Scandals . We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. This is cnn breaking news. Breaking news this hour. The white house is doubling down on its denial that President Trump is considering or even discussing firing special Counsel Robert Mueller. After launching a new tirade against the russia investigation, the president could soon find himself facetoface with mueller or a member of his team. Ill get reaction from senator angus king. He is a member of the Senate Intelligence committee. And our correspondents and analysts are all standing by. First, lets go to our senior Congressional Correspondent manu raju up on capitol hill. First were learning more President Trump will be interviewed by the special counsels office. We heard about a meeting that occurred between trump attorneys and special counsel muellers investigators last week where they discussed a range of topics to discuss as part of any potential interview with President Trump, including the firing of fbi director james comey. What the president knew about sergey kislyak, the former russian ambassadors conversations with President Trumps former National Security adviser michael flynn. Now, we also know that the white house is eager to end this Mueller Investigation. And a lot of republicans are watching anxiously, even as the president warns the white house tries to reassure them that special counsel mueller will not be fired. Tonight the white house insisting that special Counsel Robert Mueller will not be fired. But once again calling for a swift end to the inquiry. We have not been shy about the fact that there is frustration of this process. We would like it to end quickly and soon. Reporter trump himself has made no secret of his anger, launching a tweet storm lashing out at muellers investigation, repeatedly calling it a witchhunt. And then the president added a new attorney to his legal team. Joseph digenova. They plotted to frame him. Was floating a Conspiracy Theory in the Justice Department. Are you comfortable with the president going after the special counsel in such a direct way . Well, look, i agree with the president s lawyers that bob mueller should be allowed to finish his job. I think it was an excellent appointment. I think he will lead he will go wherever the facts lead him. And he will have great credibility with the American People when he reaches the conclusion of this investigation. Reporter now one prominent republican telling hugh hewitt that the firing of mueller could be an Impeachable Offense. If the president fired Robert Mueller, do you think that would be an Impeachable Offense . Probably so if he did it without cause, yeah. I think what the president will have done is stopped an investigation into whether or not his campaign colluded with the russians, what effect the russians had on the 2016 campaign. I cant see it being anything other than a corrupt purpose. Reporter still, mcconnell and many other republicans said today they saw no need to pass legislation to protect mueller, something that might antagonize the president. Its just not necessary. Its not necessary. I dont believe the president will fire him. Yesterday you said you dont think its necessary to pick that fight. What do i dont mean . I pick only necessary fights records other republicans downplayed the president s escalating attacks against mueller. Do you think the president should back off in any way . You know, ive said this before. I have enough trouble padding my own canoe. I think the mueller issue is really more of a tempest in a teapot. I know what the president said. But what counts is what he does. And i dont think mr. Mueller will be terminated. Reporter and the House Speaker himself said he had gotten assurances trump wont fire mueller, but declined to say from whom. The special counsel should be free to follow through his investigation to its completion without interference. I received assurances that his firing is not even under consideration. Reporter now, wolf, there has been a push by some members to include the legislation to protect Robert Mueller in this mustpass spending bill that would clear congress by the end of the week in order to keep the government open. But whats become very clear is there is no real effort and no appetite among Republican Leaders to add that in there as they hope the president wont fire Robert Mueller. They dont know for sure whether or not he will. No one really knows. But theyre just hoping right now he does not take that step. Because if he does do that, he could prompt a major revolt on capitol hill. But the president may not really care, wolf. Umanu, thank you very much. Were also following breaking news on the exploding scandal. Cambridge analytica is already under investigation for its use of facebook users information. Now officials with the firm have been caught on camera boasting about their role in mr. Trumps campaign, claiming their work was integral in winning the election, and suggesting the laws may have been broken. Lets bring in sara murrayment she is working the story for us. You have new revelations about this undercover effort. We know this is a firm that has already been under plenty of scrutiny. Buttette