But the broader question is delay, i dont really much take that either. I think sometimes weve been criticized for dong you things too quickly. And now maybe were doing things for too slowly. So maybe im right in the middle of the sweet spot, i would argue. But i think the president has hit this timing perfectly, and i will tell you three reasons why. One of the things he told us to do before the executive order was get the money right. He has picked a cabinet full of people that know Business Operations and business functions have to follow first so that you can then provide policies to implement. You dont have the right money and backoff infrastructure to enforce those things, youll have to change your vision or change your amount of money. So just off the top of my head, the first, i already preemptive answered and that is we learned a lesson here that we dont want to innovate and secure policy on the Security Side without doing that in tant em. And you saw the president sign Technology Counsel security order, and that was done intentionally. And then lastly in between now and then, the president fy18 budget allocated 1,819,000,000 to dhs Cyber Security alone. It dedicated an increase of 1. 5 billion across all departments involved in protecting cyber space. So from my perspective both his first budget request and future ones have right side that amount of money in keeping america safe and that might answer all three of your questions. Sarahs going to pull me away. Thank you so much. America might have about political motivations that these Cyber SecurityCompanies Like you mention facebook, theyre very political or crowd strike. Im sure hell be happy to come back questions later. Actually, he was wrong on one thing. I would gladly let him stay up here and talk Cyber Security all day. A few announcements and then as promised, i will get to, im sure, all of your many pressing questions. I would like to announce that the president also just signed another executive order establishing the bipartisan president ial Advisory Commission on election integrity. This will be chaired by Vice President mike pence. The president s committed to the thorough review of rejection and voting issues in federal elections, and thats exactly what this commission is tasked with doing. The Bipartisan Commission will be made up of around a dozen members, including current and former secretaries of state with kansas secretary of state chris serving as vice chair. It will also include individuals with knowledge and experience elections, election management, Election Fraud detection, and voter integrity efforts. Five additional members that have been announced as of today, connie, secretary of state of indiana, bill gardner, secretary of state of new hampshire, matthew dunlap, the secretary of state of maine, ken blackwell, former secretary of state of ohio, and cristy maccourtroom i can, a commissioner on election. The commission enhance or undermine the American Peoples confidence in integrity in the federal elections and identifies system vulnerabilities that lead to improper rejections and voting. We expect the report will be complete by 2018. The experts and officials, meetings and hearings will be open to the public for comments and input, and we will share those updates as we have them. In cabinet news, secretary purdue cincinnati, ohio today to announce the Agricultural Department plan for reorganizing to provide Better Service to the American People as the president directed in his march 13th executive order. With the barges of the ohio river behind him, many of come contain products that are beginning a journey that will ultimately take them to markets overseas, secretary purdue will announce a new mission area for trade and foreign agriculture affairs, recognizing the growing importance of International Trade to the Agriculture Sector of the economy. United states immigration and Customs Enforcement will hold a press conference at 2 15 today. Probably not too far away, to announce the results of the highly successful recent gang surge operation. The president has maiden format of our nations immigration laws a top priority and todays announcement will underscore not only that commitment, but his focus on targeting transnational gangs and prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety. Also today, secretary mattis met with turkish Prime Minister in london to discuss a range of bilateral Security Issues and the secretary reiterated the United States commitment to protecting our nato ally and both leaders affirmed their support for peace and stability in iraq and syria. One other thing i wanted to point out. Last night obamacare suffered another serious blow as aetna announced its decision to pull out of the nebraska and delaware marketplaces, which ends their participation exchanges completely. Theyve sustained hundreds of millions of dollars over the last several years and is projected to lose more than 200 million in 2017. The company attributes those losses to structural issues within the exchanges quote that have led to coop failures and carrier exits in consequent risk pool deterioration, end quote. This latest news adds to the mountain of evidence that obamacare has completely failed the American People and reinforces why there is no time to waste in repealing and replacing this law before it takes our entire Health Care System down with it. Finally, i know hold this hands. I know we sent out a timeline regarding the former the firing of former director comey yesterday because there seems to be some misperceptions about the meeting between the president and the attorney general and the Deputy Attorney general on monday. But im going to read it to you all again just to make sure were all in the same page because i want the sequence of events to be perfectly clear to everyone. The president over the last several months lost confidence in