benjamin, you know james comey, you're a friend of james comey, you were one of the first people to be aware of even the existence of these memos and these conversations that james comey had with the president. i want to get your overall reaction to what you just listened to in the last hour. >> so i -- i -- i mean, it's obviously a pretty dramatic thing to see the -- to see that interview kind of -- and the memos sort of unfold through the lens of that interview. look, the really striking thing is that these memos say the same thing as the book, and that the book says the same thing as his testimony. and, you know, as rachel just said, you know, when you're looking for indicia of credibility consistency over time is one of the key ones. and, particularly, the ability to recount in detail an incident that you recorded and talked to people about in real time when you then don't have access to that material, and to do it in a way that's consistent in a lot of particular details, it's entirely consistent. and i think, you know, over time that's going to sink in for people that this isn't

>> no one can trust james comey. if you look at the rnc, we are pointing out republicans have a problem with him but look at chuck schumer saying he lacks all confidence in james comey. pelosi saying he's not in the right job. bernie sanders calling him outrageous. both sides are questioning this man's credibility. that should tell you all you need to know. he cannot be trusted, that interview last night was a bunch of lies against this president. >> harris: are you at risk of the rnc giving us more oxygen then you never hope to do with james comey? >> he is clearly intent on getting as much press as he can, doing a host of other interviews, he is clearly trying to make a name for himself. he's on this rehabilitation tour for his image. it would just be his narrative out there, we want the truth out there which is why we made the web site. >> harris: have you talked with the president, has anyone talked with the rnc about how he feels with you advocating on his behalf? >> the white house did instruct us to do this. i

the person swearing under penalty of perjury is not james comey. >> the facts are that james comey is one of the people, one of the individuals you just stated yourself that in fact had to put this forward and proffer it to say let's get the information -- >> we are going to have to leave it there. i'm really sorry. we're out of time. if we had more time, you would win, i know. [laughter] >> when we come back, we take a look ahead at what could be next for james comey. will he ever face real charges? don't go away. sfx: muffled whistle text alert. i'm your phone, stuck down here between your seat and your console, playing a little hide-n-seek. cold... warmer... warmer... ah boiling. jackpot. and if you've got cut-rate car insurance, you could be picking up these charges yourself. so get allstate, where agents help keep you protected from mayhem... ...like me. mayhem is everywhere. are you in good hands? a cockroach can survive submergede guy. underwater for 30 minutes. wow. yeah, wow. not getting in today. not on my watch. pests never stop trying to get in. we never stop working to ke

the james comey comments? will he address tensions around his own job and whether he should stay in the speakership. we're monitoring all of this for you. to florida now, kaitlan collins is there near the president's mar-a-lago resort. kaitlan? >> reporter: well, if things couldn't get more complicated in this news cycle, now james comey is weighing in on michael cohen, the president's attorney. of course, after fbi agents raided michael cohen's house, hotel and office, you'll recall that president trump said he thought it was disgraceful and an attack on our country and james comey, in his opinion, said that means the president doesn't understand how the united states justice system works. >> it shows me he doesn't know or doesn't care what the rule of law looks like. nobody broke into anybody's office. it doesn't happen. the fbi gets a search warrant from a federal judge and conducts itself professionally, completely, and politely by the counsel of the people involved. it is a total distortion of the way thi

james comey is a proven leaker and liar. virtually everyone in washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did until he was in fact fired. he leaked classified information for which he should be prosecuted. he lied to congress under oath. he is a weak and untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible director of the fbi. his handling of the crooked hillary clinton case and the events surrounding it will go down as one of the worst botch jobs of history. it was my great honor to fire james comey. now, president trump is being attacked not just on the issue of whether he is a liar or telling the truth or whether or not he cared about russian interference, but also in personal terms. comey talks about his physical appearance, and that's something that we talk to -- kellyanne conway, the president's counselor, this morning about. she criticized comey for going personal both on the president's appearance and on his marriage. she was asked whether the president viewed this book as a betrayal. here

