbi director because he didn't aseed to those demands and there are some parts of this scenario that are settled. we know for a fact that, you know, mike flynn robbed the proverbial bank. he plead guilty. we know that he lied to the fbi and the fbi f pwas pursuing him because he was making false statements about the russian government. in our hypothetical, we know why the guy was jogging and why the other two were racing after him. there are two open questions for us as a country in terms of the president's lie ee's liability part of the scandal and both of those open questions we got important pieces of information about today. the fir

people. the fbi, federal prosecutors made a lot of arrests in this scam and it ended up involving like every freaking corner of the mafia universe. the indictment in that stock scam where felix sater got indicted included people from the gambino crime family and the gravano crime family and genovese crime family and columbo crime family. in addition, it also involved as "the new york post" put it at the time, it involved the bor borscht boys. when felix sater was arrested in 2000 as part of this organized crime roundup around this $40 million stock scheme, the government's case against him in particular followed a very interesting path. sater got arrested along with all of those mobsters in the year 2000. he did end up pleading guilty in conjunction with that case that they brought against all those mobsters, but they treated him in a very different way. after he pled guilty, they did not lock him up. in fact, they didn't even sentence him after his guilty plea for more than ten years. they arrested him, they secured his cooperation, they got him to plead guilty to something but t

flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about his discussions with the russian ambassador during the transition. >> in a series of tweets, the president tacked the fbi and its former director james comey. in one he writes, "i never asked comey to stop investigating flynn. just more fake news. covering comey live." that puts the president directly at odds with what comey told congress in june. >> i understood him to be saying is he wanted me to drop any investigation connected to flynn's account of his conversations with the russians. >> president trump's most notable tweet on flynn turning states evidence came saturday. i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. he has plead guilty to those lies. >> critics quickly pounced saying if he fired comey knowing the fbi was investigating flynn, that on its own may constitute obstruction of justice. the president's personal lawyer john dowd now claims he drafted the president's tweet. but top democrats in congress say obstruction is very much a part of the wider investigation. >> the judiciary committee ha

free c-span radio app. announcer: fbi director christopher wray was asked about -- announcer: coming up friday political budget and appropriations reporter sarah faris will join us to discuss ongoing negotiations ahead of the government funding deadline and possible shutdown. c-span'so watch it washington journal live at 7:00 eastern friday morning. join the discussion. announcer: fbi director christopher wray was asked about special counsel robert mueller's investigation into russian influence in the 2016 elections and the ongoing review by the justice department into the fbi's handling of the hillary clinton email investigation. director ray also talked about comments made by president trump on twitter about the work and reputation of the fbi. this house judiciary committee oversight hearing is for hours. -- four hours. >> the judiciary committee will come to order. and without objection, the chair is authorized to declare recesses of the committee at any time. we welcome everyone to this morning's hearing on oversight of the federal bureau of investigation. i'll begin by r

against fbi director christopher wray and deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. the committee says they are still mulling on information and fbi officials rolled to hillary clinton email investigation. the agencies have until the end of today to turn over all requested materials or the resolution will be triggered and presented next month. this is "outnumbered." i'm harris faulkner pretty here today, host of candy on fox business, kennedy herself. from a national security staff or under president bush and obama, gillian turner. from a deputy spoke person for the state department, marie harf. today's guy in the middle, former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and fox news contributor, john bolton is outnumbered although he tells us often that he doesn't feel that way. >> exactly, great to be here again. >> harris: happy monday. >> kennedy: he fights ninjas in the alley for practice. >> harris: i've seen him. this will be a walk in the park. good to have you. look get to it. house until chairman devon nunez says the fbi director and deputy attorney general are stonewalling on information a