director comey. After watching director comeys testimony last wednesday, the president was strongly inclined to remove him. On monday, the president met with the attorney general and Deputy Attorney general, and they discussed reasons for removing the director. The next day, tuesday may 9th the Deputy Attorney general sent his written recommendation to the attorney general and the attorney general sent his written recommendation to happen. Hopefully that clears up some of those things and with that, i will take your questions. Steve. Sarah, why did a number of remarks. Why did the president think that james comey was a showboat . I think probably based on the numerous appearances that he made, and i think its probably pretty evident in his behavior over the last year or so with the back and forth and i think that it speaks pretty clearly. Those words dont leave a lot of room for interpretation, so i think its pretty clear what he meant. Three conversations that the president had with james comey about whether he was under investigation, he said one under two phone calls. Was that since january 20th or when . I dont have exact dates on when those phone calls took place. Jonathan. Sarah, two parts of the comey question regarding the interview the president just gave. First of all, isnt it inappropriate for the president of the United States to ask the fbi director directly if hes under investigation . No. I dont believe it is. One of these conversations happened at a dinner where the fbi director koop was asking to stay on as fbi director. Dont you see how thats a conflict of interest . Hes saying he wants to keep his job and the president is asking whether or not hes under investigation . I dont see that as a conflict of interest and neither do the many legal scholars and others that have been commenting on it for the last hour. So, no, i dont see that as an issue. One other thing that i want to ask you about is i asked you directly yesterday. Related to comey. I asked you directly yesterday if the president had already decided to fire james comey when he met with the Deputy Attorney general and attorney general, and you said no. Also, the Vice President of the United States said directly the president acted to take the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney general to remove the fbi director. Sean spicer said directly it was all him, meaning the Deputy Attorney general. Now we learn from the president directly that he has already decided to fire james comey. So why were so many people giving answers . Were you guys in the dark . Was the Vice President misled again . I know you would love to report that we were misled, and we want to create hold on, jonathan. I let you finish and read off every single one of those statements, so unless you want to trade places, i think its my turn now. Am i think its pretty simple. I havent had the chance to have the conversation with the president. Ive had several conversations with him, but i havent asked him that already. Have you made that decision . I went off the information i had. I since had the conversation with him right before i walked on today, and he laid it out very clearly. He had already made that decision. He had been thinking about it for months, which i did say yesterday and have said many times since. And wednesday, i think was the final strawthat pushed him and the recommendation that he got from the Deputy Attorney general just further solidified his decision and, again, i think reaffirms that he made the right one. After the Vice President in the dark too . Nobody was in the dark, jonathan. You want to create this false narrative. If we want to talk about contradicting statements and people that were in the dark, how about the democrats . Lets read a few of them. You want to talk about them . Heres what democrats said not long ago about comey. Harry reid said comey should resign and be investigated by the senate. Chuck schumer said i dont have confidence in him much longer. Senator Bernie Sanders said not be a bad thing if comey resigned. Nancy pelosi said comey was not in the right job. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said she thought comey was no longer able to serve in a credible way. Reportedly urged him to fire comey. Just yesterday representative Maxine Watters said that Hillary Clinton would have fired comey. You want to talk about people in the dark . Our story is consistent. The president is the only person that can fire the director of the fbi. He serves at the pleasure of the president , the president made the decision, it was the right decision. The people that are in the dark today are the democrats. They want to come out, they want to talk about all of these they love comey and how great he was. Look at the facts. The facts dont lie. Their statements are all right there. I think its extremely clear that and frankly, i think its kind of sad. In washington, we finally had something that i think we should have all been able to agree on, and that was that director comey shouldnt have been at the fbi but the democrats want to play partisan games, and i think thats the most glaring thing thats being left out of out of your process stories. John roberts. Sarah, you said from the podium yesterday that director comey had lost confidence of the rank and file of the fbi. On capitol hill today, the acting director of the fbi directly contradicted that. What led you in the white house to believe that he had lost the confidence in the rank file in the fbi and the acting director says its exactly the opposite . Well, i can speak to my own personal experience. Ive heard from countless members of the fbi that are grateful and thankful for the president s decision, and i think that, you know, we may have to agree to disagree. Im sure that there are some people that are disappointed. But i certainly heard from a large number of individuals, and thats just