goes further in this latest undercover video that came out suggesting that perhaps Cambridge Analytica may have played some kind of role and coordination between the Trump Campaign and outside groups that could be potentially illegal. But shedding light on some of the firms business practices. Of course the big question here, how important was Cambridge Analytica to the Trump Campaign . Were they just a bit player, or were they essential to trumps victory . Tonight theyre taking plenty of credit. Top executives at Cambridge Analytica, the controversial data firm hired by Donald Trumps president ial campaign now appear to be taking credit for trumps stunning 2016 victory. Have you met mr. Trump . Many times. You have . All the data, all the analytics, all the targeting, we all the campaign, television campaign. Reporter an undercover interview by channel 4 news in london shows Cambridge Analytica executives including ceo Alexander Nix boasting about the companys role in trumps win and even claim thanksgiving created the slogan defeat crooked hillary. Crooked hillary, right . She is crooked as you can be. Reporter in the past, knicks has also claimed his companys data led the Trump Campaign to victory in wisconsin, a state no republican president ial candidate had won since Ronald Reagan in 1984. We were able to use data to identify there was very large quantities of persuadable voter theres that could be influenced to vote for the Trump Campaign. And so much so the Trump Campaign had five rallies there. Those five rallies probably gave trump contact with some 60 or 70,000 voters. Reporter former Trump Campaign officials are disputing that cambridge played a major role. They say the Campaign Never used the firm for targeting or persuasion. One person familiar with the arrangement said cambridge provided some polling which helped the campaign decide where to invest its resources. Cambridge also used data to build visualization tools to help decide where to send trump for campaign rallies. All told, the Trump Campaign paid cambridge less than 6 million for its Service Throughout the campaign. The series of undercover interviews by channel 4 news also caught knicks on tape talking about potential bribery and entrapment. Tonight Cambridge Analytica has suspended its ceo and launched an independent investigation, saying mr. Nixs secret comments do not represent the values or operations of the firm. And his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation. The firm has come under fire in recent days for questionable data practices. Thats after it came to light that a russianamerican researcher provided data on 10s of millions of americans to cambridges parent company. The data was supposed to be collected for research purposes. But it may have been used to influence american voters. During the 2016 president ial campaign, nix was peddling a socalled psychographic model. It relied on data sets to model someones personality type and how they could best be swayed according to people who saw the presentation. Trump Campaign Officials have long claimed they never bought into that model. I dont believe its sinister. No . You just dont think it works . I dont think it works. That Brad Parscale who you saw there was head of the digital operation for trump in 2016. He is also the Campaign Manager for trumps reelection campaign. Another day of people taking credit for Donald Trumps victory. So incredibly false and ridiculous. Let them say that under oath. Just an overblown sales pitch. And refers back to that 60 minutes interview with they downplayed the role that Cambridge Analytica played in the 2016 campaign. Potential there for a lot of investigation into this story. Thanks very much, sara murray reporting. As the russia probe heats up, the white house is defending the president s new phone call to Vladimir Putin congratulating him on his reelection. Mr. Trump apparently ignoring allegations the kremlin leader won through widespread fraud, not to mention moscows meddling in the u. S. Election. Lets go to our senior White House Correspondent pamela brown. Pamela, President Trump spoke earlier about his phone call with putin. Yeah, thats right. And President Trump said he had a very good call with president putin of russia congratulating him on his election victory. The president has said he has been tougher on russia than his predecessor. But we learned from the white house today that the president did not bring up Russian Election meddling from 2016 or looking ahead to the u. S. Election in 2018. And he didnt bring up the poisoning in uk either, raising the question of whether the president will confront putin about these issues when they meet in person, as he says they will. Here is more of what he said today. I had a call with president putin. And congratulated him on the victory, his electoral victory. The call had to do also with the fact that we will probably get together in the not too distant future so that we can discuss arms. We can discuss the arms race. Reporter the president faced backlash for congratulating putin. John mccain said an american president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. Now today during the White