Deeply grateful for the opportunity. After surgery, im aware of the fragility of life and its purpose. I come back today rested, ready, and thankful to all who labored while i was gone. I have come back during a week that suggests how interesting our times are, from the fbi director testifying about a president , to a Supreme Court justice confirmation, to a boat on the Republican Health care plan. Oh, to live in interesting times. I have come back thanks to medical science, and because of that i am in the best shape i have been in for many time. I thank you for your support and thank you for staying close. When we come back, we begin with the testimony of fbi director james comey and nsa director mike rogers. We talk to representatives adam schiff and peter king of the House Intelligence Committee. We begin this evening with the House Intelligence Committee first public hearing on russian interference in the president ial election. Fbi director james comey confirmed there is an Ongoing Investigation into russias meddling, including possible collusion between president russiancampaign and officials. Director comey also testified is no evidence support the president s claims that former president Obama Wiretapped him. Lawmakers also heard from nsa director mike rogers. He rejected sean spicers allegations that the British Intelligence agency conducted surveillance of President Trump. I have been authorized by the department of justice to confirm that the fbi, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 president ial election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and the russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russias efforts. With respect to the president s tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, i have no information that supports those tweets. Did you ever request that your counterparts should wiretapped mr. Trump on behalf of president obama . No, sir. Nor would i. That would be expressly against the agreement in place. Charlie joining me is representatives adam schiff and peter king on the House Intelligence Committee. I begin with you, congressman schiff. What is the takeaway . What is the impact . What is the significance of what today . Rep. Schiff there are a few significant things. The American People got a good sense of why this is important and really deserves thorough investigation. The breadth of the russian attack on our democracy, the fact that the fbi has an Ongoing Investigation whether there was coordination between the campaign and the russians as the directors willingness to establish there is no evidence to support the president s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor. Anyone of those things on a normal day would be quite a revelation, but there was a lot tax in today. Ultimately the most important thing is it gave a good glimpse serious, andis so why we ought to do Everything Possible to do a thorough investigation and conduct it in a nonpartisan way. Charlie why is this so serious . Rep. Schiff the Intelligence Community has said this is not a oneoff. The russians will do this again. We can expect them to interfere in elections again. In order to inoculate ourselves and informed the public, we have to know what they did. Its important not only for the health of our democracy and the ability to respond to further attacks, but right now europe is facing the same kind of russian meddling. We want to do anything in our power to help protect european allies as well. Charlie congressman king, what did you take away . Rep. King somewhat the same takeaway, even i have a different emphasis. I think its essentially fully investigate the extent of the russian involvement in the campaign. It is disgraceful. They will come back and do it again whether it is donald trump or hillary clinton. No matter who the candidate is, they will try to get involved. We have to be more alert to it earlier on. I would say as far as the investigation being conducted by director comey, we heard about this some time ago. Briefingbeing at some also hearing this. We knew the investigation was ongoing. Im just glad it is out there. It gives us a little more freedom to talk. Usually when something is announced publicly, it is more inclined to move along at a faster pace. I dont want the director to speed it up. I think its important we try to resolve it. I dont think theres any evidence there so far. We have the former acting director of the cia who says not only is there no fire, theres no spark. Director clapper, theres a disagreement over what they said. He said hes not aware theres any evidence of collusion between the Trump Campaign and russian intelligence or government. The investigation will go where it goes. But i think its important to show as far as we know, theres no evidence yet of any collusion. Charlie why do you think clapper said what he said . I have to say that peter is a wonderful colleague and great member of the committee. If there was no evidence, there wouldnt be a basis for director coming to involve in the investigation, and certainly on is mores i know, there than enough to warrant the investigation. I think director claire clapper clarified there was not conclusive evidence. I would agree. But lets remember, we are at the beginning of this investigation, not the end. I hope both peter and i will come to the same collusion, that we were either able to cooperate this, demonstrate this, referred werent. Ustice, or we i dont think either one of us should necessarily jump to the conclusion we expect to find. I think we owe it to the American People to see what we can find out. Rep. King if it turns out there is conclusive evidence, i will accept it. Im not trying to deny it. Im just saying a lot of stories repeated in the media have been the assistant director of the fbi says it was bs. I think we should be careful before too many allegations