as it turns out, james comey's "higher loyalty" is to james comey. tonight we will break down some of the most egregious moments from last nights interview. we will show you the questions that clinton sycophant george stephanopoulos should have asked last night in his softball sitdown interview. this was by far the worst interview i have ever seen. also tonight, we'll analyze friday's u.s.-led military strikes in syria. it is time for assad to wake up. the week, ineffective days of doing nothing of obama are long gone. we will have that and so much more into nights important breaking news opening monologue. ♪ we have to start tonight with us. today, for hours and hours, the media has been absolutely apt apoplectic and hyperventilating over some breaking news that i e been listed in court today as a client for a long time trump attorney michael cohen. take a look what i mean. >> he stood up and he said the name "sean hannity." >> how did he say it? >> sean hannity. >> sean hannity. >> sean hannity. >> sean hannity. >> sean hannity. >> sean hannity.

i say this about james comey. when he first became director in 2013, he went to a tour of the field offices. one of the things he talked about was leadership. he says leaders are conflicted. you have to be tough and kind. you have to be competent and humble. he told a story to everyone. am i good enough to do this. i have been fiercely critical of the feckless leadership. i think he is a decent man and sympathetic figure. i was struck by the humanity. >> it is the rule of the third of the country believes anything donald trump says. a third will believe nothing he says. a third of the country doesn't care about any of it. tal, what surprised you in the i hope after view? -- in the interview? james comey hopes the president is not impeached sdplch edimpea. >> that is a bit surprising, but not really surprising. it is what we would expect him to say especially given everything he wrote in the book and testified before congress. he was his usual measured self. you know, this man is a lawyer through and through. he th

james comey versus the white house. the fired fbi director calling the president unethical and untethered to the truth. the president calling james comey an untruthful slime ball. his words. here to discuss democratic congressman denny heck of washington. thank you for being with us. i have to ask you to play ref this morning a little bit. the president of the united states calls the fired fbi director an untruthful slime ball, your reaction? >> the president had one play in his playbook all along, vicious name calling, insults, ad homonym. i don't think it worked that well for him. but i think we can all fully predict that's how he's going to respond to the slightest of criticism. >> you say the slightest of criticism. i think it is fair to say that james comey book, what we read of it, and what we heard from him goes beyond the slightest criticism, wouldn't you say? >> well, i agree entirely. listen, john, i read a few excerpts from director comey's book. i may or may not get around to reading it. i don't think anythi

james comey is somebody who is relatively unknown. >> are you more worried at the rnc about james comey or michael cohen? >> i am worried about the mid term election. i want to make sure we keep this comeback for the country. the country has turned around under president trump. i saw it in michigan. people who had lost hope and feel like they were stuck and wages are going up and paychecks are bigger. jobs are coming back to this country. manufacturing is coming back to this country. i want to make sure we keep majorities that continue to keep this comeback alive. that's what i think about every day. that is my focus is these mid term elections. >> i have to ask you about what has been going on with the finance committee. michael cohen who is being investigated by the fbi in terms of his payments to this porn star stormy daniels. steve who was an important official at the rnc in terms of fundraising, he is being investigated. he lost his position because of so many sexual harassment claims against him. this guy elliot brody who impregnated a "playboy" model while he was married skpu ran

and so that is a problem that james comey -- james comey has to live with. but at the end of the day, that is not -- that is absolutely not why donald trump fired comey. he fired him because of the russia thing. he said it himself. and he wanted to obstruct justice and protect himself and his family and his top aides. >> that is not true -- >> he said -- >> no, james comey never once said that. >> i'm talking about donald trump. >> donald trump said -- >> he said that to lester holt. >> and there is one thing about james comey and what he did but that is not why he fired james comey. >> and jackie, i want to get your response and kellyanne conway in october of 2016 when everybody sitting in the different chairs and the hillary clinton people were attacking james comey and kellyanne conway tweeted astonished by the all-out assault on comey by team clinton, suggesting he is a partisan interfering with the election is dangerous and unfair. >> there is say tweet for that. it is a genre of i feel like twitter and -- and it is hypocritical. of course. because they