House Press briefing, Sarah Sanders declined to say whether the white house believes russia had a fair and free election. She would only say the u. S. Does not dictate how other countries operate. And here is what senator Mitch Mcconnell had to say about the matter. The president can call whomever he chooses. When i look at a Russian Election, what i see is the lack of credibility. In tallying the results. Im always remind to have had elections they used to have in almost every communist country where the whoever the dictator was at the moment always got a huge percentage of the vote. So calling him wouldnt have been high on my list. We should point out, wolf, that President Trump isnt the only one to call and congratulate Vladimir Putin. In fact, back in 2012, as i dont may recall, president obama called to congratulate him on his election victory. And just recently, leaders of our allies such as french president macron also called Vladimir Putin to congratulate him. Wolf . All right, pamela, thanks very much. Lets talk about all the breaking stories. Joining us angus king. He serves on the Armed Services committee. Thanks for joining us. Sure, wolf. How are you . Im good, thank you. The white house today said they dont think firing Robert Mueller would be productive. They indicated that President Trump will continue to cooperate with the investigation. But are you seeing signs that the president is getting ready to go on the offensive against Robert Mueller . Well, i think its significant. Number one, id delighted to hear those reassurance. There was no comment from the president in his tweets about mueller for months and months, three or four months. And then all of the sudden over the weekend there came thishold whole bunch of tweets that came out that were very critical, call it a witchhunt, mentioning mueller by name. I think thats what worried everyone. And i hear the various people saying well, its not necessary. Weve been assured its not going happen. The problem is if it does happen and there is nothing in place in the way of legislation, then kwleen happens. I dont know how we respond. Thats why i signed on some time ago, and i think Lindsey Graham is one of the people who sponsored it a bill that would protect the special counsel with proper safeguards. And that could be in place. And it could be passed this weekend if it was appended to the spending bill. I think, you know, with the circumstances that weve seen in the last year and a half saying that weve got assurances it wont happen doesnt necessarily mean it wont happen. So i think we ought to be prepared. Yeah, it doesnt look like the Republican Leadership wants to attach that kind of legislation to the spending bill. But well see over the next few days. Do you still think senator the president will agree to an interview with the special counsel . I think thats entirely up to the president and his lawyers. I think its a its a kind of highwire act because whatever he says is going to be subject to a great deal of checking. And if youll recall, some of mr. Flynn, for example, ended up getting into trouble for not telling the truth to federal investigators. That in itself is a crime. So hes got to be very careful if he is going to have that interview. And, you know, if i were betting, i would be inclined to think that they probably will not have that kind of sitdown. But well see. I know that theyre doing some negotiating with the special counsel right now. Yeah. And the president clearly getting irritated by some of the subjects that are likely to come up in such an interview. Thats why he has apparently gone a little bit more on the offensive. Your committee, senator, the Senate Intelligence committee is unified in your recommendations for Election Security here in the United States. Were you surprised President Trump didnt bring up this issue in his phone call with the russian president , Vladimir Putin today . Well, i wish he had. I wish he would bring it up with the American People. One of the problems with this whole situation is that the president wont separate the issue of what the russians did from whether or not his campaign was involved. Those are two entirely different issues. And if he is maintaining, as he has his right that nothing, there was no collusion, no cooperation, that doesnt change what they did. I read a 40page classified report just this afternoon, wolf, on the russian efforts to intervene in state election systems, 21 states. And it was positively chilling. And it was there is no doubt that they did it. And i wish he would bring it back with president putin. Of course, in the past he has brought it up. President putin told him he didnt do it, and the president has said well, president putin said he didnt do it. And thats been the end of it. But i wish he would make this statement to the American People. Because were not going to be able to defend ourselves against this kind of aggression unless we have a National Consensus that we have to confront. And right now the country is divided. Occasionally i get emails from people saying why are you wasting all this time on this russian thing. Its a witchhunt or its a hoax. And thats what theyre hearing