Transcripts For KYW CBS Evening News With Scott Pelley 20170608

States said, we had that thing i would like to know what that thing is. This is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. Pelley former f. B. I. Director james comey told the Senate Intelligence commit they President Trump ordered him to call off the investigation of former National Security adviser Michael Flynn. For two and a half hours today, comey described a series of highly unusual meetings and phone calls in which mr. Trump bypassed comeys boss, the attorney general, and asked comey directly to publicly clear the president of wrongdoing. A special counsel has taken over the russia investigation and could look into whether mr. Trump committed obstruction of justice when he asked comey to drop the flynn inquiry and then fired comey when he did not. In perhaps a sign of the legal and political jeopardy, the president for once did not speak for himself. He left it to his lawyer to deny all. We have extensive coverage beginning with nancy cordes. I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, so i thought it really important to document. Reporter comey told senators that it was the president s pattern of dishonesty that prompted him to take notes. I knew that there might come a day when i would neepped a record of what had happened, not just to defend myself, but to defend the f. B. I. Reporter he says he wrote down everything he could remember from a january dinner where the president demanded his loyalty. My common sense toll me whats going on here is hes looking to get something in exchange for granting my request to stay in the job. Reporter three weeks later, he says, the president ordered everyone but him out of a meeting in the oval office. Had you ever seen anything like that before . No. My sense was the attorney general knew he shouldnt be leaving, which is why he was lingering, and i dont know mr. Kushner well, but i think he picked up on the same thing. And so i knew something was about to happen that i needed to pay very close attention to. Reporter once they were alone, he says, the president told him, i hope you can see your way clear to dropping an f. B. I. Investigation involving fired National Security adviser Michael Flynn. California democrat Dianne Feinstein why didnt you stop and say, mr. President , this is wrong. I cannot discuss this with you. Maybe if i were stronger, i would have. I was so stunned by the conversation that i just took it in. Reporter idaho republican dan richman he did not direct you to let it go. Not in his words, no. I mean, this is the president of the United States, with me alone, saying i hope this, i took it as this is what he wants me to do. I didnt obey that, but thats the way i took it. Reporter Oklahoma Republican Jame Lankford argued President Trump didnt say anything to comey that he hasnt said on twitter. Quite frankly, the president has informed around six billion people that hes not real fond of this investigation. Do you think theres a difference in that . Yes. Okay. I think theres a big difference in kicking superior officers out of the oval office, looking the f. B. I. Director in the eye and saying, i hope you let this go. I think if agents, as good as they are, heard the president of the United States did that, theres a real riskave Chilling Effect on their work. Reporter President Trump has disputed comeys account, even tweeting last month, james comey better hope there are no taims of our conversations. Lordy, i hope there are tapes. Reporter comey says that tweet three days after he was fired lead him to take an unusual step. He asked a friend, columbia law professor, dan richman, to share the conterchts of his memos with a New York Times reporter. I thought that might prompt the apoivment a special counsel. So why didnt you give those to somebody yourself rather than give them through a third party . Because i was worried the media was camping at the end of my driveway at that point and i was actually gowght of town with my wife to hide and i worried it would be like feeding seagulls at the beach if it was i who gave it to the media. So i asked my friend, make sure this gets out. Reporter comey says he resents the shifting explanations for his firing. The administration chose to defame me, and more importantly the f. B. I. , by saying the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. Those were lies, plain andicism. Reporter comey says he believes the real reason for his firing has to do with his handling of the russia investigation and the fact that he was unwilling, scott, to lift the cloud, as want president repeatedly requested. Pelley nancy cordes in the hearing room. Nancy, thank you. And Major Garrett it centenarian white house this evening. Major. Reporter scott, President Trump watched some of the proceedings with his lawyer and top adviser, like soninlaw jared kushner, daughter ivanka, and chief of staff reince preibus, and in a speech to social conservatives, the president sounded defiant. Were under siege. You understand that. But we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever. You watch. Reporter later, other president s attorney Marc