it's a massive contradiction for james comey. it's not the only confounding answer this guy has given. here's comey claiming that he'ss never been asked ofun hillary clinton obstructed justice in her email case on a radio interview in d.c. this is unbelievable. take a look. >> why wouldn't smashing cell phones and the destruction of thousands of emails during an investigation clearly be p obstruction of justice? >> that is a great question. it's the first time i've been asked that. the answer is, it would dependnd upon what the intent of the people doing it was. lots of people smash their cell phones so they are not resold on a secondary market and your personal stuff ends up in somebody else's hands. if you smash your cell phone, knowing that the investigators want it and they have a subpoena for it for example, that is a different thing and can be obstruction of justice. >> the law requires intent? >> yes, not just intent, the prosecutors demonstrate corrupt intent. >> sean: seriously? he was never asked if clinton and her team

finally james comey is speaking out. this is the man who used to be the head of the fbi, one of the highest offices in the government calling the president of the united states morally unfit. your reaction? >> look, i mean, this is something that in any other time would be seismic and i think even in this time where it's easy to kind of lose sight of things that are enormously out of balance and enormously unusual for an fbi director, even though he was fired and he has, you know, he certainly feels a sense he says of higher loyalty but retribution, let's face it, to say the things he did about a sitting president of the united states is absolutely extraordinary. especially, as you mentioned, things like he believes that its possible that the president did obstruct justice because remember, this isn't -- this is the kind of thing that a former fbi director or official does usually many years down the road. this is an active investigation -- >> and he's a central witness in the obstruction of justice probe. >> gloria borg

james comey was only his own friend. he looks in the mirror and he sees two james comeys. he likes both of them. >> and the democrats are obviously going to play this card about obstruction of justice now because it's politically expedient. you go back to the election and you have harry reid, the minority leader saying on record, that james comey violated the hatch act. so now democrats will embrace this theme of being pro comey -- >> and mark meadows asked trey gowdy to take a look at the texts. >> and what trey gowdy said, i think it should be handled why the i.g. you have to look at what james comey is doing with the mueller investigation. >> it's all irrelevant -- >> i think you're right. they are irrelevant. what the mueller investigation found is they're completely different. to put them together is a mistake. >> accountability is important. moving along. today the country is remembering the life of former first lady barbara bush. a live report from near the family home in houston and the former president, george w. bush and laura bush sharing their thoughts on the o

comey, the release of the book by james comey. one of the interesting things to note is the rnc is launching an all out campaign against him to discredit him. to say effectively in their words neither democrats nor republicans trust him. there would be a lot of push back from those in the law enforcement community. i asked administration official whether the white house was coordinating with the rnc. this official couldn't go that far, steve, but did acknowledge clearly the white house was aware of the rnc strategy. i wouldn't be spriedsed if we saw similar strategy to unfold at a very robust way throughout the weekend. >> pete williams, you have the special counsel's investigation of the trump administration going on right now. you now have the fbi director saying all these things in print. he testified last year. he had those contemporaneous memos leaked. is there anything new you're seeing in this book that will have an effect on mueller's case or any other legal aspect of this? >> i don't think so. for a couple of reasons. the

james comey is not. he's in credibly cunning and capable of the lacks sincerity and is out to get the president. the fact that james comey was creating contemporary as moment -- memos was a setup. they are trying to create evidence from the very beginning if you look at these text messages from the day that james comey was fired between struts and paige and others is so clear they had a plan all along in case the people wanted donald trump to disrupt him and discredit him and delegitimize the duly elected president of the united states. that's why this is an important fight. way bigger than donald trump or the current members of congress. it's ensuring the leader of this country is picked by the people and not by the bureaucrats and folks in washington d.c.. trish: this concern about the deep sea and how deep it is an encased we may be learning right now in the present that it's pretty deep. let me ask you what you are doing to fix some of this because i know you've been very active on that front. you ar

the person swearing under penalty of perjury is not james comey. >> the facts are that james comey is one of the people, one of the individuals you just stated yourself that in fact had to put this forward and proffer it to say let's get the information -- >> we are going to have to leave it there. i'm really sorry. we're out of time. if we had more time, you would win, i know. [laughter] >> when we come back, we take a look ahead at what could be next for james comey. will he ever face real charges? don't go away. ♪ come to my window ♪ ohh ♪ crawl inside ♪ wait by the light of the moon ♪ applebee's to go. order online and get $10 off $30. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. and get $10 off $30. so if you have heart failure, your heart doesn't only belong to you. ask your doctor about entresto. it helped keep people alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioed

>> the james comey book, excerpts came out today. he speaks -- writes about the president in very personal terms. were you surprised by that? was the president surprised by that? >> i don't think we are surprised by the fact that james comey continues to spread false information. the guy is known to be a liar and leaker. there is not a lot about james comey that we would find to be very surprising. >> very quickly on the pardon that came out today for scooter libby, the president so far in his time in office has issued three presidential pardons, one of those was to joe arpaio. is there a commonality in terms of what the president looks for when he pardons individuals? >> again, every case should be reviewed on their own merits and that's what the president has done in each of those. >> sarah, i'm wondering if the administration has reacted with any message to moscow after officials there today said that the chemical attack in douma was fake and staged with britain's direct involvement? >> certainly our intelligence tells us otherwis

what was james comey hoping to accomplish? this was not nonpartisanship, it seems to be multipartisanship. this is a mess for him for now. >> you mean with the book? >> harris: with the book, talking about the book. you have several conversations. it's every interview he does. potentially now is people who might want to investigate. and then you've got the written word as well. and every past thing he said in front of congress. >> i assume he's trying to restructure narrative in which he can defend himself and in a light that is most favorable. he knows that this is not done. he himself references the inspector general processes working through and he knows he's going to be held accountable on that stuff. i know not the heart of any man but i assume he's trying to do is to create a construct where he looks like eliot ness instead of somebody who played politics to the detriment of hillary clinton, a very crucial moment. of all the things that we might donald trump should be upset with james comey about, it should be the way he

both of us know that what james comey just said is not always true. the government can go sideways on things, they can show prejudice. guys like you have made a career of fighting the due process of law put in this instance, how this was carried out and what we saw from the judge wood yesterday do you believe this is an attack on our country? >> i wouldn't characterize it as an attack on the country. this is an astonishing place we are. we are at a place where the department of justice has approved a search warrant going engetting a search warrant on the personal attorney of the president of the united states. i can't think of anything that's comparable. i've been saying all along that this whole investigation is reminiscent all over again of white water but this is n level and this is -- i can understand why the prent is so upset because he's used to fighting and having represented guys like this titans of industries, they're used to go to the mat, they don't understand the fbi, department of justice, these are the guys with badges and guns and that'

so is james comey lying? all signs tonight point to hey. listen to how comey's story is changing during his recent interview with jake tapper, take a look. >> senator grassley, the chairman of the judiciary committee says there are seven memos. he says four of them are classified. is that right? >> i don't know because i don't have the memos, i don't know exactly how many there are. some may be memos. some may be emails. there is somewhere between 5 and 10. it may be 7. it may be 8. i don't remember. i think some of them -- i know when i created some of them they were classified i don't know how many of that group. >> one of them the classified one is obviously from when you told president trump in trump tower about what was in that two-page annex about the steele dossier, the summary of what was in the steele dossier. what would be the other classified ones be about? >> well, i can't answer that if he are classified. >> sean: now, of course, another damning sign that comey unlawfully leaked classified information comes from the actual memo

comey is a self-admitted leaker, he lied to congress. >> james comey a man of integrity? >> as far as i know. >> he would still be the fbi director if he had his way. the reason hi wrote the book is because he got fired. >> i was operating in a world where hillary clinton was going to beat donald trump. >> the guy knew exactly what he was doing, he those hillary clinton would win, and he thought this would give him some cover. >> if you knew that letter would elect donald trump, would you still send it? >> i would. i would.