such contempt for the department of justice and the fbi and so much skepticism or mistrust of the russian government. let me briefly review for the record, the fbi and doj brought to justice and put away timothy mcveigh, domestic terrorist who killed 168 americans. cla klansmen, terrorists who bomb u.s. embassies in kenya and tanzania, organized family kingpin, the pan am 103 bombing, soviet diplomat that had a spy ring during world war ii, alder ames and others for espionage. world trade center bombing in 1993. twa-47 hijacking, lindbergh kidnapping, beltway snipers, klansmen who killed four little girls in a 16th street church in birmingham. and of course, on the other hand, the russians are known for shooting down a civilian airline, kal 007, killing 269 passengers and crew. annexing crimea, invading ukraine, killing journalists, propping up assad, the butcher of damascus, build the berlin wall, imposing an iron curtain against freedom, and committing cyber theft and conspiring and doing a sabotage of the american presidential election in 2016. perhaps our friends on the other

other side of capitol hill, the head of the fbi is appearing before lawmakers for the first time since the president said that the bureau's reputation that he leads is in tatters. much more on that in a moment. we begin with the major decision and speech coming from the senate floor from senator al franken today. sunlen serfaty is standing by. this will happen very, very shortly and historic day either way this goes? >> that's absolutely right, poppy. we know senator al franken will make his decision on the floor in the next hour and what that is we still at this point do not know. as of last night aides in his office said he was huddled here with his family in washington, d.c., deciding whether he would stay or leave the senate, but certainly he faces an incredible amount of political pressure at his back after that coordinated effort yesterday, started by that group of his democratic senator colleagues, women senator colleagues, who came out in that coordinated way, calling for his resignation. that unleashed an avalanche of other senators following suit at the end of the day,

department of justice or the fbi to have private planes at their disposal. director comey was in los angeles for, i think, what was supposed to be a recruiting event today. an event that was canceled. there was some logistical question once he was fired today by the white house as to what would physically happen to him in the immediate aftermath of his firing. he was removed effective immediately. so right now he is no longer the director of the fbi. but we believe that director comey is on that plane, which is now taxiing down the runway in los angeles, presumably they'll be flying back to the east coast, presumably, the fbi headquarters in washington. he'll be heading back to washington, but all of this is unscripted at this point. all of this is unprecedented. there are historical parallels to what happened today, but there is -- there has never been anything like this before. there's been one instance previously in u.s. history in wit an fbi director has been fired by a u.s. president. that was a very different circumstance. it was president bill clinton at the time. the fbi dire

to your answers. the president recently tweeted that the fbi is in tatters. while some will take umbrage with president trump's assertion, it does appear to me that at the very least the fbi's reputation as an impartial, non-political agency has been called into question recently. we cannot afford for the fbi, which has traditionally been dubbed the premier law enforcement agency in the world, to become tainted by politicization or the perception of a lack of even-handedness. questions regarding the fbi's impartiality first came to light under the obama administration surrounding the handling of the investigation into the clinton e-mail server scandal. you, director wray, have a unique opportunity to repair the damage of the reputation of the fbi and we encourage you, in the strongest terms, to do so. director comey's decision to weigh in on the fate of the investigation into the mishandling of classified e-mails by former secretary of state hillary clinton was one that brought criticism to the bureau from all sides. the fbi's decision to recommend no charges against former -- th

side show such contempt for the department of justice and the fbi and so much skepticism or mistrust of the russian government. let me briefly review for the record, the fbi and doj put away timothy mcveigh who killed 168 americans. klansmen who murdered civil rights workers. the unabomber. organized crime family kingpins. pan-am 103 bombing. a world trade center bombing in 1993, twa 47 hijacking. beltway snipers. klansmen who killed four little girls in the 16th street church in birmingham. and of course on the other hand, the russians are known for shooting down a civilian airline, kal-007 killing 269 passengers and crew. annexing crimea, killing journalists, propping up assad, the butcher of damascus, imposing an iron wall, and conspireing and doing a sabotage of the american presidential election in 2016. perhaps our friends on the other side of the aisle can show more respect for the fbi and the doj as so many of us do including myself. so let me ask these questions and with my limited time i really need just a yes or no. are you in the business of helping to secure the