myself. And i dont even know that people in the fbi. What you were saying about the democrats, clearly they didnt like james comey too much after the announcement that he was reopening the investigation of Hillary Clintons emails. Their point now is that timing is different. That this was in the middle of an investigation. Do they have a point . Not at all, and i think mr. Mcabe made that point far better than i could today when he said theres been no impediment to the investigation. And as i said before, any investigation that was taking place on monday is still taking place today. So i think thats, again, another sad story by the democrats that theyre trying to pedal. Thank you. Another comment from the hearing today the acting Deputy Attorney general said im sorry the mcabe says that he considers the investigation into russian medaling, the election be highly significant and the path the president said that the investigation was a hoax, and he was questioned even recently maybe it wasnt russia. It might have been china. Has the president considered this investigation be highly significant . Look, i think he would love nothing more for this investigation to continue to its completion. I think the one of the reasons that the hoax component is the collusion component that has been the false narrative that you guys have been pushing for the better part of a year. I think thats the piece that he is repeatedly talking about being the hoax. But in terms of National Security, take that seriously, putting aside the comey. Of course he takes National Security seriously. To even hint that he doesnt i think is to misunderstand this president completely. From the very moment he stepped on the Campaign Stage to the day he took the oath of office to become president , he has talked about National Security. He has made that one of the biggest priorities in the administration. You just saw tom here talking about Cyber Security on all fronts, whether its securing the border, whether its protecting people abroad here. The president has been focused on this. During the election the threat to u. S. National. I havent had the chance to ask him about that. I think were still waiting on the final conclusion of that investigation. He doesnt know look, i think any time we have somebody interfering with our election, that would be considered a problem, and i think the president would certainly recognize that. Matthew. Two questions. First, Vice President pence yesterday said that the firing was based on the recommendation of the attorney general and Deputy Attorney general. We know now that thats not true was the Vice President misled again or did he mislead the American People . I believe ive answered that question. I dont think i caught it because the Vice President said yesterday that the president chose to accept and support the position of the Deputy Attorney general. He certainly accepted the deputy that doesnt mean that he wouldnt still accept his recommendation. I mean, theyre on the same page. Like, why are we arguing about the semantics of whether or not he accepted it . They agreed. I mean, im not sure how he didnt accept the Deputy Attorney generals recommendation when they agreed with one another. If i may just switch topics slightly. If he knew if the president knew he was going to do this, why ask for this memos to begin with . Why not just fire comey . Why have these memos put out and then explain that he did it because of the memos but then say that he was going to do it either way . Im confused as to why even got those memos. I think he wanted to get the feedback from the Deputy Attorney general who the director of the fbi reports to. Again, it further solidified the decision that he had made. The only person that can fire comey was the president. He made that decision. He was clearly the right one as evidence by all of the comments, both by house and senate democrats, republicans, and many people within the fbi. I think instead of getting so lost in the process that this happened at 12 01 or 12 02. Did he fire him because he wore a red tie or blue tie . He fired him because he was not fit to do the job. Its that simple. It shouldnt be a complicated process. The director knew that comey was not up to the task. He decided that he was not the right person for the job. He wanted to bring credibility back to the fbi that had been lost overly last several months. The president made that decision. He made it. He moved forward. It was the right one. I dont think that, you know, the back and forth makes that much different. Sarah, did you call on me . Yes. Thank you. Going back to what you said about democrats. Yes, there are some democrats stated that comey should be fired, but theyre questioning the timing. Why now . Even the Deputy Attorney general did say that. I think ive answered this. I hate to, again, repeat myself, but were getting lost on the same questions here. He had decided that he wasnt fit. Theres never going to be a good time to fire someone. Whether its on a tuesday or a friday. He decided he wanted to give director comey a chance. He did, and he felt like he wasnt up to the task. Monday sean spicer when he was at the podium, he said after the testimony he said, you know, he talked about there was no collusion, but he also said that there needs to be a timeline when the russia investigation yesterday, you said it should continue. Which one is it . Should it continue or should it end because the president said monday and now yesterday it should continue. Im just trying to find out which one it is. I said i wanted it to come to its completion. We wanted to continue until it is finished, which we would like to happen soon so that we can focus on the things that we think most americans frankly care a whole lot more about. I think the people in this room are obsessed about this story a lot more than the people we only to and hear from every