Kasowitz denied two of comeys most damning assertions. The president never in form or substance, directed or suggested that mr. Comey stop investigating anyone. The president also never told mr. Comey i need loyalty. I expect loyalty. Reporter kasowitz did say comeys testimony vindicated the president s assertion that he was not under investigation. He then portrayed comey as part of a governmentwide effort to undermine the administration with leaks. Mr. Comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers. Reporter comey testified that he told his friend to leak his memo to the New York Times after this may 12 president ial tweet. Comey better hope that there are no taiches our conversations. While the president himself did not tweet today, his son, donald jr. Wrote, im pretty sure that comeys testimony put his own character on trial. During an offcamera briefing at the white house, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders was asked if the president was a liar. I can definitively say the president s not a liar. And i think its, frankly, insulting that that question would be asked. Reporter sanders would not say if the president tapes oval office conversations. This was her response when asked to check ill try to look under the couches. Reporter sanders also said the president does, indeed, have confidence in attorney general jeff sessions. Scott, that comes after two Straight Days in which the white house refused to answer that question. Pelley Major Garrett for us tonight. Major, thank you. It was last month that the federal investigation into all of this was turned over to an independent special counsel, former f. B. I. Director robert mueller. Our chief legal correspondent, jan crawford, tonight has a look at the law. I dont think its for me to say whether the conversation i had with the president was an effort to obstruct. Reporter throughout the hearing, former director james comey was careful not to say whether he thought the president broke the law. As in this exchange with West Virginia democrat joe manchin. Do you believe this will rise to obstruction of justice . I dont know. Thats bob muellers job to sort that out. Reporter deferring to the special counsel, comey instead laid out his version of the facts, that the president , after firing National Security adviser Michael Flynn, urged comey to drop his investigation into flynns postelection conversations with its russian ambassador. I took it as a direction. Reporter but even if comey thought that, its not necessarily a crime. Whats key for obstruction is intent, whether the president thought firing flynn was punishment enough, or whether he corruptly endeavored to influence, obstruct, or impeeled the investigation for an improper purpose. I think the one overall takeaway would have to be obstruction of justice. Reporter Scott Fredricksen is a former federal prosecutor. The fundamentals might be there potentially, but there is more investigation in the future. Its not a question i can answer in an open setting, mr. Chairman. Reporter and some of comeys testimony, like this exchange with Committee Chairman richard burr, bolstered the president s claims he did not obstruct. Did the president at any time ask you to stop the f. B. I. Investigation into russian involvement in the 2016 u. S. Elections . Not to my understanding, no. Reporter but this is more of a political matter, a sitting president has never been indicted. The constitution says impeachment is the punishment for committing high crimes and misdemeanors, which means, scott, obstrusks justice is whatever a majority of Congress Says it is. Pelley jan crawford, thanks very much. Well, coming into the comey hearing, President Trumps job Approval Rating was 37 , close to his alltime low of 35. Its interesting to note, five other recent president s fell lower for a time, in the 20s truman, nixon, carter, and both bushes. John dickerson, our chief washington correspondent and the anchor of face the nation is joining us right now. John, beyond the legal issues, there was a contest of character today between comey and the president. We mentioned those public approval numbers. Thats about public opinion. As jan said, its ultimately politicians who will make the determination here. The public puts pressure on them. How does the public know whos telling the truth . Well, whose character do they judge is better . So this was a question of the president s character versus james comeys character and want white house and republican allies are attacking comey before he even opened his mouth saying that he was a showboat. The democrats had criticized him before he became their here oh, that he hurt the f. B. I. When Hillary Clintons campaign did a version of that during the campaign, mike pence, thengovernor of the indiana called it the politics of personal destruction. As we heard, comey had his own character claims to make about the president , said its in his nature to lie. But 10 at the end of the day, the president s personal lawyer had the final word on character saying comey had anonymously leaked that information and that he should be investigated for it. Pelley the president has called