Do you agree with President Trump on that . Democrats, 202 7488000. Republicans, 202 7488001. Independent colors, 202 7488002. Join us on twitter or you could post your comments on facebook. Before we get to your calls, lets begin with the president yesterday when he was asked about the appointment of a special counsel, robert mueller, and also, as he responds to the entire investigation. Moved trump i respect the but the entire thing has been a witch hunt and theres no collusion between myself and my campaign. I can speak for myself and the russians zero. I think it divides the country. I think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. So i can tell you that we want to bring this great country of ours together. I will also say, strongly, we have had tremendous successful. Andok at the job numbers what is going on at the board and what will be happening. You will see incredible numbers with respect to general mattis and others with the isis situation. Staggering, how successful they have been, how successful the military has been. Tomorrow, i go to saudi arabia, israel, rome. We have the g7. I hate to see anything that divides. I am fine with whatever people want to do but we have to get back to running the country really, really well. Host is the Russian Investigation dividing the country as the president says . What is your reaction to hearing from the president yesterday in the east room about his reaction to the appointment of a special counsel . The New York Times front page this morning has comey wanted the president kept at a distance. Trumpporting says that called comey weeks after he took the office and asked when authorities would put upward that he was not personally under investigation. According to two people briefed. The president that if want to know details about the investigations, you should not contact him directly but should have theocedures and white House Counsel sent any inquiries to the Justice Department. Trump of theing to communications with the fbi should work, comey believed he had drawn the line. After a series of events that he had had with the president and other white house officials that he felt jeopardized fbi independence. Mr. Comey was overseeing the investigation into links between esther trump and russia. Those interactions included a dinner in which the associates this to trumpay asked him to pledges loyalty and a meeting in the oval office where trump told him he hoped he would shut down an investigation into michael flynn. The day after the flynn conversation, reince priebus, he asked mr. Comey to push back on the words in the news media that trumps associates had been in contact with russian intelligence officials during the campaign. Comey describes all of his comdex with the president and the white house, including a phone call from trump, in detailed memos he wrote. We want to get your reaction to the president and all of this related to the Russian Investigation. In south carolina, a republican. Good morning to you. All, i well, first of have to agree with President Trump when i say he has been the most targeted and how do you well, he has been targeted by the press, by the deep state. By everybody else. You know, this i say to myself, when all of this stuff is going on, how come nobody ever talks about it . It is amazing how it is almost the kickoff point for all of this stuff was november 8. Now we have the issue of independent investigators determining that the dnc staffer was assassinated and not robbed. And you know, he was tied to wikileaks. It is amazing to me how all of this stuff and how james comey you would have thought i , i wouldi am obligated speak out many times before, if all of this stuff had been going on. I wouldnt wait until now. Least, when but not i sit there and i look at the list of improprieties over the last administration, i guess he was one of the three monkeys who had his hand over his eyes and mouth and ears because i have aner seen such a list of investigation of possible. Ndictments the Justice Department not even looking and making a i could goon and through the whole list. To you think that investigations into russia interfering into our elections and possible ties into russia and the Trump Campaign are legitimate investigations . Think they are a smokescreen. People, look at history. In a cold war with the russians for years. The russians have been going, how do we get into korea . They have been using satellite influence. So anybody who thinks that the russians arent trying to influence every country, like we are also, they are not trying to influence them in our country like we are influencing and theres has had their head in the sand. But, you know, what were really seeing, what were really seeing, is a coup from the left. And the establishment. Trump tohey dont want succeed. Host i heard your point. I want other voices. Lets go to krista. Caller i wanted to say that for one thing, i noticed that ever since trump began to run, that the violence and the nastiness and the divisiveness in the country increased. Not have a conversation with somebody who didnt agree with you. If they were a trump supporter. They wouldnt listen to anything. This has really i believe trump himself is the reason for the division. And i do think he has caused the ,roblems that exist right now where we are having a criminal investigation, you know . President hasther gotten to that point. Host did you vote for him . Caller i wouldnt have voted for