day. We would like to be focusing on the problems we have. And i think that was one of the reasons that frankly the president made was the right one because i think it adds credibility and integrity back to the we know the president fired the fbi director with six years left on his tenyear term. How important is it that the next fbi director be not a showboat or grand standard . And how important is it that this person is loyal to the president . I think the main factor that theyre looking for is that theyre loyal to the Justice System. Theyre loyal to the American People. This president is looking for somebody who can come in and has the support i think across the board whether its republicans, democrats, members of the fbi, and certainly the American People. Again, it wasnt just one thing that caused the president to make this decision. A large part of the why he made this decision was because he didnt feel like director comey was up to the job. He watched an erosion of confidence that he had in his ability to carry out the task that needed to be done. Hes looking for somebody that can do that. Jordan. Thank you, sarah. Two questions. First, i want to follow up about what john asked about the ranking file of the fbi. Do you think the fbi has a better handle on the file than you do . Im not going to get in the back and forth of who has a better handle. Again, ive heard from multiple individuals that are very happy about the president s decision, and i know that it was the right one. I believe that most of the people that weve talked to also believe it was the right decision to make. About the meeting yesterday between President Trump and the Russian Foreign minister. Do you walk us through how a photographer from either russian news outlet or the russia government got into that meeting and got those photographs out . Yeah. The same way that they would whoever themeeting wh when it comes to foreign minister, both individuals have official photographers in the world. We had an official photographer in the room, as did the usually the independent media in the u. S. Is typically invited into those meetings. Why did that happen . It varies, actually. Not always particularly sometimes the protocol when it is not the head of state and prior to the president meeting with the head of state, that wouldnt always take place. So, again, proper protocol was followed in this procedure. Sarah, has the president been questioned by the fbi would their investigation to russian elections . No that im aware of. Does he expect to be . I havent had a chance to ask him that question. Im not going to guess. As a general protocol that discourages conversations with the president of the United States about anything that might involve the president. Thats a general aspect of the protocol thats usually fired to ensure theres no confusion on even the impression or appearance of political influence on the fbi. Thats the standard procedure. You just said it was appropriate for the president of the United States to ask whether or not he was under investigation. Why is it appropriate thats not consistent . To avoid that very encounter. Weve talked to several again, several legal scholars have weighed in on this and said that there was nothing wrong with the president asking that question. Should change his protocol . I havent seen their protocol. Im only speaking to the information i have no, its not what i think. I mean, look at the people that followed up the interview. There were multiple attorneys that came on after and specifically stated that it was not inappropriate and wasnt wrong for the president to do so. So, again, i can only base it off im not an attorney. Yoplait one on tv. But what i can tell you is that ive heard from legal minds and people that actually are attorneys, and thats their opinion, so i have to trust the Justice System on that fact too. Would you say so based on the experience that you and sean and this Communications Office had tuesday and wednesday that you were given all of the best information to relay the American Public through us, were only intermediaries about what happened about this fire. Thats funny you mention intermediaries. You usually take a more proactive approach most of the time. But ill go with intermediaries today. Look, i think we were absolutely given the information that we could have at that time. It was a quickmoving process. We took the information we have as best we have it and get it out to the American People as quickly as we could. And would you say that that information was accurate then or more accurate now . I would say after having a conversation with the president , you dont get much more accurate than that. And so by that standard, should reporters and the country essentially wait for announcement from the president before believing that, which is saved on his staff by the communication staff. Look, major im not going to get in a back and forth that we have to have like a direct quote every single time. In this process, i gave you the best information i had at the moment. I still dont think that it critics the president s decision. You guys want to get lost in the process. Its simple. I dont think its lost in the process, sarah. With all respect. Its very simple. The president decided to fire director comey. Nobody else gets to make that decision, and he made it. He stands by it, as do the rest of us. Thanks. Two questions. Following up on the back in i think october of last year, the former president was highly criticized by members of the fbi and others outside of the fbi for making some comments on television that were suggested that he had an opinion about how the hillary emails should go. And the charge was that he was interfering, he was putting his thumb on the scale about an ongoing active investigation. Theres a lot of criticism from the republicans of the president about that. Talk to me about how that