. >> do you know james comey in your circles? >> i have met him. >> i know the stories in here because i listen to them but i have never met him or worked with him. >> is the book convincing to you? >> some of it is. but there is a whole part on scooter libby and he did not do the facts well with that version maybe he didn't know what the facts were. >> victoria toensing i want to read this part from the book because you worked from the justice department what you from you congressman. >> to have political leaders with the justice department because the administration of justice must be evenhanded. >> yes. that is true i worked for one of the best attorney generals that ever was and i remember once when smith was asked to go to the election and the staff people set it up he was asked to do something for somebody under investigation he came back and a bunch of people were in trouble for setting up the luncheon for not knowing what it was about. he was ronald reagan's personal lawyer but if you get into that justice department you

so i don't think james comey is lying in this book. i think he's saying important things that we need to pay attention to about president trump. so i want to acknowledge that it is important and i'm glad he's coming forward with the truth. but however, he writes a lot about leadership. and i think good leaders admit when they made a mistake and a lot of mistakes were made in this election because people thought hillary clinton would win. i made decisions because i thought she would win and other people made decisions and this is an example where he made a mistake. the justice system should not change the way it behaves or making choices about what it does based on the new york times election needle and that is what he did. i'm glad he's admitting this in the book but i hope he used the book tour to help us learn what happened and do better in the future and not just use the book toward -- to talk about the things we're just talking about. >> and everyone stick around. we have more to talk about. about this book and more. the breaking n

it's possible that james comey worked with the mafia. it's possible that james comey is and toldy for the russians. anything is possible. but this man had one of the highest offices in the u.s. government and this is how he behaves just a few months after leaving? it's disgusting. lou: the petty revenge tour of this author. the justice department and fbi turning over none of the comey memoranda he has been talking about so freely and jewels in his book, apparently. what do you expect devin nunes of the intelligence committee and the bastions of legislative enterprise and energy paul ryan and mitch mcconnell to do anything about it? >> i don't expect any of them to do anything about it. there are about six true bastions on capitol hill. hundreds of others that you have never heard of. and i want to know one thing. i want to know how he can admit on camera and during testimony that he leaked classified memos from presidential meetings and he hasn't been charged with a felony. that's what i would like to know. lou: i would like to know why

think for a moment about who james comey is. he is a white man with a postgraduate degree, he is a lawyer. he is the embodiment and a lifelong republican. he is the embodiment of the kind of voter that donald trump has been driving away from the republican party, even as he has brought them greater strength among blue color and evangelical and rural whites. now, james comey may orpersonals out there making a case that is more direct and unvarnished than we are hearing from most of the leading democrats. and it's basically saying in a sentence, donald trump is not morally fit to be president and he's a threat to the rule of law. and i think that hearing that argument stated so unequivocally from someone who looks like them and who shares many of their life experiences i think is a reconfirming kind of perspective that deepens this historic deficit that he's facing with the voters who look most like james comey. >> and then he goes one step further and he says, the russians may have dirt on him and potentially the president of the

james comey also blasts the president in pretty personal terms. and experts that we have been speaking to over the last 18 hours or so -- as you know there are not as many legal ramifications in the book as there are personal ramifications. that's what comey says, he did not see illegal behavior though he had questions about ethics of it. that's one of the aspects. one of the other lines, michael cohen, the news broke in the last 90 minutes or so that he is under investigation. sanders could not say whether he coulden was still the personal attorney for donald trump. at this point we are reaching out to cohen and his attorneys. that is interesting given that cohen is somebody who has been in the president's orbit for a very long time. the two of them have a relationship that predates this campaign by a long time. so it might be significant if the two severed ties. we don't know if that's the case. neither did the press secretary. and before i let you go i want to mention policy. i think it's critical. i think it's notable that the press secretary