are made. Charlie the fbi director also this to the idea of how should be pursued, if in fact there were leaks coming out of the fbi investigation. Rep. King i would say not just looked into, he said hes very alarmed by it. He said hes not seen such a volume of leaks in such a brief time. Some of these are clearly top secret and confidential materials coming up, which the director says involves felonies. This is not this is very serious. Im not talking about palace intrigue. Im talking about actual evidence that could have been gained by fisa wiretaps. I have no problem with the investigation. The misuse of the information is very serious, and director comey seemed as concerned as anyone by it. To me, it is very significant. Charlie why do you think the president continues to insist, in the face of all of this, denial of everyone having seen any evidence, whether it is conclusive or not, of collusion . Say there are can only a couple possibilities. Either the president simply cannot back down from a baseless accusation, because it would be admitting error. That would be the most benign explanation. The most threatening in terms of be countrys security would the president cannot tell the difference between fact and fiction. He has convinced himself and must be true. It must be true. This is a real problem. We know at some point there will crisis. Not one created in the white house, but rather provoked by north korea or iran or some other nation. We will need to believe our president. To the degree he continues to cling to conspiracy theories, he will make it very hard not only for the American People, but for our allies. The british already have to have profound questions about this president considering he and his spokesman suggests they were illegally wiretapping him. This accusation has gone way out of control and is doing a lot of damage to our relationships around the world and it has to stop. I hope some of the grownups in the white house like general mattis will fit the general down downay the president and say that enough is enough. Rep. King i think there are legitimate questions over whether evidence was used, and being used against him, by the Justice Department, the intelligence department, but thats a long way from saying the president of the United States ordered wiretap. Of anger or whatever he made these statements. I wish we could back away from it. Adam and i agree. I want this investigation of russian collusion. I want it investigated fully unresolved. I dont think it will lead to anything, but if it does, it does. On the leaks, they have to be investigated. The longer we spent talking about whether president obama ordered wiretap when theres no evidence, it undercuts what we are trying to get done. Charlie what do we mean by collusion . I want to come back to the accusation that president obama ordered wiretapping. What do we mean about collusion with respect to the campaign . Rep. King whether or not people from the Trump Campaign were involved with russian intelligence or the russian government in trying to fix the election, or cooperate in any way. Was there any level of cooperation or collusion or coordination between people in the Trump Campaign and anyone involved with the russian government or russian intelligence . Adam would agree, that is the general use of the term. There could be modifications. So far, i see no evidence, but we have to see. Charlie congressman schiff, have you seen evidence . Rep. Schiff the way i would describe it is there is circumstantial evidence of coordination. There is direct evidence in my opinion of deception on behalf of many of the people around the president. And of course, where people are being dishonest about conversations they had with the Russian Ambassador or even met it does russians, provoke questions about why. Is this a policy you are proud of . Then why be deceptive about it . These are things that merit investigation. I completely concur with peter. From the very beginning, peter has said we ought to look into this and look into it in an objective way. Charlie what happens if the fbi finds there is some collusion . What happens after that . Rep. King it if it rises to the criminal level, the president would be prosecuted. With, if you are colluding a Foreign Government, at the least you are guilty of lobbying for a Foreign Government. That is the least charge. I would leave it to the Justice Department and fbi. If you show actual cooperation between an american president ial campaign and any Foreign Government, certainly a Foreign Government who is an adversary of hours, there are definitely statues on the book. I want to make it clear, i have not received evidence, but if thats what it turns out to be, im convinced there will be prosecutions. Charlie you have seen circumstantial evidence, congressman schiff . Rep. Schiff yes. I think there is circumstantial evidence. Again, as the director made clear during the hearing today, he cant chase down every allegation that is presented to the fbi. But when something rises to the level of being credible evidence of either a crime or that someone has become an agent of a foreign power or is coordinating with a foreign power to undermine our election, that needs to be investigated. On the basis of what ive seen, that was a sound decision. I do think we shouldnt get too far ahead of ourselves and think too much about the consequences. I think we have a long way to go in the investigation and we ought to let the facts dictate where they take us. Charlie who else do you want to see come before the committee . Rep. Schiff i think if we are doing this in a methodical way, we should go through the raw intelligence of the documents, and allow those to identify the witnesses. I think many of the people whose names you heard today are people of interest, and i would not be surprised if we bring them before the