him if he was the only person on the ballot. Host we have been asking all of us videos, as well, to respond to questions here on the washington journal. The conversation that we had with you at the beginning of the program. This video was sent in responding to the president saying that the investigation is dividing the country. The Russian Investigation is , theividing the country russian connection is dividing the country. Host you can make videos and make sure they are less than of one minute. Tweet the men and we will try to air more of them during our conversation this morning. Caller trump himself is dividing the country. With his crookedness and his and the ties that he has with russia, the money has made there. I think he has caused all of this problem himself, just by constantly lying. Host what could he do, do you think, to turn this around . Caller step down. That is the only thing i think he can do that would bring the country back together. Step down. Host what if he doesnt . Do you think democrats should be talking about impeachment . I think everything that he does that is a legal should be brought to the light for everybody to see it. ,nd whatever happens after that then, it happens. Host all right, that was garys comments in michigan. Democrats on capitol hill, there have been a couple of democrats who have talked about impeachment. But the leadership is not going there. Democratic leaders counsel caution. Here is what nancy pelosi had to say yesterday about the appointment of a special counsel and what she would like to see next. The senate is doing a bipartisan investigation. The house is moving forward. We do have an Important Role to play. Investigation insight congress, it is necessary for us it as an outside, independent commission. Yesterday, democrats filed a petition to dismiss the 356, protecting our democracy act. Than 176 members have signed. We had to expect to have over 190 by the time we have a vote later today. If the president has nothing to hide then he and the republicans in congress should welcome independent investigations to remove all doubt of a cover up. The American People have a right to know the truth. Host do you agree there with the minority leader of california that there should be an independent investigation . Or is this just further dividing the country . Lets hear from eric, in kentucky, a democrat. Caller you know, i dont know what is up with republicans nowadays. See the waynt things play out . The evidence . Ultimately, it leads to where you think it might. There are a few things that sit here and run through peoples minds. Lets start at the beginning of his campaign. Leaving out all of the other stuff he said before the campaign. He announced his campaign with to running for presidency say he looks like he worked actually day. On, it has been every five minutes, it has just been some type of study on his first hundred days in office, where he averaged almost five lives per day. You have the right sitting with an attack here in the media. But the media hasnt been the one sitting here quoting lies about russian ties. They reported on him. Whether it has been leaks or reported through other means. The media hasnt been the one sit here and say that it wasnt the Trump Administration the whole time. Host lets go to tony and maryland, and independent. I think it is a distraction, the whole russian campaign. That certain entities are putting it into play. I want to make two points. That people need to think about. Because i think the average person who calls it on your show are not critical thinkers. They are brainwashed by what they see on tv. Trump, the information that he gives, it isnt propaganda. It is more closer to the truth that the general public receives. That is something that nobody tries to highlight or outline. He has access to information than thenfiltered general public, which is constantly fed propaganda. So when the average person calls in, they are mostly responding thehe mind control through mainstream media. That is why they dont understand what he is doing. The information he receives is unfiltered. Information that is closer to the facts of what is going on. So when they say, what are you doing . His information is different. Because your information is crazy. A second point i want to make is that everybody talks about an independent investigation. You are the investigator. You need to do the investigation. What james comey dead theye worked for switch them out in history. Thebrother works for clinton administration. Host james comey . Caller yes. And clinton said that a few all touch me, i have information to bring you all down. Host do you have concerns about what you are reading or hearing about in the papers . The New York Times says the president called the director shortly after the elections and asked him when he was going to put out word that trump wasnt under investigation . And then you have this headline in the Washington Post where the former director did homework for talking to trump. He did research and homework before talking to trump because he wanted to be prepared to answer any questions from the president that would be in a way that would not compromise any investigation. And there is a quote in here so that it wouldnt be a slap in the face to the president. And then you have this from the New York Times story, comey told a friend of his of an encounter that troubled him. He said he received a call from the white house and was told that the president needs to talk to you urgently. He is aboutte to get on a helicopter so he doesnt get on the helicopter and when the president gets on, he just wants to chit chat. Do you have concerns about that . Caller no. I listen to it to see what angles they tried to pull but none of that has substance. They have been lying to us forever. All you have to do is look at the position on 9 11. 