, the president lashes out at both the fbi and the department of justice. america's top law enforcement agencies. is the u.s. moving closer to a preemptive strike with north korea. they call on families to leave south korea. let's start with the breaking news. cnn learned that president trump's attorney told him in january that michael flynn who was at the time the president's national security adviser misled the fbi. you are looking at live pictures of the president who just landed in salt lake city. he just got off air force 1. the latest revelation ties into the tweet over the weekend by the president on the president's account. this is what he tweeted. i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. he pled guilty to the lies. it is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. there was nothing to hide. the president's attorney said he wrote that tweet for the president. in an interview he said he believes the president is safe from any obstruction of justice charge over the firing and the former fbi director james comey.

comment news broke that a key figure in the mueller investigation, a longtime fbi official named peter strzok had been removed from his job for sending highly political text messages to his mistress, another fbi official. apparently those texts attacked president trump and expressed affection for hillary clinton. ordinarily this would not rate a headline. even career government officials are allowed to have political views. but this is no ordinary moment. peter strzok is at the very center of the two most politicized justice department cases in a generation. he was first of all deeply involved in the investigation of hillary clinton's private email server last year. at the conclusion of that investigation it was apparently strzok who changed the fbi's description of what hillary did from "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless." the first description is a crime, the second is merely a blunder. in effect, peter strzok exonerated hillary clinton in the middle of a presidential campaign. but then he kept going. strzok went on to sign the document, the official document that opened an i

right night to do it. just in today's news, the president went to the grounds of the fbi and as he was heading into the fbi where he spoke at an fbi ceremony, he proclaimed the fbi to be a disgrace. he was asked about the prospect that he might pardon his national security adviser, mike flynn, and he said, i don't want to talk about pardoning mike flynn -- yet. we then got a sort of red flag thrown by congressman adam schiff, the top democrat on the intelligence committee, who went public today with his concerns that he believes the republicans in congress are trying to end the house intelligence committee investigation into the russia scandal by the end of next -- by the end of this month. he said he thinks they're trying to wrap it up now and he was explicit about why. he said he believes the republicans' view of shutting down our investigation is a necessary prerequisite to shutting down bob mueller. therefore we learned that the president's legal team is going to be meeting in person next week with robert mueller and his prosecutors. we're not exactly sure why. we then got conf

keeping our eyes on that. quantico. because president trump is on his way there. the fbi headquarters. on his way he said he wants to rebuild the agency. it could get awkward today. we'll have his remarks live this hour. it was just last week the president said the fbi's reputation was in tattered and here is what he said just minutes ago. listen. >> look at what's going on with the fbi and with the justice department. people are very, very angry. >> and it wasn't just the fbi. president trump right there, out with new comments or non-comments on mike flynn. he's talking about the threat from north korea, russia, alabama and taxes, too as we get ready in a matter of hours to finally get a look at the final text of that big plan. senator marco rubio reiterates this morning he's holding out, looking to leverage his votes for more money for child tax credits. the president today seems to be amenable to that. we have pete williams and peter alexander standing by. peter, i want to start with you, we're taking a live look now. any minute the president coming up to speak at the fbi. on his w

. >>> trump versus the fbi. let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. so it's now donald trump at war with the federal bureau of investigation. he is out there knocking the fbi for treating michael flynn unfairly. the president defended the man who on friday pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the fbi and who is now cooperating with robert mueller. let's watch. >> well, i feel badly for general flynn. i feel very badly. he has led a very strong life. and i feel very badly, john. i will say this. hillary clinton lied many times to the fbi. nothing happened to her. flynn lied and they destroyed his life. i think it's a shame. hillary clinton on the fourth of july weekend went to the fbi not under oath. it was the most incredible thing anyone's ever seen. she lied many times. nothing happened to her. flynn lied and it's like they ruined his life. it's very unfair. >> well, hillary clinton was interviewed over the fourth of july weekend back in 2015. but former fbi director james comey told congress earlier this year that she didn't lie to the fbi. >> did hilla