from the president. Yeah, its a very serious issue that needs to be investigated. Senator king, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Just ahead, well have more on the timing and the terms of Robert Muellers potential interview with the president. How might mr. Trumps anger at mueller figure into all of this . And were also getting new details right now on Stormy Daniels polygraph test as the porn star is now tweeting about her alleged affair with the president. Vof hundreds of families, hese hmost proud of the one the heads hes kept over his own. Brand vo get paid twice as fast with quickbooks smart invoicing. Quickbooks. Backing you. Hey, sir losealot thou hast the patchy beard of a prepubescent squire thy armor was forged by a feeblefingered peasant woman. Your mom as long as hecklers love to heckle, you can count on geico saving folks money. Boring fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. And taking cared abof the boys. E zach talk to me. Its for the house. I got a job. Its okay. Dad took care of us. Breaking news tonight. The white house is defending President Trumps congratulatory phone call to russian president Vladimir Putin in the wake of his reelection. But many, including some Top Republicans, they are bitterly criticizing the call, which comes amid warnings of continued russian efforts to meddle in u. S. Politics and upcoming elections. Lets bring in our experts and our analysts. And we saw quite a contrast today. The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Intelligence committee, the republican chairman, the democratic vicechairman, they came out and they said the russians are trying to interfere again, even as the white house was announcing that the president had this congratulatory phone call to putin. Didnt even raise the issues of russian interference. Its not only a contrast with the bipartisan Senate Intelligence leaders, its a contrast where this white house was itself last week in announcing sanctions in response to the indictments that came down from mueller, looking like they were and touting and beating their chest about we can be tough on russia. And then get on the phone, make a congratulatory phone call. Sarah sanders the press secretary said its not or place to dictate how other countries run their elections. That may be true. We dont have to dictate it. But we certainly dont have to endorse sham elections around the world. The United States does indeed have a pretty big voice to call out a sham election when one occurs. John mccain, the republican senator put out an american president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and Fair Election to determine their countrys future, including the countless russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist putins regime. Thats pretty strong, condemning statement from john mccain. It certainly is. And the white house was asked directly about it. Sarah sanders was saying dialogue with russia is a good thing and shouldnt be criticized. John mccain is not criticizing dialogue with russia. He is saying he shouldnt call Vladimir Putin who is essentially running unopposed in this race. There was no suspense whatsoever who was going to win that election and congratulate him on that election like it was some hard fought victory. And also, along with saying that we shouldnt dictate what other countries are going to do and what not, also, the president is calling to not only congratulate him, but he did not bring up russian meddling in the election. Sarah sanders said the white house instead is focused on free and Fair Elections here at home. But why didnt he bring up russia meddling in the election . And we should note that Sarah Sanders and the white house, the other Deputy Press Secretary yesterday have been asked three times in the past 36 or so hours whether or not they believe russia had a free and Fair Election. They did not answer that question. And last week, when they were asked if the president saw Vladimir Putin as a friend or a foe that. Could not answer that question either. And it comes at a time when the president is attacking Robert Mueller at his investigation, the russia probe investigation. And the white house is insisting you know what . He is not going to fire him, anything along those lines. But a lot of people dont buy it. Yeah, im not sure if i dont buy it either, wolf. The white house has all the time that senior officials, there is no truth to any rumors or reports that theyre going to be dismissed or asked to resign. And then it turns out that this days, weeks, or months later that they do resign. The president is the boss of the attorney general or in the case of a recused jeff sessions, the Deputy Attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Mueller Investigation. So at any point, the president can change his mind and either get rid of mueller via Rod Rosenstein or direct a new Deputy Attorney general to direct the investigation in a different direction. Are we entering a new face, laura, on the president s strategy in dealing with the russia investigation . I think in two ways. Number one, the gloves have come off. And certainly the muzzle has come off over the weekend about