how what this president did in his series of conversations with the fbi director goes far beyond what former president obama did and to majors point, how can you argue regardless of maybe some pundits on tv who maybe saying otherwise, how can you argue that that doesnt have an appearance of trying to influence an investigation thats actively going on . Look, i think the president encouraged this investigation to take place and complete so that we can move forward. Weve been as compliant as possible throughout the entire process. We will continue to do so. Nobody wants this investigation to go forward and complete with integrity more than the president. People clearly know which way he wants to come out; right . On the right side. I think that he wants it to come out hes very well aware of the actions he has or hasnt taken. He knows he didnt take any action, and i think hes ready for the rest of you guys to understand that as well. And one last question just to follow up on the fbi thing. And im not trying to be overly combative here, when you said now today, and i think you said again yesterday that you personally have talked to countless fbi officials, employees since this happened. Correct. I mean, really . Between like emails, text messages, absolutely. 60 . 70 . Look, were not going to get into a numbers game. I have heard from a large number of individuals that work at the fbi that said that theyre very happy with the president s decision. I mean, i dont know what else i can say. The secretary attorney general asked the white House Counsel to correct the version of the comey firing. Is that accurate . Im not aware of a specific ask for a correction. I do know that we all want to be sure we get that right, and thats been our you know, what weve attempted to do all along. The reason we sent the update last night, i know there were severaquestions after the briefing yesterday, and i addressed that again in the opening today. R goal is to get this as right and clear as we can. Did the president know that comey had thought more. No. And based what i have seen, has pushed back and thats not accurate. Sarah, the white house to pin the decision to fire james comey. I dont think there was an attempt to pin the decision on the Deputy Attorney general. Look, i think his recommendation, again, it was extremely clear. The president , though, makes the decision. The buck stops with him. Nobody has ever tried to say that this wasnt the president s decision, that he wasnt the one that carried it out and to triangle conflate those things is not what took place. We knew that the president s been thinking about this for a long time. The directors testimony last wednesday and then getting the recommendation from the Deputy Attorney general i think further solidified the president s decision. Just to clarify one thing you said, the president has encouraged investigation in a russia, he wants to see reach sooner rather than later. How was he encouraged that just fire the man thats overseeing the russia investigation . Its multiple people. Not just the fbi. You have the house committee, the senate committee. The point is that we want this to come to its conclusion with integrity, and we think that we actually by removing comey to take steps to make that happen. Thank you so much, guys. Trish all right. That was Sarah Sanders, governor huckabees daughter filling in for sean spicer today. Once again, doing a very good job. You know, its not easy to get up there and face a hostile crowd like she has been doing. But shes answering the questions very matteroffactly, very straight forward just about just exactly why the president decided to fire fbi director james comey. Im trish regan, welcome, everyone, to the intelligence report. The left is piling on President Trump about this comey firing, and they say its all part of a massive coverup of the president s ties to russia. But the white house says trump has been thinking about comeys exit ever since election day. Well, now the administration is focused on finding a candidate to replace comey as fbi director. The question still remain over how the news will affect the republican agenda, including very important things like tax reform and Health Care Reform that need to get done for our economy. Joining me right now with your thoughts on all of it. We have National Review editor rich allowy. We have republican strategist and american ureter executive. Good to see all. Ill start with you there. Rich and i were just commenting as we watched Sarah Sanders that she was doing a very good job being pretty direct with some of those reporters questions and helping in her own way to try to shoot down this narrative thats coming from the left that somehow donald trump was worried that james comey was onto something, and he was working too hard on this investigation, which is why donald trump got rid of him. Well, look, donald trump can get rid of him, and i think sarah did a great job, and she said, hey, if you want to pinpoint one thing in the erosion of confidence over time from james comey, look at his testimony on last wednesday that he said hes judge dread, the movie character, he is the law, and hes going to play by his own rules with respect to the clinton email investigation. Lets be honest, if youre president of the United States, you dont nt a hotdogging fbi director going forward, particularly with the stones and the way that the democrats are trying to use russia as a political football. Might i also add, trish, what was interesting is acting fbi director andrew mcabe basically said when it came to the russia investigation, he had adequate resources and the administration had not been an impediment to moving forward. So the democrats once again are barking up a fake tree. Trish mcabe also said, actually, we can run the sound for you right here that basically they werent asking at all for any of these resources. That