, testimony that could bolster the credibility. fired fbi director james comey, could corroborate his account of what happened between himself and the president and directly undermine a key point the president made it more than one occasion. >> people suggest that the question that apparently the "new york times" is selling that you asked comey whether or not he had his loyalty was possibly inappropriate. can you see that? >> i read that article, i don't think it's inappropriate for one thing. >> did you ask that question? >> i didn't but i don't think it's bad question to ask. loyalty to the country, the united states is important. depending on how you define loyalty. number two, i don't know how it got there. i didn't ask that question. >> i hardly know the man, don't want to say i want you to pledge allegiance. who would do that ask a man to pledge allegiance under oath. think of it. i hardly know the man. >> that's the claim, never asked director comey for loyalty pledge but breaking news from testimony the fbi's deputy director gave. manu raju with the latest. what are you hearin

absolutely no collusion. >> the president tweeted that he fired me because he had lied toed fbi. that ups the ante between ongoing investigations at your own peril, i'd be careful if i were you, mr. president. >> what we're beginning to see is the putting together of a case of obstruction of justice. >> we're very close to the finish line. >> this was swamp 101. >> the bill was being handdrafted, lots of provisions were being included for special interests. >> i never said i read every single letter on every single page, but have i read every aspect of that bill if it was fused together -- yes. >> we believe this will get the country performing better. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >>> good morning. it's 8:00 in the east. we begin with breaking news. president trump tweeting his endorsement of roy moore, the alabama senate nominee accused of child molestation. i should say candidate. both changing their tune on roy moore. >> this follows a series of tweets, attempts to undermine the credibility of the fbi. the president launching an strordz atta

of this presidency, the cops, from our hypothetical scenario, obviously, are the fbi. beloved little brother bank robber down the street getting chased that is obviously trump national security adviser mike flynn. the way the president allegedly tried to block the cops in their pursuit in this case was by pressuring the fbi director, right? pressuring director comey for his loyalty, pressuring him thereafter, directly, to drop the fbi investigation into mike flynn, and then, of course, allegedly firing the fbi director because he didn't aseed to those demands. and there are some parts of this scenario that are settled. we know for a fact that, you know, mike flynn robbed the proverbial bank. he has pled guilty to lying to the fbi. so, we know that he lied to the fbi. we know that the fbi was pursuing him, at least in part, because they knew he was making false statements about his connections with the russian government. in our hypothetical, that means we know why the guy was jogging down the street in the first place and we know why the other two guys were racing after him. but ther

. >> the president tweeted that he fired him because he had lied to the fbi. that ups the ante. >>> ongoing criminal investigations at your own peril, i would be careful if i were you, mr. president. >> what we are beginning to see is the putting together of a case of obstruction of justice. >> we're very close to the finish line. >> this was swamp 101. the bill was being hand drafted. lots of provisions were being included for special interests. >> every single letter or every single page, but have i read every aspect of that bill before it was fused together? yes. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is "new day". this is monday, december 4th, 6:00 in new york. president trump undermining the credibility of the fbi. the president launching an extraordinary assault on top law enforcement agency saying its reputation is in "tatters." this as michael flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi and is now cooperating in rocket mueller's investigation. his lawyer said he is the one

the bureau of 1930's,ation and by the the federal bureau of investigation, the f dei. the fbi's own history, they have a long narrative of their history and they link the creation of the fbi to the progressive moment -- progressive movement. the progressive movement says that the government must industrialn an society. that inspired that unrest and terrible working conditions and so forth. so, the progressive movement inspires things like the fda, to ensure the food you're getting has labels and what you are eating is actually what you think you are eating. it will eventually lead to child labor laws, but it also creates this nationwide law enforcement body that is able to keep tabs on criminals throughout the country that did not exist prior to this time. thefbi -- corruption in politics and big business, all addressing organization at the turn-of-the-century as well as national security concerns, particularly with regard to anarchism. as well as threats of war times. subversion and espionage that we talk about the other week when we talk about free speech. the fbi in 1939 makes it