james comey caught up in it. maelstrom coming ahead of the fired fbi leader's bombshell interview and tell-all book. >> i don't remember spelling it out, but it had to have been that she's going to be elected president, and if i hide this from the american people, she'll be illegitimate the moment she's elected. >> give me a break. the guy knew exactly what he was doing. he thought hillary clinton would win, and he thought this would give him some cover. >> stormy monday. why the porn star and the trump attorney accused of buying her silence will be heading to the very same courtroom tomorrow. >> she's going to attend at 2:00 on monday. i think monday afternoon could prove to be very interesting. >> but a stormy encounter may be the least of michael cohen's worries and the president's as well. >>> and then, the strike on syria. what does the president mean mission accomplished? the division in washington over just what the missile attack did accomplish. and good day to you. i'm richard lui in for alex witt here i

four separate tweets on james comey. >> an all-out attack on james comey on twitter. he goes so far in one of these tweets as to suggest that the former fbi director should be behind bars. take a look at this one. the big questions in comey's badly reviewed books are not answered. like how come he dave up classified information? jail. why did he lie to congress? jail. why did the dnc refuse to give up the server? and he goes on and on and on. this, george, is like campaign. the president and the white house are treating james comey like the president treated his political opponents. lyin' ted cruz. crooked hillary. you now have sleazeball james comey. and he's also using the republican national committee. they have set up a rapid response operation to deal with comey's book and with his interview tonight. >> and pierre, hillary clinton supporters are not happy with james comey either. they're convinced his decision to reopen the e-mail investigation cost hillary clinton the white house. here is part of james comey's explanation for the decision. at some level, was the

james comey violated that rule. she should have been fired then by loretta lynch and president obama. >> you were calling for james comey's firing back under the obama years. i want to read to reminded our audience the james comey letter in 2016 to congress which was the reopening of the clinton e-mail investigation. it says the fbi learned of the existence of e-mails that appear to be the pertinent to the investigation. i agree the fbi should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these e-mails. you say that is one example of violating due process, right? >> more than -- yes, it's a violation of due process to reveal what an investigator is doing in a federal investigation. it is also a firing offense to publicly reveal what you're doing in a v criminal investigation. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein say it's a false choice to say conceal versus speak. a federal investigator must be silent for an indictment so someone can get due process. moreover, mr. comey is lying wh

i don't think james comey is a bad man. i think james comey is a decent person. i think what happens here was because of the weight of the consequences thrust upon him, and we can talk about how he ended up there and why he had to make these decisions, i think it was his feckless leadership, and i choose my words carefully because it means lack of character. what should have happened where he had to make that july 5 statement which was unprecedented for an fbi director to do, he should have punted the ball back across the street to the department of justice after loretta lynch recused herself and put that squarely on the desk of sally yates. he didn't do it. he allowed political capitalists to come into his job as director. the president's manner, not the way i would choose to do it, i think it's below the dignity of the office. but i think his criticism and this book tour is worthy of criticism. >> that was a number of different markers in the last year particularly of the former fbi director's career. but do you believe because of the firing and the manner in w

comey has for him is that democrats don't like james comey, but they like james comey right now because he's attacking the president. >> yeah, welcome to politics. we hate you until we need you and we love you. so, jackie, the -- in this interview, and in this rollout that we're seeing now play out, as mark perfectly points out this was an important moment when he talked about seeing evidence of obstruction of justice. do you think what james comey says in the interview, how angry this could potentially make the president, how this plays out, do you think this all makes it more or less likely has an impact at all on the likelihood the president would take and fire rod rosenstein now or the russia investigation? >> i think it is an open question. given what we have seen with the president, he's used any excuse to undermine the mueller investigation because the president is fixated on it. it is entirely possible that he looks at this comey interview and the ones in the next couple of days, and does try to use that to make the case against rod rosenstein. now, the other wild card is how co

so is james comey lying? all signs tonight point to hey. listen to how comey's story is changing during his recent interview with jake tapper, take a look. >> senator grassley, the chairman of the judiciary committee says there are seven memos. he says four of them are classified. is that right? >> i don't know because i don't have the memos, i don't know exactly how many there are. some may be memos. some may be emails. there is somewhere between 5 and 10. it may be 7. it may be 8. i don't remember. i think some of them -- i know when i created some of them they were classified i don't know how many of that group. >> one of them the classified one is obviously from when you told president trump in trump tower about what was in that two-page annex about the steele dossier, the summary of what was in the steele dossier. what would be the other classified ones be about? >> well, i can't answer that if he are classified. >> sean: now, of course, another damning sign that comey unlawfully leaked classified information comes from the actual memo

