you about next, a quote you can react to. and that s john mccain tonight saying that it s approaching watergate has reached, quote, watergate size and scale. your reaction? well, coming from senator mccain, those are very strong words. i think that we have a very serious dire situation. not just in terms of the status of the president and this country. it s also about what s going on around the world and how we re being perceived. the vulnerability that our enemies see right now is profound, and i fear that unless the president gets his house in order, we re going to see some dire consequence as well. do you think go ahead. if it is, in fact, obstruction of justice, we re going to find out quite soon. and right now we re on a fact-finding mission to get all the information. memos from director comey, tapes
how are you doing? good to see you. are you reading the story? i m reading something about that is not entirely representative. other republicans are sounding different than they have in the wake of previous donald trump/white house crises. the republican chair of the house oversight committee jason chaffetz sent a letter to the fbi tonight asking for this comey memo. he said tonight he does have subpoena power. and according to tim mack of the daily beast, at a dinner held in his honor tonight, senator john mccain said, quote, i think we ve seen this movie before. i think it appears at a point where it s of watergate size and scale. the shoes continue to drop, and every couple days there is a new aspect. let us bring in our panel to start our discussion this evening. the aforementioned michael schmidt reporter for the the new york times who covers national security, broke the comey news tonight, the story came out under his single by-line. ashley parker, white house
i think we ve seen thi movie before. i think it s reaching the point where it s of watergate size and scale. that right there, republican senator john mccain talking last night just hours after news that the comey memo broke. his spokeswoman later qualified that he really meant this was not good for america and needs scrutiny. he walked it back again this morning. it s just another scandal that unfortunately continues every it s now accelerated. watergate took many months and this thing seems to be taking hours. mccain and other lawmakers are looking to try to get to the bottom of the actions detailed in that comey memo, actions the president told our own lester holt last week did not happen. did you ask him to drop the
perfect last word for tonight. former acting cia director john mclauchlin, thank you very much for joining us tonight. i really appreciate it. thank you, lawrence. the 11th hour with brian williams starts now. the 11th hour with brian williams starts now. tonight the explosive the new york times story that the president asked the fbi director to bring the flynn-russia investigation to an end. the times says it s from comey s own notes, the reporter who broke the news is here tonight. with some claiming trump obstructed justice, tonight senator john mccain says trump s issues have reached, quote, watergate size and scale. we ve got members of house and senate intelligence committees, a watergate prosecutor and our experts and the journalists covering this story as the 11th hour gets underway. well, good evening once again from our headquarters here in new york. day 117 of the trump administration, and tonight to get straight to the point of a giant new development, it is
what can you tell us about what he had to tell you tonight, understanding most of it was probably supposed to stay in that room? that s right. it was a wide ranging conversation on many issues. it was more informal. it was a briefing. people asking questions. mike pompeo answering them. you know, he s been on the job for a short period of time, so, many of the questions i was not in a position to answer them completely and would get back to us. but if was much broader than just a discussion of what s happening in the white house today. and it was during that briefing that we started to get word of the newest bomb shell that hit about the comey memo. that s what i m going to ask you about next, a quote you can react to. and that s john mccain tonight saying that it s approaching watergate has reached, quote, watergate size and scale. your reaction? well, coming from senator mccain, those are very strong