the president naming mueller in his criticism of the overall investigation. Weve seen a pattern of them attacking the credibility of the investigation, hoping that in some way it will make the public whatever the result comes out tell them not to believe it. If it is obviously bad for the president , if its good for the president maybe hell spin it a different way. Remember when he hired digenova, who is known to not only conspiracy theories, but also talk about the notion that he is antithe Mueller Investigation. Its one big claim to conspiracy, trying to condemn the president of the United States and trying to make him look bad. Well, now he has somebody who can be his mouthpiece. The reason thats so important, wolf, remember, the fourth and the ninth Circuit Court of appeals have looked at the president of the United States comments and tweets, the travel ban, and it was used against him in their consideration. Now the president is aware of that. He can have a mouthpiece who it wont be used against him in the event that muellers case goes forward against himself or the inner circle. And even the white house says those president ial tweets are official president ial statements that we should not ignore. Stand by, guys. There is more we need to discuss, including Stormy Daniels. Now tweeting about her relationship with the president as the results of a polygraph test she took are now revealed. Were going have a full report. 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The porn star tweeting just a little while ago about her relationship with donald trump. Our National Correspondent sara sidner is working the story for us. Sara, the tweet comes after daniels lawyer released a photo of her taking a lie detector test, as well as the results. It does. And this is actually, wolf, the First Time Since the lawsuit was filed that Stormy Daniels is talking about details of her alleged relationship with donald trump. Here is the tweet that she just put out just an hour ago or so. It said technically, i didnt sleep with potus 12 years ago. There was no sleeping, hee hee, and he is just a goofy reality star back then. But i digress. People do care that he lied about it, had me bullied, broke laws to cover it up. And ps, i am not going anywhere. Those are her words and her allegations against the president. And we do know that Michael Cohen, his personal attorney has said that donald trump knew nothing about any threats, nothing about any deals. And there was no affair, according to cohen. Reporter stormy v Stormy Daniels lawyer says this photo shows the porn star in 2011 taking a polygraph test to try to prove she was telling the truth about a sexual relationship she says she had with donald trump. The picture is part of a video of the polygraph test that daniels lawyer told cnn he bought for 25,000. In this sworn affidavit from the polygraph examiner signed this month, he says daniels was honest when she said she had unprotected sex with trump in 2006 at a Charity Golf Event in lake tahoe. Daniels took the test to help confirm what she said in an interview with life and style magazine back in 2011. Jordi mcgraw was the reporter on that story. We obviously had her take it after i did the interview. Because we had all this information. We wanted to make sure she was telling the truth. Reporter mcgraw told cnn daniels wasnt the only one to agree to the polygraph. From what i remember, a couple of other people close to her like her exhusband also took the test, and i believe he passed as well. Reporter mcgraws interview with daniels was allegedly spiked shortly after trumps lawyer threatened a lawsuit. But the transcript resurfaced in in touch weekly earlier this year. The results are the latest salvo in daniels attempt to free herself from a 130,000 hush money agreement she was offered by trumps lawyer Michael Cohen in the days before the president ial election. Cohen has acknowledged making the payment, but says the money was his from a home equity loan, and that trump knew nothing about the agreement. Daniels has sued to end the deal. Cohen and trump are trying to scuttle her suit. I want to be able to defend myself. Thats the worst part. At this moment i cant defend myself. Reporter but tonight its not just daniels that is asking a court the let her speak out. In a new lawsuit, playboy playmate Karen Mcdougal says she wants out of an agreement she signed with American Media, the publisher of the national enquirer. The owner, a close friend of President Trump had them play the playmate 150,000 for the rights to her personal story, including details about any affairs she had, including an alleged sexual relationship with donald trump. But the enquirer never published her story, and mcdougal reportedly said pecker backed out of letting her write fitness columns in the tabloid. She says the agreement was really just to keep her from talking about trump. As far as these stories being killed, bought and killed. Its something that has been going on for a very long time not only these magazines, but other publications. What it really means is it takes the story out of the market so it wont see light of day. Reporter American Media denies it buried the