but no one is above the law, even james comey. so tonight, is he guilty of federal crimes, we ask that. in a moment top lawyers for the prosecution and defense goes head-to-head in the next revolution special as we put james comey on trial. >> welcome to this special edition of the next revolution. i'm steve hilton. i'm joined live in new york by the best legal team in television standing by to cut through the spin and politics and focus on the three areas where there are grounds to believe that james comey may have broken the law. his handling of the clinton e-mail investigation, his role in leaks of confidential government information, and the actions he took in connection with that infamous russia

james comey -- this is not just me. 538. propeller heads over there, the nerds, they say that it's probable that it was comey at the end intervening in the election that swung it to mr. trump now president trump. donald trump should give james comey flowers or candy or something. he, comey, made president president. mr. trump made mistakes and hillary but for the first time in modern or american history fbi director twice weighed in attacking one of the kabd dates. both we now know under investigation. hillary cleared. trump under going. trashing my friend and my candidate -- i have no love for comey. that's a difference. he is not a liar. i don't know that he lied but the problem is he told the truth selectively attacking hillary clinton and not revealing that trump under investigation, too. >> it is going to be an interesting week next week with comey's first interview sunday night with george stephanopoulos. we have one with him live on thursday on "the lead" one week from today and i cannot imagine what president trump i

james comey's handling of information. i don't know that giuliani is the best person to help him on a legal front. i think he for the president is probably a very nice safety blank blanket and i love the cool aid analogy and i'm sure he was excited to be back on center stage and will relish this opportunity but everybody involved in this, it is coming back to haunt them and investigation after investigation and i don't think giuliani's hands are clean. >> and to put a point on this, comey said in his book tour that after giuliani said that, he ordered an inspector general review and investigation to find out who was leaking to giuliani about this. giuliani we should point out very loyal to donald trump. after the ""access hollywood" tape he was one of the few people to go on tv to defend him. i think he was on three weeks in a row. >> he was front and center when people were behind the curtains and reince priebus is saying to drop out of the race and giuliani was a strong supporter. one thing that does ken -- concern me is

tweeting just this morning at james comey, writing that comey lied to congress, and committed, quote/unquote, many crimes. i'll leave you to guess if that will be the last word on all of this. but here is what we heard from james comey last night in his first interview since his shocking firing almost a year ago. >> is donald trump unfit to be

james comey is a proven leaker and liar. virtually everyone in washington thought he should be fired with a terrible job he did until he was in fact fired. he leaked classified information, for which you should be prosecuted. he lied to congress under oath. he is a weak and untruthful slimeball who was, as time has proven, a terrible director of the fbi. his handling of the creek and hillary clinton case and the events surrounding it will go down as one of the worst botched jobs in history. it was my great honor to fire james comey says the president. what you make of that? >> neither one of them are doing themselves any favors about anything that has to do with an investigation with comey as a witness and the president as a potential subject. the fbi prides itself on being objective finders of facts. we don't have opinions, we find the facts and we present them in an objective manner. particularly, there are strong rules against fbi officials talking about information that the fbi collects. >> martha: what do you think abou