in today's news the president went to the grounds of the fbi and as he was head hadding to fbi where he spoke at an fbi ceremony, declared the fbi to be a disgrace. he was asked about the prospect he might pardon his national security advisor. he said i don't want to talk about pardoning mike flynn yet. we then got a red flag thrown by the top democrat on the intelligent committee who went public with his concerns that he believes it republicans in congress are trying to end the house intelligence committee into the russia scandal by the end of this month. he thinks they're trying to wrap it up now. he said he believes the republican's view is shutting down our investigation is a necessary prerequisite to shutting down bob mueller. thereafter we runner hadded the president's legal team is going to be meeting in person next week with robert mueller and his prosecutors. we're not exactly sure why. we then got conformation from the wall street journal that those subpoenas that had been reportedly sent to duch bank which the president's lawyers tried to throw cold water on, we got confor

details about anti-trump text messages from an fbi agent who was removed from the russia probe. what's next on the agenda for president trump after tax reform? he's pushing for a big infrastructure bill. some leaders in his party have different ideas what to do next. >>> and when harry met obama. the prince and the 44th president sitting down for an interview. the questions were fast. but mostly fun during the lightning round. check this out. >> harry or william? >> william right now. >> "titanic" or "the bodyguard"? >> "titanic." >> "suits" or "the good wife"? >> "suits," obviously. >> great, great answer. cigarettes or gum? >> gum now, baby. >> gum. white house or buckingham palace? >> white house just because buckingham palace looks like it would take a really long time to mow. >> okay, fair enough. >> a lot of upkeep. >> a lot of upkeep at the white house, as well. up first, another day, another deadline in the russia investigation. the senate judiciary chairman is demanding details about anti-trump text messages between an fbi agent and fbi attorney. republican senator chu

your sunday with us. president trump learning tonight that when you push people connected to the fbi, those people push back. earlier today, the president sent out this slam of his own federal investigative agency writing, quote, after years of combing with the phony and dishonest clinton investigation and more, running the fbi, it's reputation is in tatters. worst in history. but fear not, we will bring it back to greatness. that is not sitting well with the agencies past leaders and some current ones. the former attorney general who oversaw the fbi, eric holder, sent out this response on twitter, nope, not letting this go. the fbi's reputation is not in tatters. it's composed of the same dedicated men and women who have always worked there and who do a great apolitical job. you'll find integrity and honesty at fbi headquarters, and not at 1600 pennsylvania avenue right now. james comey, the fbi director until he was fired by president trump earlier this year sent this message online, quoting himself from senate testimony that he gave earlier this summer. quote, i want the american

evidence tonight of corruption at the highest levels of the fbi. the agency reportedly unable to verify key claims in the anti-trump dossier a year and a half later. this as president trump accuses the fbi and its deputy director andrew mccabe of using the bogus dossier to target them. we'll take it up with christopher rale of judicial watch. >>> president trump looking for a legislative win after his victory on tax cuts. the administration set to release its infrasphruk chur proposal. it's a plan which already has bipartisan support. former reagan white house political director ed rollings will be joining us >>> and another promise kept, the trump administration negotiating budget cuts for the united nations after the international body voted to condemn president trump's recognition of jerusalem as i real's capital. ambassador john bolton will be with us in moments. >>> again with the top story, the president taking on the corrupt fbi leadership over its use of the discredited dossier which was meant to smear donald trump during the 2016 campaign. and the president appears to be winning on

