james comey will testify in open session some time after memorial day, his first public warner for his reaction to the news that someone in the white house is under investigation. well, chris, i m not going to comment on anything i may have been briefed for as a member of the gang of eight, any classified information, but we ve got a lot of work in front of us. the president told russian officials in the white house that james comey was crazy, a real nut job. what s your reaction to him telling a russian officials that? i find it outrageous. you know, it s one of the reasons i believe so strongly james comey deserve an opportunity to come before our committee in open session and tell his side of the story. it s remarkable that a president would demean a director of the fbi that way and say that to the russians. this may have been the same meeting where he was also
lots of subsequent headlines about this story and discussion about this story today have been focusing on the fact that the president is also quoted in this official white house account of that meeting calling fired fbi director james comey, quote, crazy, a real nut job. you know what, though? when one of your work colleagues is somebody the president calls sleepy eyes, when he says senator mccain is no war hero, and senator cruz is lyin ted, i think best maybe not to get too caught up in what names and epithets this particular president flings at people. that s just what he does. that s how he behaves even now he s president of the united states. he calls people all sorts of stuff. so i realize everybody was very excited about him calling the fbi director a nut job. if i m the fbi director, i am probably very unhappy about that. i m sure it hurt feelings.
about his very young president. it was only monday that the washington post reported that trump revealed highly classified information inside the oval office. and tuesday we learned about the comey memo saying he asked the fbi director directly to drop the investigation into former national security adviser michael flynn. on wednesday, the justice department appointed a special counsel to investigate russia s interference in the presidential election. and there were smaller stories like the turkish security forces beating a peaceful protesters on the streets of washington, d.c., as their president looked on. today, the president departed this country on air force one headed for saudi arabia at 2:30 p.m. and just 30 minutes later the plane barely out of the d.c. metro air space. the new york times dropped the report the president told russian officials he d been under great pressure but firing james comey, quote, a real nut job, took the pressure off. two minutes after that, a curre
you can t let them get you down. you can t let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. see the halo on his head? welcome back to hardball. it s friday in the nation s capitol, and as i mentioned for a while now, there are three bombshell stories out just this afternoon. the washington post reported the probe into the trump campaign and the russians have identified a mystery man as a significant person of interest. in fact, someone close to the president. it shows the probe is reaching the highest levels of the white house. the senior white house adviser under scrutiny, someone called close to the president. you figure it out. they also said the investigation is intensifying and using the grand jury to issue subpoenas. meanwhile, the new york times reported in his may 10 meeting with the russians, the one we saw there in that picture in the oval office, trump bragged out loud. he said, quote, i just fired the head of the fbi. he was crazy, a real nut job.
we re covering the breaking news. the new york times citing a written transcript of president trump s oval office meeting with top russian diplomats that quotes the president as calling fbi director james comey crazy and a real nut job and that firing comey relieved great pressure on him. a white house statement does not deny the details of the story. let s bring in our legal and political specialist. david chillian, let me read precisely from the bombshell report in the new york times. this is quoting the president and the meeting with the russian foreign minister and the russian ambassador. i just fired the head of the fbi. he was crazy, a real nut job. i face great pressure because of russia. that s taken off. i m not under investigation. how damaging potentially is this for the president?