was the New York Times story, of course, that was put out yesterday afternoon. Do we have the sound . Yep. Were going to run it. Here we go. I dont im not aware of that request, and its not consistent with my understanding of how we requested Additional Resources. That said, we dont typically request resources for a individual case. And i believe that the russia investigation is adequately resourced. Trish this is different than the narrative being spun yesterday. There was a report that said that comey had specifically gone an and asked for Additional Resources and that was somehow perhaps what triggered Donald Trumps decision to get rid of him it then and there. Right. And if what mcabe was saying is accurate, the story was wrong, so that they can have been a triggering event. Look, i think the way the white house handled this is not good. I dont think its a good reason to fire james comey, focused so much on russia that some of the reporting suggests. But it is perfectly legitimate anconstitutional for him to fire him for any reason, and i think the way he conduct himself over the campaign, the course of the Campaign Last year made him imminently fireable. We came out for comeys firing in january rich, i dont think yeah, but, rich, i dont think that you could have fired him during the inauguration because that would have left sally yates, a political hack in charge of the doj. And then once Jeff Sessions recused himself, you couldnt actually fire james comey if you wanted to until april 26th. Very interesting point. But, by the way, we he gave every indication, including the fox business, that he wanted to look at james comey. And just a month ago he said he didnt know whether he was going to let james comey stay or whether james comey was going to go. Go ahead, capri. Look, james comey, no question about it has engaged in some tenuous activities, you know, dating back to last year. I actually happen to be a democrat that doesnt believe that it is either james comey or wikileaks that cost Hillary Clinton the election. I think it was Hillary Clinton and her inability to craft a message that cost her an election and a campaign where she needed a campaign. But there seems to be inconsistencies here. Yes, as i said james comey was kind of really acted out of the norm of the Traditional Law enforcement protocols, not only last year but more recently as well. So you would think that he would have been able to pull the trigger a little bit earlier. But were also seeing some inconsistencies as well as far as, for example, with the acting director mcabe saying that he was not aware that the file, for example, had lost faith as the president of the United States has asserted. So there seems to be a lot of questions out there. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Trish go ahead. If he serves at the pleasure of the president and the president says hes lost confidence, that is all you need. Im not im not arguing im arguing a constitutional crisis here. What constitutional crisis . Wait a minute. There is shes not saying theres one. Im not saying. Thats a triggering phrase for ford. So dont say it. Im not saying there is one. Im not arguing theres a constitutional crisis. What i am saying; is that true seems to be inconsistencies between what the acting director mcabe said as far as the file losing faith within trish okay. So mcabe is saying the ranken file respected him. But how is that that causes you to somehow doubt what theyre saying about the Additional Resources . No. Again, who knows what the answer behind that is either. Theres inconsistencies there. You have one report from the New York Times, then you have the trish the New York Times, and then you get the guy whos actually at the fbi saying this is how its done, and thats not what we did. Because you wouldnt do it in the first place. And that very well may be the case. But i think no matter what, there are two separate issues. One is the comey firing. The other has to do with the two conspiracy theories. Can you believe how were trafficking in conspiracy theories . I mean, i hate that. And thats what i hate about this whole story because that its a sad day when you get conspiracy theories dominating the news front. Rich, ford, capri, thank you. I want to get to blake burman right now who was there listening to the press conference that we just heard there. Tell us the very latest, blake. Well, trish, there were really two dominant issues that played out throughout this White House Press briefing. The first, why didnt the white house have its story straight, at least the communication shop as to how this all played out in the last 48 hours or so when the president finally decided to make the decision to fire james comey. And secondly, is it appropriate for the president of the United States to ask the head of the federal bureau of investigation if he is under investigation. To that ladder point, President Trump gave an interview with lester holt of nbc news here at the white house earlier this afternoon in which the president described under three occasions that the fbi director jim comey told him he was not under investigation. One time at dinner here at the white house. Two other times during subsequent phone calls. Take a listen President Trump describe how part of that process played out. Did you call him . In one case, i called him, and one case he called me. And did you ask am i under investigation . I actually asked him, yes. I said if its probable, would you let me know am i under investigation . He said you are not under investigation. Trish, the White House Press secretary, the Deputy Press SecretarySarah Huckabee sanders arguing today that is not inappropriate. As for the roll out by the white house communication shop and not really having their story straight as to how this all played out, sanders trying to push back on the process saying, look, it doesnt matter