the 1930's, the fbi. the fbi's own history, you can go on their website, they have a pretty long narrative description of their history, they link the creation of the fbi to the progressive movement that is active in that amount of time -- in that period of time. it's the believe that the federal government must intervene to foster justice in an industrial society. the response to this sort of labor unrest that we talked about in previous classes and everything. that inspired -- aspiresressive movement for things like the fda to make sure the food you are getting has some labels and what you are eating is what you think you are eating. it will eventually lead to things i child labor laws, but also create this nationwide law enforcement body that is able to keep tabs on criminals are of the country that did not exist of time.this period the fbi history explains this creation on the need of law enforcement agency two-phase labor conflicts arrive, violent crime and corruption. both in politics and big business. withf that industrialization of the turn-of-the-century. as well as the

fbi when he fired him. meaning that he also would have known about flynn's dishonesty to fbi agents when he asked then fbi director james comey to quit investigating flynn just one day later. legal experts immediately jumped on this tweet saying that it could be proof of obstruction of justice. today, 24 hours later, there is a new revelation. senator dianne feinstein says the senate judiciary committee is investigating the president for obstruction of justice. watch this -- >> the judiciary committee has an investigation going as well, and it involves obstruction of justice. and i think what we're beginning to see is the putting together of case of obstruction of justice. >> the president has said he's not worried about the russia probes because he has done nothing wrong, but his twitter feed tells a different story. he's attacked james comey, hillary clinton and going after the fbi, saying it is in tatters and, quote, the worst in history. my colleague joins us now following the russia investigation from the beginning, done some incredible reporting on it. based on who the special

top ten list led fugitive robert van weise to turn himself in to fbi agents in texas for the 1983 murder of a young woman with a 1-year-old daughter. for 33 years that little girl, now all grown up, had hoped and prayed for his arrest. and he was finally captured on her birthday. cold comfort i suspect, but we hope that his capture provides some measure of peace and justice to her. the work that we do is not easy to put it mildly but the fbi is mission focussed and passionate about the work we did. we are determined to be the very best at protecting the american people and upholding the rule of law and i, for one, could not be more proud to be part of it. i want to thank you, this committee for your support. we could not do what we do without the funding that you all help us secure, without the investigative tools and authorities that you granted us, including as you noted mr. chairman, section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act which is at risk kp sand set to expire very soon. we need every tool and every authority to keep people safe and to pursue justice. and as a

michael flynn misled the fbi when james comey says he was pressured by mr. trump to stop investigating flynn. what will this mean for the special counsel's obstruction of justice probe? >>> questions of bias. disturbing new details about the fbi agent who was fired from robert mueller's team for apparently sending anti-trump texts. cnn has learned about a pivotal change he made to comey's public statement on hillary clinton's e-mail investigation. >>> go get 'em, roy. the president calls alabama's embattled senate candidate fully endorsing roy moore, despite allegations he sexually abused teenage girls when he was in his 30s. will that help or hurt moore? >>> and land giveaway. mr. trump travels to utah to drastically reduce the size of two huge federal monuments. cnn is on the scene for the biggest rollback of federally protected land in u.s. history. >>> we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> breaking news tonight. new information on when president trump knew that michael flynn hadn't come clean

franken left the door open? >>> and the fbi is fighting to maintain something that has always been sacrisant. a top fbi agent reportedly sent anti-trump messages. and the president and others attacked the not guilty verdict of the undocumented immigrant in the death of kate steinle. one juror insists they did its duty. >>> i have a question. if you cheered the termination of someone in the arts caught up in the reckoning over sexual harassment, should you no longer enjoy or listen to their past work? tweet or facebook me for later in the program. >>> first, those voting in the alabama senate race on tuesday and wonder if they may be voting for someone as an adult fondled the genitals of an underage girl, i think i can discern roy moore's past in a single question. is it reasonable to conclude that moore, at age 32, assaulted a 14-year-old given evidence with other teenager girls? my answer is yes. despite the polarizing world, i'm replying on critical thinking. i think custom and practice very veal reveals this. moore was 38 when he married his wife. then aged 24. nothing illegal.