story to help donald trump. And while mcdougals diary was recently excerpted in the new yorker story, American Media says mcdougal did not have enough evidence to back up her story. Now, we spoke to mr. Avenati about why he paid 25,000 for that polygraph video. He told us he did so to ensure that it would be maintained and kept safely during the litigation, making sure that the video, which is also a file, would not be destroyed or tampered with, and said they did so after learning various parties, including Mainstream Media tried to get ahold of it to use it for nefarious reasons. We also should mention that when it comes to polygraph tests, generally, theyre not admissible in court. Wolf . Sara sidner reporting for us. Thanks for that report. Lets bring back our legal analyst, laura coates. How strong a legal case do these women have . A variety of reasons they may not have strong case. Stormy daniels of course has to overcome the fact that she entered into a contract that may in fact be valid. And whats trying to happen now is to figure out whether or not is what the public would like to know versus what she is able to say. But a court is not persuaded by the fact that the underlying facts in the nondisclear agreement may in fact be true. Thats not what is persuasive. What persuade the court is if there is some reason to get out of an otherwise valid contract. You to keep it separate about whether you care about the information and whether she is entitled to say it. With respect to Karen Mcdougal, thats a different nda. Its not between donald trump, not between Michael Cohen. Its between a Media Company that had the right to do that whole catch and kill. They dont have to ever publish it. In fact, the contract essentially says that she is required not to speak, but theyre never required to publish it. What you have here is the very reason that donald trump has gone out and gotten a very aggressive attorney by the name of Charles Harter who is known for being the person to defend hulk hogan in the gawker litigation. Because the whole point was to send a message to anybody else who has a story to tell with a contract that says you cant say anything, they have to send a very clear message. Remember, in that case, it was 100 million plus jury verdict for having the information out there. So you have a very uphill battle here. But you have to keep separate the court of public opinion, what would persuade us to believe or not believe an affair, and what the court is going to say about i actually want to revisit a bad contract, not avoidable one, but a bad one. The Karen Mcdougal, the playboy model says she was silenced by the national enquirer. Be she believes Michael Cohen, the president s longtime lawyer was secretly involved in that deal as well. What do you make of that . So, wolf, i want to associate myself with everything that laura just said. But just add one thing. Done. About mcdougal, which is that in her case, she may be able to say to make the case that the contract is not valid because it was not and in fact an arms length negotiation between the parties. If you read the New York Times report on this today, it seems that perhaps her original attorney was playing both sides of the fence on this. You also have the issue of whether or not Michael Cohen was working behind the scenes, even though she thought she was dealing with American Media, national enquirer. And you also have the facts that there are some parts of her story that are out there in the public space in a way that is different than excuse me, i was going to say stephanie clifford. Aka Stormy Daniels case. And a third one, Summer Zervos has filed another lawsuit against the president. Three women are going after the president in this legal battle. How much of a price potentially is he paying right now politically speaking or will pay . So lets separate this out. We know what the country knew about donald trump when it elected donald trump president. They didnt think he was truth teller. They thought he lied about things. He wasnt seen as sort of the moral leadership in the country. So the country, the electorate understood they were taking a reality show star and businessman and putting him in the oval office. That does not negate that some old rules about politics still apply. The fact that two of your four headlines at the top of this broadcast were about a porn star and a playboy playmate, that is not welcome news in any white house, including this one. This is a problem. The other thing i would note that is so interesting, this president lashes out and pushes back on every single negative headline and story out there, from Robert Mueller this weekend to bad poll numbers, to anything. Whats the one story line out there that he does not push back on himself on twitter in his own voice . Its all of these women and their accusations. How do they explain at the white house, the strong evangelical support he gets despite these headlines . Well, theyve said before, not specifically relating to Stormy Daniels, because of course that did not come out before the election. But the women who accuse the president of sexual assault, sexual harassment, misconduct, and the president