committee i dont want to get too far ahead. In the process. We may not get more than one shot. It is mostalso, likely that would be coordinated with the fbi. You dont want to disrupt a criminal investigation. If you bring someone forward, theres a whole question of what they would be saying, and involved with other witnesses. It is a fine line. But whatever has to be done. Devin nunez and adam will do whatever has to be done. Charlie director comey said today it is highly unusual for them to talk about an Ongoing Investigation, but you have to do it when you believe the National Interest demands it. Rep. King i think there is so much discussion over this, so many stories. Some true, some untrue. I think maybe the president brought it to a higher level when he spoke about the wiretapping. Director comey came forward. Show, severals times im talking about an fbi investigation and realized i could not disclose the fact there was an investigation. It is important that is out there, it makes it easier, and may move the process along. Charlie congressman schiff, when you look at the possibilities of the president going to the links links to continue and doubled out on the issue of wiretapping on trump tower, and , mythe denial taking place question is at what point does say, ifthe capacity to he believes hes wrong, i was wrong . Rep. Schiff i would have hopedrep. Schiff he would have said that a long time ago. The best course would have been after he sent out early in the say, i should, to not have send those out, i should not have accused my predecessor of gross illegality. But thats not who he is. He is really is he is who he is and he will keep doing this. That is going to be a real problem. I hope someone can talk sense into him when it comes to making these outlandish accusations, because he is undermining his own prospects for success as a president , and also undermining our ability to work with allies. I hope this stops. I have to say im losing confidence is going to stop. This just may be who he is, and this is what you get when you roll the, as we have with someone who has not been in elected office before, who we dont really have a track record. O evaluate this may be the way he conducts business. Maybe this is the way he did real estate with halftruths and complete untruths and a lot of luster, but thats no way to run a country. Im very concerned going forward. Charlie they alsocharlie say every president needs someone that can say no to him or her. Rep. Schiff thats true. Charlie thank you both. Back in a moment. We continue discussion of the house intelligence hearing with Karoun Demirjian and matt rosenberg. When will we look back at this and maybe see it as a historic turning point in the investigation . It is a very remarkable thing when and at an fbi director says there is an active investigation going on in solving the white house. That is historic. Majornly, there were two things that came out today. The president s accusations of the wiretapping had no evidence. There are still a lot of unanswered questions. Not answered during the hearing. Where this will continue, certainly it will be under a cloud of politics the whole time. It is certainly a notable day in the progress. Charlie was this a hard decision for the fbi director to make . Karoun the fbi director said he had gotten permission from the department of justice. There are rare circumstances were in the Public Interest it makes sense to break the public ruled that he doesnt comment on Ongoing Investigations. This has been many months in coming. Hes getting a lot of pressure to say what he said, especially with the press reports. Having him get to this point was something that almost had to happen. It is still notable he got there. It shows the curious sense of the investigation that they made a public declaration. Charlie do you know what they are saying the russians did . Karoun they are saying the russians were involved in , anding with the election they found there was intervention and hacking since january, done with the intention of trying to advance trumps chances of winning the white house. However, they have not gone into full detail about extent of the collision collusion. You heard some people telling you that there is no evidence. Its true there is a link, but they are looking into it. Allegations there are all these swirling allegations that comey is looking into. Charlie are there informed opinions that suggest it might have made a difference . That whatever the russians did might have made a difference in the election, or is it simply the act of trying to temper with democracy . Karoun i think it is the letter that is concerning people. Said, it mays have have had an effect, but you will never be able to tell. This is not a case where russians hacked Voting Machines and you can draw a direct line between the turnout and numbers. It is more subtle than that when you talk about information, hacking, the public news cycle. I dont think anyone is planning on staying, yes, the russian interference determined the election. They are concerned about the president this sets. Director even said expect this said totor comey even expect this in 2020 and other elections, even in europe. Charlie thank you for joining us. Listening ng listen to what we have said so far, tell me what you would add to that in terms of the hearings, how long they may last, and whether this is the beginning. Are we witnessing the unraveling of a presidency . Ast i think i was as amazed the fbi director get up in front of congress and say yes, there is an espionage investigation. That alone is stunning. The other remarkable thing is there was another four and a half hours of the hearing, a lot of it talking about leaks, why people were talking in government, whether they should be prosecuting. Does this unravel the presidency . I dont know. Will there be a smoking gun . T