twitter. a new round of tweets have him facing off against the fbi. one tweet apparently sourcing fox news since the handle spells out -- tweets from the president even with misspellings are official statements. the hits aren't just coming from the top. >> president resumed his feud with the fbi. this morning in another tweet. >> this has been building. >> just one more thing that he is doing to try to obstruct the justice in this investigation. >> i'm very concerned about the d.o.j. and fbi deep state or what are off the rails. >> questioning of andy mccade. >> remember, the russia probe was launched to figure out how russia medalled into the 2016 election so officials could figure out how to keep it from happening again. while the investigation has expanded to determine what if any role the trump campaign played there are still glari glaring -- the washington post is out with a sweeping report with how american officials going back decades failed to take russian cyber war fare seriously and how internet trolls are using free flow of information within our society against us. in just

deputy attorney general rod rosenstein a and fbi director christopher wray for allegedly hiding a top agent's top political bias against president trump. we'll have the full report for you here tonight. also a major legal victory for the president. the supreme court now allowing the president's travel ban to go into full effect while legal challenges proceed in lower courts. and a show of strength in north korea. the united states and south korea launching the largest ever air force drills. our top story, more trouble for the special counsel robert mueller, a man who is in significant trouble for his conflicts of interest and his actions as special counsel reveal a pro-clinton, anti-trump attitude so strong that it influenced the hiring of prosecutors and influenced the investigative assignment of top fbi officials. we know the special counsel removed peter strop from the mueller team. we know yes was removed and we have a clear picture of his previous assignments and why mueller did everything he could to avoid the reasons for strock's removal. he led the investigation of hillary

? >>> plus the fbi is fighting to maintain something that has always been sacrosanct, its reputation. the agency's top critic is the president, after a top fbi agent let go from the mueller team last summer, reportedly sent anti-trump text messages and softened comey's statement on hillary's emails. >>> and the president and others attacked the not guilty verdict of an undocumented immigrant in the death of kate steinle. but one of the alternate jurors said the jury did its duty. >>> if you cheered the termination of someone in the arts, caught up in the reckoning over sexual harassment, should you no longer watch, listen or enjoy their past work? tweet and facebook me on that. for later in the program. >>> but first, for those voting in the alabama senate race on tuesday, and wondering whether they might be voting for someone who as an adult fondled the genitals of an underage girl, i think i can distill the concerns over roy moore's past into a single question -- is it reasonable to conclude that moore, at age 32, assaulted a 14-year-old given evidence of his involvement with other slig

afford to your testimony and answers your questions. as chairman with primary oversight over the fbi and department of justice i have supported the department and the fbi and performing their valuable missions to keep our nation safe and to hold individuals accountable for criminal conduct. yet i and many on the committee find ourselves in a difficult position to question the actions of prior in current department fbi leadership for the of a unique role of the department of justice you appointed special counsel director mueller so it is appropriate to its our questions related to the scope of the special kills the investigation. as well as the efficacy in light of various events calling into question the impartiality. for reports of the political predisposition and the bias of career agents on special counsel director comey is deeply troubling that expect us system of the identical justice the department of justice investigation must not be tainted imposing their own political prejudices' we're now beginning to better understand the magnitude of the insider buying iselin director com

brian williams starts now. >>> tonight, the president versus his fbi donald trump takes on andrew mccabe, and slams that infamous dossier as a republican member of congress calls for a purge at the fbi plus a new look inside the threat waged by russia against america, in the age of vladamir putin. and, how much of trump's presidency has been spent at trump property? and how much time has he devoted to his twitter habit? a look at trump by the numbers as the 11th hour gets started on a tuesday night. ♪ ♪ >>> good evening. once again from our nbc news headquarters in new york. i'm in for brian williams. day 341 of the trump administration and the president is escalating his attacks on the fbi as it becomes increasingly clear that he is about to enter the new year with the russia investigation still casting a shadow over the white house. this morning the president sent out a tweet spreading the latest theory discrediting the federal probe while tying it to the dossier that alleged ties between his campaign and russia and linking it all back to hillary clinton. wow, fox and friend