on tape obviously, those access hollywood comments that the American People made up their minds about that when they voted, which could be true for those evangelical voters. They chose trump even though they heard him on tape say that but i do think they are getting nervous inside the white house about how much this story has had staying power in the headlines. Obviously the press secretary, Sarah Sanders kind of tripped over her own foot where she did acknowledge the president won arbitration against Stormy Daniels which brought it closer to him than ever before. Also, there are people inside the white house i have spoken with that are slightly concerned there could be more women like this to come forward against the president. They dont doubt that the story could be true. Theyre not denying it because of course this happened long before they worked for him in the white house. But that is correct. The president has not commented on this, which is not usual of his characteristics. But i did think maybe the one thing that could bring him to comment on this is Stormy Daniels latest tweet, which you read earlier where she calls him a goofy reality star. The president does not like to be criticized or insulted. I thought that was the one thing he could respond to. You know the woman of the hour is actually Summer Zervos because she is a person who has a court saying the president of the United States, although he is a sitting incumbent, can now be subject to a civil lawsuit in a state court. That opens the floodgates of so many others. Last year in october, there were 75 plus cases that are potentially against the president of the United States. And this is very different than what happened in the Clinton V Jones scandal when they said the president could not be it was only held to the federal case. Now we have the state opening for this. This is going to have huge implications. If youre fearing the achilles heel of a dupgs or with Robert Mueller, imagine what happens. I want to point out American Media, enquirer, they insisted they have not tried to silence Karen Mcdougal, the former playboy model. Summer zervos appeared on the apprentice. The lawsuit she filed could force the president to actually sit down for a deposition or testify. Absolutely. That would be huge. Then you have the opening for any other person who wants to come forward. She not suing as to whether or not there was actually sexual assault. She is suing because he called her a liar, because he did come out and comment on it very, very quickly on the campaign trail, and not as an opinion, but as a fact. In order to win that lawsuit, theyre going to have to litigate whether or not it actually happened. Said he defamed her and its cost her as a result. Everybody, stick around. An important programing note to all of our viewers. Thursday night our Anderson Cooper sitting down for an exclusive interview with a former playmate Karen Mcdougal, thursday, 8 00 p. M. Eastern only here on cnn. Just ahead, Top Republican senators raise the specter of impeachment, warning the president against firing the special counsel, Robert Mueller. Almost 800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. 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Pete williams sat down with the former fbi director. Listen to this exchange. Its been reported that you threatened to resign over being urged to fire people. That correct . You know, have i been very clear from the minute i was nominated to the minute i walked in the door to countless opportunities since then that i am unwaveringly committed to doing this job by the book independently following our rules and our processes free from political or partisan influence. So it sounds like youre saying those reports are not wrong . Im not going to talk about specific conversations. All right. So preet, whats your reaction . My reaction is its good that chris wray is saying the things that he is saying. Thats just a small snippet. I havent seen the full interview. But i think at a time when people have concerns that there is political interference, a time when people are concerned that the president is telling people what to do and the fbi is not handling his responsibilities in an arms length way, its incredibly important for the leader of the fbi to make clear, look the American People in the eye like he appears to have done in that interview and say that he is above politics and he is not going to be interfered with for any reason having to do with politics. So i hope he means it. Everything i know about chris wray suggests that he is a person of integrity and independence, and he has to really care about not only what the public thinks about the fbi, but what the internal folks at the fbi who are charged with keeping us safe every day from all sorts of harm, what they think about it. James comey and andrew mccabe. They are speaking out. Is it appropriate considering their roles right now in the Mueller Investigation . Well, they are all speaking out to different degrees. I think john brennan has done interviews and sent tweets strongly worded. Mccabe interviews. Comey book statement making. I think anyone involved in things being investigated