>>> lot coming out every day in the saga surrounding fbi director james comey. tonight it was his memos. no tell what it's going to be next wednesday night when comey will answer questions from me and an audience in virginia. join us for the cnn town hall "comey, truth, lies and leadership" wednesday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. time to hand it over to don "cnn tonight" begins now. see you tomorrow. >>> this is "cnn tonight." i'm codon lemon. here we go again. another night of one big breaking news story after another. first on the russia investigation, james comey's memos about his conversations with president trump have been turned over to congress tonight. and cnn has obtained a copy. those memos are, of course, a key part of robert mueller's investigation. a potential obstruction of justice. and they are full of fascinating details. we're going to go through them page by page for you, and we will bring you all of it tonight. >>> then, there's the president adding a big name to his legal team, i'm talking about rudy giuliani, after one legal "a" list lister after an

let me ask you about james comey. another tweet by the president. >> there's so many. >> james comey illegal leaked classified documents to the press in order to generate a special counsel. his misspelling not ours. let's talk about these memory knows and how they came out. the strategy of republicans in the house to get them released, not made public necessary, but made available to congress. a lot of people saying that that backfired. >> it's a partisan issue about whether or not that backfired. if you ask republicans on the hill they're saying it looks there's no obstruction of justice. this shows he was just someone rightly and normally concern a inflammatory. nancy pi loescy says this shows the opposite. legally how this will impact mueller's investigation, i think it's too early to say. because robert mueller's team has been so tight lipped about how they're going to use james comey. but i offer that james comey leaked part of the memos himself because he wanted a special counsel. he's someone who is very well v

today's attack directed at former fbi director james comey. and thank you for joining us. >> james comey is releasing a tell all book this week. >> reporter: in the span of two hours sunday morning president trump fired off five tweets about former fbi director james comey. one read "slippery james comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the worst fbi director in history, by far!" president trump fired james comey last year citing his handling of the fbi's investigation in to hillary clinton's use of her personal e- mail while secretary of state. in a book james comey disclose why he reopened the investigation so close to election day. >> she will be elected president and if i hide this from the american people she will be illegitimate the moment this comes out. >> reporter: president trump saying he was making decisions based on the fact he -- "the democrats sent a very political and long response memo which they knew, because of sources and methods (and more), would have to be heavily redact

we talk about james comey. strikes me that most of america today cares so much more about what is going on with their tax bill and tax policy than what james comey has to say about what went on before. >> drop the mic. >> yeah. when i look around in my neighborhood in new york, we have a ton of vacancies. you talk to business owners about why they're leaving. it's huge in new york city. wherever you're watching us from -- >> here's the president and he exits air force one now. he will talk tax cuts and the economy. as melissa said, you have a lot going on with james comey and others. but james comey is not doing my taxes to make the deadline. >> he's not paying them either. when you talk about the vacancies that we've seen in new york and everybody watching, you've seen the tax policy. we have a higher minnesoutimum here. as a result, people are being driven out. strikes me that the tax conversation is so much more relevant to regular people than james comey. >> and cardi b. said show me what i'm making. it's a

and that is let's assume everything james comey said is true. does that cute evidence of obstruction of justice? would that make a case of obstruction of justice? and i agree that the suggestion or the dictate from the president that comey dropped the flynn case is the single most significant action that the president asked for. bury if your answer is no, then you don't do those interviews. but if your answer is if we can accept or prove what comey said was true, that would cute obstruction of justice, then you do go through these interviews. so it is significant i think that not only dana boente, but andy mccabe and others are likely being brought before the special counsel. i also think it's significant, rach rachel, that each of these witnesses that corroborate james comey has been the subject of either firing or disciplinary action or attack by the president or his allies. so you look at baker, who was the prior general counsel for comey has been the subject of attack. vicky, the chief of staff has been the subject of attack. comey has been

from james comey himself so here is what the president tweeted yesterday saying james comey's memos are classified i did not declassify them. they belong to our government therefore he broke the law. additionally he totally made up many of the things he said i said and he's already a proven liar and leaker where are memos on clinton, lynch and others. ed: and we had kellyanne conway on last hour and we asked her where is the president on all of this. here she is. >> the president this week took a count of who james comey really is, someone who the president said hardly knows the president they had very limited contact. james comey was on the job for about 11 days he's been off the job for nearly a year and somehow some expert into president trump's thinking and he's trying to sell books, everybody can appreciate that but he's also a witness in the mueller investigation and clearly going to be a witness in the mccabe investigation. people should be very concerned. pete: kellyanne mentioned the mccabe investigation of course the doj inspector general referred him for criminal charges.