9 11 was an inside job but they are still try to tell us that Osama Bin Laden did it. Host ok. I like to say that it is time to stop these investigations because it is a waste of taxpayer money and a waste of time. They need to let trump do his job. He is in for four years. And what needs to be done is let him do his job. In four years, if he doesnt do what he has promised and satisfy us, we get to vote again. But these investigations are democrat backed by the sore losers. They lost and now they want to impeach and get in front of the tv with this propaganda. I truly do believe that if you pulled if you pulled the , you find outc that the majority of us dont care about russia. Timeneed to stop wasting and taxpayer dollars. You know, on investigations. I watch them on cspan all the time and they are ridiculous. Host the senators yesterday on capitol hill got an update on the investigation by rod rosenstein. And the Washington Times is that the special counsel appointed, robert mueller, takes the case as a criminal one, not as counterintelligence investigations. Here is senator Lindsey Graham after meeting behind doors. It was a counterintelligence investigation before now. It seems to be now to be seemed to be a criminal investigation. What does that mean for congress . I find it hard to subpoena records of somebody like general flynn, who may be subject to an investigation because he has a right not to incriminate himself. Comey, coming before the committee, if i were robert mueller, i would jealously guard he witnessed pool. So a big loser in this decision is the public. We had a good hearing with sally yates and clapper. I think that opportunity has now been lost. Good, butthe greater there are a lot of people in that room were shocked that when a special counsel has been appointed that congress has limitations on what we can do. Host that with Lindsey Graham saying that the appointment of the special counsel will in pizza work on capitol hill. Other headlines from the meeting behind closed doors he said , rod rosenstein, he knew that james comey would be fired before he wrote the memo. He said two hotlines were dropped disco bombshells were dropped. Lawmakers,o rosenstein confirmed that the investigation into russia is no longer strictly a counterintelligence investigation. A kind of probe that doesnt normally result in charges. He said he was aware that trump was firing comey prior to writing the memo that the white house used as the excuse for the dismissal. All members are getting a briefing today. We will have our cameras outside of that meeting to talk to any members coming up. Coming up, we talked to jim hunt. A member of the intelligence committee. Aboutl talk to him questions that he had. In the meantime, back to your phone calls and thoughts. Ted, a democrat. You agree with the president that this is dividing the country . Problem is that outside interference and the rich trying to stir up his base in order to support him. Because what they have been trying to do in congress is sell out the American People, again. Elect trump,t did elected him to do some of the stuff he says but trump is a capitalist. He has no interest in running the country. He is just trying to make money. And my question has always been, he will follow the money. You follow where the money leads and you will find food and what. The evidence that Trump Authority done, his patents in china and in russia and in all of these business dealings. He has refused to share his taxes and he didnt put his stuff in a blind trust there is so much collusion with him going in and making money that he never realized that this isnt a business. America is a country. Not a business. And all the people who think he is doing so great i would like to see the virginia miners talk about it now. He did nothing for the miners. If you are mining stuff that they cant sell, you are not doing any good. Safety has been lost under the sky. There is so much that he has done to support business and not the country. People need to open their eyes and look at the guy and read what he says. Lets hear from maria, what do you think . Caller i think the thing dividing the country is the double standard that has been shared here. I feel that the Resistance Movement is a seditious movement because they want to undo a lawful election. Talking about sealed records for trump, we still have sealed records from obama that no one is curious about. The russian ties that they had with the clinton foundation, it hasnt been explored. For james comey, and he destroyed evidence and gave immunity to five chief witnesses about Hillary Clinton so i feel t if there is going to be it is open investigation for everyone involved in 2016. Even with obama. Get all of thend skeletons and see if they dance. Thank you for the good job that you do. Host chris, a democrat. Good morning. Caller hello . Yes, i am here. I am in my 90th year. I have been around for a long time and ive seen many things. If we would handle things when they were molehills, they wouldnt become mountains like they are now. Any person