qoes comey a nut job ie white house. The president said that he had been vindicated, if you will, by comey, told that he was not under investigation three times. But now theres a special counsel. Well, thats right. So the president comey did tell the president that back then, but suggested the president was under investigation in his testimony today. Yesterday, the acting f. B. I. Director also said he couldnt answer certain questions because the president was either under investigation now or will be. So the president who was putting pressure on comey to say he wasnt under investigation may have given evidence to the investigators who are now looking into him. Pelley john dickerson. Well be watching for more on all of this on face the nation on sunday. Thank you. Comey said attempts by the russians to undermine the United States are ongoing opinion he said, we remain that shining city on the hill, and they dont like it. Heres our Homeland Security correspondent jeff pegues. There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever. The russians interfered in our election. Reporter comey testified that in 2015, u. S. Investigators detectived Russian Hackers were sending waves of malicious emails to governments and nonprofit organizations. Committee chairman richard burr what would be the estimate of how many entities out thereto russians specifically targeted . Its hundreds. I suppose it could be more than 1,000. But its at least hundreds. Reporter as they began to investigate, u. S. Intelligence agencies descroferred that some Trump Campaign associates were in contact with russian officials, including fired National Security adviser Michael Flynn. By the time comey met with the president in february in the oval office, comey says flynn was in legal jeopardy. There was an open f. B. I. Criminal investigation of his statements in connection with the russian contacts and the contacts themselves. Reporter comey told his senior advisers that the president had asked him to let go of the flynn investigation, but they decide not to inform attorney general jeff sessions. We also are aware of facts i caernt discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a russiarelated investigation problematic. Reporter days later, sessions recused himself from the investigation after it was revealed that he had not disclosed all of his meetings with the russian ambassador. Besides flynn, the f. B. I. Is now scrutinizing former Campaign Chairman paul manafort; former Campaign Adviser carter page; trump confidant, roger stone; and his soninlaw, jared kushner. Arkansas senator tom cotton do you believe donald trump colluded with russia . Thats a question i dont think i should answer in an open setting. Aise said, when i left, we did not have an investigation focused on President Trump. But thats a question that will be answered by the investigation, i think. Reporter a lawyer for Michael Flynn did not respond to requests for comment. Scott, comey noted that during their meetings, the president did not ask him to take any action on the russian interference in the election, and comey warned that the russians would be back. Pelley jeff pegues, thanks. Coming up on the cbs evening news, well get the perspective of political veteran leon panetta, and later, millions tune in to comey tv, part cspan, part super bowl. Then she came to louisiana as a slave. I became curious where in africa she was from. So i took the ancestry dna test to find out more about my african roots. The ancestry dna results were really specific. They told me all of these places in west africa. I feel really proud of my lineage, and i feel really proud of my ancestry. Ancestry has many paths to discovering your story, get started for free at ancestry. Com for my constipation, i switch laxatives. Ed stimulant laxatives make your body go by forcefully stimulating the nerves in your colon. Miralax is different. It works with the water in your body to hydrate and soften. Unblocking your system naturally. Miralax. Bounty is more absorbent,mom per roll so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty, the quicker picker upper james comeys testimony today, were going to turn to leon panetta, who has held top jobs in democratic administrations, including c. I. A. Director and white house chief of staff. Mr. Secretary, mr. Comey made a lot today of the fact that the president ordered everyone out of the room before he talked to mr. Comey about the investigation into Michael Flynn. Help us understand what that means. Well, that was a serious breach in the relationship between the president and the director of the f. B. I. It was at that point that somebody in the room should have made clear that the president ought not to be alone with the director of the f. B. I. And, obviously, no woon did, and i think that was a serious lapse in terms of good discipline at the white house. Pelley well, why shouldnt the president be alone with the f. B. I. Director . Well, the director of the f. B. I. Is conducting investigations into National Security issues, and the president should not be viewed as trying to in any way influence those kinds of investigations. And so for that