order naming fbi director robert mueller as the new special counsel. the order spelling out the terms of his agreement and what he will be investigating. and you know what? 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 that he has recused himself from matters involving the trump-russia investigation. that recusal is now very much in question because of jeff sessions' admitted role in the firing of fbi director james comey who was leading the trump-russia investigations and the fbi. but this order tonight, to have oversight into these russia investigations, hand over your records. rod rosenstein said he was acting attorney general on this issue. we're going to find out what that means and why that's important in terms of how much we should all trust this is going to be an independent and capable uninfluenced, unimpeded, real investigation. we'll have more on that coming up. in fact, from a former very senior

in january that flynn misled the fbi as well as vice president pence. this ties into a tweet that was posted on the president's account that reads, i have to fire -- i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. he has pled guilty to those lies. it is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. there was nothing to hide. the president's personal attorney john dowd says he's the one that wrote that tweet and not the president. cara, what did the president's lawyer mcgahn tell the president and what he knew with the fbi. >> when don mcgahn was greeted by acting attorney general sally yats y y yates in january was the same thing he had told mike pence, the vice president, about conversations with a russian ambassador which don mcgahn believed to be a lie. we understand that he relayed that to the president, that sally yates, the acting attorney general did not, you know, confirm any information to him, but that was his belief and he shared that with the president at the time in late january before -- weeks before he was fired. >> so

the fbi and department of justice documents. the request is not directed at him but to the department and we need to have full response. >> we intend to be fully cooperative with this committee and the inspector general. >> i robbed the gentleman from california of a bit of his time. i will -- >> i have to say i yield back. >> i'll be brief, mr. chairman. >> yield it to you. >> gentleman recognized for an additional minute. >> thank you. director, at this time as far as you know you're not asserting or believe there's any privilege as to those documents? is that correct? >> well, i haven't reviewed the however million documents that are -- >> i'm only saying that you at this time your know of no privilege? >> i'm not aware of it, but i haven't asked the question yet to be honest. >> i appreciate that. and then lastly, since in the case of peter strzok and other statements, because this information was not made available to us at a time in which your predecessor, mr. comey, specifically said he was breaking precedent in being open and transparent as to the investigation of h

the -- the corruption of the leadership of the fbi and department of justice is now obvious. the doj and the fbi's political corruption the source of a hearing today. we'll talk about that agency's tie to the trump dossier and what they did with it. also tonight, embattled senator al franken is resigning but not apologizing. the minnesota democrat says he won't step down for weeks, despite calls from his senate colleagues to do so immediately, effectively telling the democratic party to go to hell. wildfires raging through southern california for a fourth day. no end in sight. firefighters are battling four major fires that have burned 100,000 acres in ventura and los angeles county, and none of those fires even close to being contained. new evidence of political corruption surfacing today in the special counsel's office and the department of justice. we learned one of robert mueller's top attorneys, jeanie reid previously represented ben rhodes in the beenr -- in the benghazi scandal. a retired supervisor said mccabe said not to call the benghazi attack an act of terrorism. and bruc

whites campaign and at the height of political questions to send the fbi resonate they need to grovel for clinton cash. also photos of him campaigning for his wife. also being investigated by the eeoc on the complaint of a female fbi agent all this has been going on for almost a year while still working for our fbi collecting a check from us also a high ranking fbi agent looking under mccain actually changing the language from grossly negligent to extremely careless. also working with christopher steel the one who brought broached the trump dossier bought and paid for to destroy a donald trump by the clinton campaign the report is he signed the application and applied the warrant which was then used as the veil in the trump campaign then used to illegally mask americans but first the neck a director of the fbi refuses to give up that information and then after being on loan from the fbi almost as one in the same at this point is because of the anti-trump text messages to his mistress know as a lawyer for the fbi said to show house proportion than is coming and they sent the fbi