if it happened at 12 01, 12 02, whether he wore a red tie or blue tie, the president has the authority to make that decision, and he made it. Trish. Trish lets not forget. Clinton did the same thing in 1993. He got rid of the head of the fbi as well. So he indeed has the authority and yethe are all of these conspiracy theories out there that people are trafficking in people on the left are trafficking in, and its causing, you know, some real disorder. Thank you very much. Blake burman. Acting fbi director testifying on capitol hill following the abrupt exit of his former boss james comey. Today the white house says mcabe is on the short list to replace the ousted fbi chief but some reports say the administration is looking outside the bureau for comeys longterm replacement. Joining me right now is Manhattan Institute fellow and Fox News Contributor judy miller, and shes got some thoughts on who exactly it might be and who she believes it should be. Judy, good to see you. Whos topping your list . Top of my list bar none, ray kelly. The former police which i guesser of new york who is not only Police Commissioner longer than anyone else, worked his way up to cadet, commissioner, served twice but more than that, built the best counterterrorism effort that is a model for all police forces, has federal experience, was at customs, worked in haiti getting people on their feet and getting american policy moving. Knows washington, former marine. Heres the problem. Hes really independentminded. We dont know whether you want independentminded. But im not sure donald trump was. Lets back up for a second. You could say rudy giuliani, and had talked about even initially going way back what a scenario. What if donald trump became president . And now low and behold he is. Who would he put in to possibly replace comey . I used to hear giulianis name a lot. Do you think hes seen as too partisan, too much as sort of the kind of person that might do anything donald trump wants him to do in this environment and thus would that be a problem . Right. I think that is a problem and remember, we have to deal now with the perspective tough confirmation, no matter who it is on the hill. So you really need someone who is viewed as independent, not someone who is a Campaign Spokesman as giuliani. Okay. And what makes you say that ray kelly has that independence . Well, he has it because hes already demonstrated it and because people who have worked with him know how independentminded he is. And how he speaks back to power. Thats a very unusual quality. Hes also not only a kind of strategist but knows what he is going on beneath him. We have a Police Department here of 55,000 people, 35,000 uniformed and yet he always had his ear to the ground. So you think who it is that can get through the confirmation process as well. Right. Is it polarizing so much that theyre going to take the headlines away from what needs to be done and we have someone come in and replace comey and all kinds of headlines. So ray kelly, again, do you think hes that guy . I think he is that guy. There are other that are strong candidates. You have tray gowdy whos from the congress. Trish right. And he was a former prosecutor, but he didnt exactly distinguish himself with the benghazi hearings. He wasnt viewed as well organized. There are other people, joh john frank townsend. Were also hearing Chris Christie. I dont buy Chris Christie for the same reason that i dont buy giuliani and that is christie was a spokesman after he decided that he wasnt going to be able to beat donald trump, he joined him. So i dont think that gets through. Especially with the bridge gate scandal that he was involved in, two of his aids were convicted of helping close down the George Washington bridge. Trish thats all going to come back to haunt him. You dont want to be a distraction right now. Ray kelly, very interesting choice. Well, i dont know if it thats who i hope gets it, but im not sure he will. Trish thank you so much. Thank you. Trish well, the big Health Insurer aetna is pulling out of obamacare exchanges. All together. Just to abandon the exchanges. What does it mean for customers . What does it mean for Health Care Reform . Weve got the intel for you next. Trish republicans work on their version of Health Care Reform, there is more evidence today that obamacare is collapsing. I mean, really collapsing. The nations Third LargestHealth Insurer says its going to completely exit the statebased insurance exchanges next year. All together. Done. Aetna says see you later. Its pulling out of nebraska and delaware, completing, finalizing its exit from obamacare all together. Its following other companies out the door, pushing obamacare further into a death spiral. Gerri willis joins me right now. Thats right, trish. Aetna will withdrawal from the obamacare marketplace in 2018, exiting as you say nebraska and delaware. Now, the company had already said it will pull back from iowa and virginia. Losses mounting for aetna in more than 200 million from the exchanges on top of 700 million it lost between 2014 and 2016. Aetna is not alone. Humanna and United Health also pulled the plug and anthem expectedo reduce its participation as well. Now, the move by aetna is just one more sign that obamacares promise of offering a marketplace for affordable coverage is crumbling. Today just a third of the nations counties have more than one insurer and state officials across the country are biting their nails to see whether more will sign on 2018 in the coming weeks. In iowa, the last remaining insurer has announced plans to pull out. Worst coverage has become unaffordable. In maryland, for example, care first is seeking approvals for a 52 rate hike. And in can the plaintiff, rate hike requests range from 15 to 34 . As the options narrow, more and more people are dropping out. Terror goodrich, raleigh engineer is one. Reduces quality