wanting to run for president should have to show their income tax return. If we got to see where trumps money comes from, dont you think things would be turned around . A place where votes can be manipulated and that is the way we do our electoral votes. Do anything about the popular votes, but we could do something about the electoral votes. And we could get out of debt easily. I know a plan where we could get out of debt easily and we wouldnt have all of these wineries. It goes on and on because we dont start when these things occur first. To share someng other headlines. The crash where a driver killed one and injured 22. The driver was a navy veteran from the bronx who had a history of arrests. Officials moved quickly to worries of terrorism. And also in history, texass new is now undery law attack. It is under political and legal attack. Federal lawsuit was filed against texas. Challenging the law on behalf of the largely hispanic order town. They say the law is unconstitutional and infringes on the rights of local governments to police their own residence. We are covering a conversation on capitol hill about sanctuary cities. Go to our website for more. You can follow our program there. , the president triggered nafta negotiations. The Trump Administration formally told congress that they intend to renegotiate the trade agreement with canada and mexico. They sent a letter to congressional leaders citing 90 days of consultations with lawmakers over how to revamp the pack. Plus, canada and mexico talks can begin after that. And theres also this. The cocacola industry is pumping up the trump agenda. They plan to spend millions of dollars in ads and resources. It says that the Network Ranks among the most influential players with operations in 36 states. About 550 ultra wealthy donors helped to finance that. They plan to spend 300 millionfour and 2 million on political campaigns before the 2018 elections. Trump leaves today for his first trip overseas. He will be going to israel and italy and brussels for the eu meetings and then back to italy for the the g7 summit. He is gone, you will be releasing his budget for the year. The president s budget will spare the two largest drivers of future spending. Medicare and social security. Have more details on that, next week, on tuesday, when that is released. The Washington Post reports this morning that the Budget Proposal paid family leave. Those are some of the stories there in the newspapers. And on the president s trip, i want to show you this from the Washington Times. President trump will toward the middle east holy sites, having n audience with the pope. His first up is saudi arabia, than to brussels to meet with heads of the european union. He will speak with Service Members and families stationed in italy. A couple more phone calls. Steve, good morning. What do you think . Do you agree with the president . Is is that problem the country is really divided. Bubbles are in your own being collegeeducated news broadcasters and investigators and that, and i understand that is your career. But when i am on the streets i have been Walking Around america for the past few years and what i see is what this comes down to is the last civil war didnt solve the slave problem. And what we have now is two distinct placed peoples and america. We have people that feel they were done wrong and they feel that the white man did it. And so, what is going on is that one half of the country votes thenst the white man and white man says well, we are not going to give america to the mexicans and people that used to be slaves. And so where we are headed is another civil war but no one said oh, that will never happen but it has happened. Host we are going to take a break. Himest, we talk with jim to discuss the latest on the investigation into russias interference in the campaign. And later, kevin cramer will be here to talk about the future of the paris climate agreement. Something the president will be discussion will be discussing on his trip overseas. We will be right back. Join us this weekend for our city tour to new jersey. We feature the history and literary culture. That is uncooked book tv will sit the state libraries a press was set up in theyngton, new jersey with wanted to close so they could receive the printing of the money. , it was the first known rented book within new jersey. And a conversation with william kidder, and author. Time inngton spent more new jersey then in any other state during the revolution. To themimportant thing was to keep the revolution going. Keep the army in the field. Jersey ineve that new particular was instrumental in helping them accomplish that goal. Sunday at 2 00 p. M. , we tour the new jersey State Capitol building which houses one of the oldest legislatures in the country. Jerseysby trenton new impact on the Industrial Revolution with a look at americas some of most iconic bridges. They are part of the very fabric that makes trenton, trenton. When you drive across that sign, and you see the they were evident of that. Watch the city tour of trenton, new jersey. On book tv. And sunday at 2 00 p. M. On , workinghistory tv with our cable affiliates across the country. Host back at the table this morning, congressman jim himes who sits on the intelligence committee. On nsa and separate security and the chair of the new commission. The senator briefing yesterday, house members get their chance to talk to him today. What questions do you have for him