reason, at least the approach in past with other president s has been to make very sure that the president does not have that kind of oneonone discussion with the director of the f. B. I. , particularly when the director is conducting a very sensitive investigation. That just is not done. Pelley what did you see in the testimony today that related to the charge of obstruction of justice . Theres not much question that the president will be a focus of an investigation by the special counsel as to whether or not there was obstruction of justice. The testimony by director comey raised at least a pattern in the meetings and discussions with the director that raises the issue of whether or not he was trying to influence or obstruct that investigation. That will be the subject, i think, of the special counsels investigation. Pelley leon panetta of the Panetta Institute and former secretary of defense. Thanks for being with us. Thank you. Pelley and coming up, comey reveals pressure from the obama administration. Okay. Got it. Rumor confirmed. Theyre playing. What . We gotta go. Where . San francisco. When . Friday. We gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. Any hotel. Any time. Go where you want, when you want with no blackout dates. [ muffled music coming from club. Blue monday by new order. Cheers. ] how does it feel the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. Its travel, better connected. The travel rewards credit card from bank of america. 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The most common side effect is a temporary burning sensation. Your eyes. Your tears. Ask your eye doctor about restasis multidose™. Pelley in his testimony today, james comey claimed that the obama administration, attorney general loretta lynch, let politics influence the f. B. I. s description of its investigation of Hillary Clintons classified emails. I want to know was she going to authorize us to confirm we had an investigation . And she said yes, but dont call it that. Call it a matter. And i said, why would i do that . And she said, just call it a matter. And again, you look back in hindsight, and you think should i have resisted harder . And i thought this isnt a hill worth dying on. And i said okay, the press is going to completely ignore it and thats what happened. When i said we opened a matter, they all reported the f. B. I. Has an investigation open. And that concerned me because that language tracked the way the campaign was talking about the f. B. I. s work, and that thats concerning. Pelley former attorney general lynch let it be known today that she chose the word matter because she didnt want to confirm or deny an ongoing investigation. Up next, where did you watch the show that spoal the day . Gave us the power to turn this enemy into an ally . Microsoft and its partners are using smart traps to capture mosquitoes and sequence their dna to fight disease. There are over 100 million pieces of dna in every sample. With the microsoft cloud, we can analyze the data faster than ever before. If we can detect new viruses before they spread, we may someday prevent outbreaks before they begin. Bounty is more absorbent,mom per roll so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty, the quicker picker upper come close, come close. Fun in art class. I like that. [ music stops suddenly ] ah. When your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. Awww. Try this. 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Reporter americans seemed compelled to experience the hearing with others. A line to get into the watch party at shaws tavern in washington, d. C. Stretched down the block. The crowd at a bar in brooklyn surprised renee mass yossi. Its packed. Me and my friends figured wed see 10 people. Instead we couldnt walk in and get a drink. People care big time. Reporter jeff kaplan, an owner of Axelrad Beer Garden in houst orange opened early and filled the place. Its as if were all watching our government as active participants and spectators together. The weird part is it feels like were all in it. It feels so close. Reporter on twitter 3. 6 million tweets were sent discussing comeys testimony. In bars, uncounted millions of opinions were expressed as millions tried to make up their own minds. Thats the american way. Thats democracy. That is what its about. Reporter today, a divided nation was united listening. John blackstone, cbs news, San Francisco. Pelley and thats the cbs evening news for tonight. For all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. Captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org hi, everyone, im jessica dean. And im Ukee Washington and we are here for our hour of power. Were in this fight against cancer. And youll help us knock it out in this hour. Were in a big fight but were going to win it. This is my favorite hour of the telethon, these are all hero families, families with direct connections to alexs Lemonade Stand foundation. And theyre doing this in honor of and in memory of so many wonderful kids that weve got tone meet over the years. And what were doing in this last hour is raising as much money as we can to fight childhood cancer. Y