of life, frankly. I mean, yeah, weve got that plan in place. But with a huge deductible and paying those premiums, it really doesnt cover anything. And it puts us in a really bad spot, and i Hope Congress does something because its ridiculous that they would come down here if they would have to use this health care, they would fix it in a heartbeat. After premiums for her obamacare policies surge to 1,512 a month, goodrich opted for shortterm coverage that doesnt meet obamacare requirements but does fit their budget. Unfortunately, the solution is not permanent. And goodrich says shes not sure what the company will do once this new coverage lapses. Trish. All right. Thank you very much, gerri willis for more on all of it. I want to bring in former Lieutenant Governor for new york betsy mccoy. Betsy has made it her mission to understand all of this health care what shall we call it . Craziness . Well, its a crisis now. I was going to say craziness. But its crisis. Middle class people who dont get insurance at work will not be able to afford coverage this fall. You just heard gerri talk about the triple digit rate increases that are being announced. So unless you get a free ride, unless you earn a small enough income that youre eligible for a whopping subsidy, you will no longer be able to afford a Health Care System. Is this what everybody kept predicting all along . Yes. And im so glad you said predicting all along because the fact is Insurance Experts predicted that obamacare would go into this death spiral the day it passed into law. We were warning of this before it became law. You cannot try to force Healthy People to pay the same premiums as sick people. They will refuse because Health Care Needs are very skewed. Its like trying to feed a chihuahua on a great dane diet. Trish were going to change this and the Insurance Companies are going to theoretically like it because youre going to take all of those sick people with preexisting conditions and put them in one pool. But here is my concern, betsy. You know, i dont know if you trust the government to negotiate anything; right . Theyre going to have to negotiate on behalf of those people with the preexisting conditions. Are they going to be able to do that . Yes. Let me tell you about this. Its really a guaranteed protection for people with preexisting conditions. A whopping 138 billion over ten years. I crunched these numbers myself, so i know that they are more than adequate. They err on the side of extreme generosity. Make enough money but the government, theyre going to have to be tough here. Yes. But in each state, if the state tells Insurance Companies you can charge people with preexisting conditions or put differently, if the state said you can give a break to Healthy People, you can give them a premium break, were going to see premiums come down by double digits, as much as half in some states. And then the people with preexisting conditions will not be out of pocket more money. Well see. Well see. I hope youre right. Betsy mccoy, thank you so much. Did woulder taking a quick break and out with a trish outraged over reports of Public Employees receiving massive sick day payouts with one employee receiving get this. Unbelievable. 266,000. 266,000. We ought to put that up on the screen. This is money that is coming from you, from me, from everyone. The taxpayers ourselves. Joining me with more, fox business new reporter tracy. Hey, tracy, welcome. Thank you, trish. Now, these payouts for sick leave are in addition to a pension, those retiring Public Workers are also getting one of the most outrages examiners. Received a onetime payout like you said of over 266,000 for 1250 unused sick days for his 46year career. In florida, state workers are due to receive a total of 154 million in sick leave payout. Lawmakers and taxpayers in several states calling for a change. They want to put a cap on the parliament. They claim this is putting stress on already strained state and local budgets. Governments often dont budget for sick leave payouts, which result in large, unexpected costs when a long Time Employee retires. Some states compensate unused sick days in other ways. Texas and tennessee allow state workers to use sick leave to push up their retirement dates. Employees in West Virginia and wisconsin can apply the unused sick days toward Health Insurance coverage. Trish. Trish all right. Thank you so much, tracy. Its pretty crazy stuff. All right. Everyone, were going to be back with more intel right after this, so see you here in two at crowne plaza we know Business Travel isnt just business. Theres this. a bit of this. Why not . Your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. Which is what we do. Crowne plaza. Were all business, mostly. You know in the of the news it is dominating the headlines. It will continue to dominate the headlines for a little while here. This is a narrative that they will keep spinning and spinning. They have a theory that has been taken completely out of control. For trump for our president its also a problem. Given the left wants to concede upon this. Our president has the ability to fire the have of the fbi whenever he chooses to do so. And its been done before. So there is precedent for this and it would be helpful if the left would stay away from the Conspiracy Theory so we can get down to business and do the things that we need to do to get our economy on track. I will see you tomorrow. Liz we do have this. I am not under investigation by the fbi in an interview with nbc news. The president made that pronouncement just as criticism over his firing of the fbi director two days ago continues to mount. The president also revealing he decided to fire call me before meeting with the attorney general and the Deputy Attorney general. Moments ago the deputy White House Press secretary peppered with questions from the press about that apparent reversal