they nied to be careful. These are fairly professional folks. Whatever you think about each of them. And errors you think they may have committed along the way. So as long as they are careful what they can talk about, they can speak their mind, and im sure there are some people dont want them talking at all, and one of the people is donald trump. The white house says trump doesnt want to fire the special Counsel Robert Mueller but the president attacked mueller by saying white house had to clean up the statement from one of his personal lawyers who said he appraised for Rod Rosenstein to end the investigation. Argued in the past that officials in the Justice Department were trying to frame the president. What does that tell you . Well, the fact that the white house has said belatedly, i guess, today, according to your question, that they dont want to fire bob mueller tells me nothing at all. Incomplete contra convention to the truth. The truth is whether the president will fire or cause to be fired bob mueller. I think anyone reasonable person watching the actions of the president knows and believes that the president to do so without a lot of blow back absolutely shut down the investigation. The second point ill make is statements by White House Press people that try to explain whats in the president s mind on any given day has proven to be false. We know from credible reporting that the president has thought about getting rid of his attorney general. We know on at least one occasion he claimed that he had no interest in greting rid of Rex Tillerson secretary of state. And that proved to be false. Because he then fired him three or four months later. So statements intended to assure us after the president speaks his mind typing with his own fingers on smart phone, tweets that indicate he wants the investigation to go away, and he thinks bob mueller is not doing the job hes supposed to dorks dont give me any comfort at all. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks. More breaking news, search for serial bomber picks up new urgency tonight with another explosion. vo dogs have evolved, but their nutritional needs remain instinctual. Thats why theres purina one true instinct. Real meat 1. A different breed of natural nutrition. Purina one true instinct. Now, try new purina one true instinct treats. You ok there, kurt . Were about to move. Karate helps. Relieve some of the housebuying. Stress. At least you dont have to worry about homeowners insurance. Call geico. Geico. Helps with. Homeowners insurance . Been doing it for years. Im calling geico right now. Good idea get to know geico. 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The most trusted name in news. More breaking news tonight investigators in texas fear a serial bomber may have struck again this time a bomb exploded near san antonio fed ex center. Authorities in texas are on high alert. In 64 miles north of austin moving along an automatic conveyor belt. A worker nearby suffered minor injuries. Fed ex says they turned over information including the person shipped it. Michael hanson believes the distribution facility was not intended target but would not explain why. Its very early in the investigation, obviously. But we are confident that neither this facility nor any location in the area was a target. Reporter as investigators try to determine if there is a connection to the four austin bombing and the package found at the shirts fed ex location, also going through austin where they believe the shirts package was mailed frchlt and the white house during a meeting with the saudii Saudi Crown Prince made announcement this afternoon. Any comment on the bombings in austin . The bombings in austin are terrible. Federal and state are working hand in hand to get to the bottom of it. This is very obviously a sick individual or maybe individuals. Reporter police are also calling on the public to remain vigilant. If you didnt order something, if you are not expecting a package, if its something that doesnt have an official label on it or really not just a package itself, anything out of the ordinary, we are asking the community to please call 911, let our officers come out, let us handle it. Reporter wolf, we are low at the cages, where just after 6 00 this morning, a suspicious package was phoned in, brought out the bomb squad. Things are vet eld down and set havent had update on what idea what was discovered and what has occurred here at this facility. Well continue to do that. Meanwhile, they continue to urge people across the city to call in anything suspicious. And by all accounts folks in austin have done that. More than 1300 calls in the last week. Wolf. Thanks for that report. Thats it for me. Erin Burnett Outfront starts right now. Outfront next the president congratulates putin for sham election. Plus republican warns trump if he fires Robert Mueller only constitutional remedy is impeachment. Thats from the gop. And stom passes polygraph test fights to tell her story talking about being paid a whole lot of money right before the election. Lets go outfront. And good evening im erin Burnett Outfront tonight trump congratulates putin. President picking up the phone