Transcripts For CNNW New Day 20170320

Health care bill will be passed pretty quickly. Enough conservatives that dont want obamacare lite. Were right on track, right where we want to be. This is new day with chris cuomo and allison. Allison is off. Poppy harlow is here. In two hours, fbi director james comey will testify before the house committee. Dont go in there expecting to hear everything. Comey will be talking about what is unclassified that he he can discuss. Still, two major issues. One, was there any surveillance, specifically wiretapping of the Trump Administration or trump directly by the Obama Administration . Second, is this look at russian connections between the Trump Campaign and russian operatives real . How will the president react to all of this . We already have some clues in his tweet storm this morning, calling stories about possible ties between his campaign and russia, quote, fake news. The senate also beginning its confirmation hearing on neil gorsuch. It is day 60 of the trump presidency. Lets begin this hour with joe johns at the white house. He is tweeting already this morning. Reporter thats right, poppy. Its so interesting here in washington. James comey continues to be in the spotlight of american politics, when you think about it. He is probably the one person who can speak with some conclusiveness about what happened with russia and the election as well as the president s wiretapping. The question is, how far can comey go . The bizarre saga of President Trumps explosive claim that he was wiretapped by president obama last year comes to a head today. Fbi director james comey expected to publicly debunk the president s unproven allegations. Lawmakers investigating the claim repeatedly saying there is no evidence. Was there a physical wiretap of trump tower . No, but there never was. I hope we can put an end to this wild goose chase. What the president said was patently false. Straining diplomatic relations with two of the nations strongest allies, the president even joking about it friday during a state visit by german chancellor angela merkel. As far as wiretapping, i guess, you know, by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps. The fbi director will also face questions about russias interference in last years election and possible collusion between washington officials and the Trump Campaign, a key point of partisan disagreement. Any evidence of any conclusion . Very simple answer. No. There is circumstantial evidence of collusion. There is direct evidence of deception. Reporter expected to grill comey on the extent of russias election meddling. An attack, targeting Hillary Clinton that then candidate trump embraced. Russia, if youre listening, i hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails. Reporter the u. S. Intelligence Community Overwhelmingly concluding that the russians intentionally tried to sway the election in trumps favor. Adding to the intrigue, recent controversy surrounding trumps former National Security adviser and attorney general. Both under fire for misleading statements regarding their contact with russian ambassador, sergey kislyav. It could overshadow the Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch, expected to face tough questions on his views of the president s travel ban and roe versus wade. That will cause media filibuster and use every tool i have at my disposal to block his nomination. Reporter under pressure to change the Health Care Bill, which could be voted on later this week in the house. Im very impressed with how the president is helping us close this bill, making the improvements weve been making, getting the vote. Reporter 26 republicans leaning or voting no, which could doom the plan to repeal and replace obamacare. Incredibly high stakes for the administration this week. Theres a new poll out showing the president s approval numbers now reaching an historic low. Well get to see the president at least twice today in a meeting with iraqi Prime Minister abadi and, again, at a rally in louisville, kentucky, this evening. Back to you. Indeed. Joe johns at the white house. Eyes of the world are on fbi director james comey as he appears a few hours before the intelligence xhichlt what is he going to say to those three key questions . Live in washington with more. Obviously, theres stuff he cant say. This is a public hearing and he cant get into anything classified. He can answer these looming questions, especially on the wiretapping questions very definitively. Thats right, poppy. One of the first questions we expect him to be able to answer today is about this unproven trump claim that president barack Obama Wiretapped trump tower. We expect comey to say that the president s claim is simply not true. After that, comeys answers are likely to get much trickier. The House Intelligence Committee is doing a wideranging investigation of russias influence on the 2016 election. So is the senate Intelligence Committee and the fbi. Comey is testifying with Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security agency, one of the agencies that helped to produce that report a few months ago, saying russia meddled to try to help donald trump get elected. Comey is likely to talk in general terms, worried about affecting what his agents are doing and mindful about getting the fbi dragged into yet another partisan controversy after the uproar over the Hillary Clinton private email server investigation. Democratic lawmakers want comey to talk about repeated contacts between Trump Associates and people suspected of having connections with russian intelligence. At least so far, they want him to say that investigators havent found collusion between trump representatives and rus a russia. Theres still a lot they dont know and still a lot they cant talk about. Its an investigation still in its relatively early phase. Respect the fresh cut you got for this big day. Lets discuss the implications, one of those who will question the the fbi director today. Lets deal with the big bucket of cold water. Do you think theres a chance that the fbi director may come before you today and maybe also the nsa director and say im sorry, even though i said i would come talk to you guys, i cant give you satisfaction on what, if anything, were looking at with russia, what if anything we know about surveillance on President Trump. Any chance he stonewalls . Im not sure i would use the word stone walling. The question of whether there was collusion, knowledge. Remember, knowledge and collusion is not the same thing, and with the russians have any financial or nonfinancial leverage, compromising material on the president of the United States that might explain the behavior of the president of the United States. All of that stuff is likely to be subject to both of them saying sorry i cant confirm or deny. As you know, Counter Intelligence investigations are some of the most sensitive things that we do. One thing he can do, of course, as your reporter suggested, finally put a stake in the heart of this ridiculous and very dangerous side show of the president saying that barack Obama Wiretapped him. Well, okay. Lets talk about that for a second. Two big issues on the table, potentially. On wiretapping, if jim comey, and maybe even admiral rogers, comes forward and says president obama didnt personally do anything. He couldnt have done anything. There is no wiretap, no fisa warrant. Do you think that would be sufficient . Now its grown like a fungus. Its 17 different agencies. Comey may not even know. Rogers may not even know. It doesnt mean its untrue just because they say its not wiretapping. How do you deal with that . They can say two things. No, the former president did not wiretap donald trump. And he doesnt have the authority to wiretap anybody and hopefully they can clean up the mess that the president set off when he accused the british, our most important ally, most important Intelligence Community partner at keeping the American People safe, when he basically accused them of doing obamas dirty work. He can put a stake in those two absurd allegations. Youve seen the white house back away. What about ongoing accusations . I doubt that director comey is going to give much, again, in the underlying substance of what this investigation is all about. Conspiracies are very economical and fuel efficient. It takes very little to keep them going. Thats why i raise those questions. On the other one, do you think that comey and or rogers will validate the idea that they are even looking at connections between trumps staffers, associates, whatever word you want to put on it and russian players . Well, i think theyre going to be very careful there. This committee is doing this investigation not because of Donald Trumps tweets but because all of the president s top people, Paul Mannefort, roger stone, michael flynn. The list goes on and on. All of them have bizarre and ongoing contacts with russia. Most of them then lied about the nature of those contacts. In the context of a president who will attack the cast of hamilton, chuck schumer, attack the new york times, will attack you, but doesnt have a nasty word to say about one of the biggest antagonists on the planet, you put all those things together and you have enough questions so that not just congress, but hopefully the fbi would be investigating why all of that is true. Also, congressman, i hear a bit of a finess point. Stop saying collusion. Were not looking at just col collusion. We want to hear about knowledge, whether any of the trump people had knowledge that russia was doing it. What do you mean . If there were collus. On, if the trump people were working with russia to get him elected watergate would pale by comparison. But even knowledge remember, this investigation is just started in the congress. But even knowledge, if Paul Mannefort or roger stone, who had a bizarre ability to predict what wikileaks would do next f they knew about it and didnt raise the alarm, thats very serious. Also it points to what do the russians have on this president , whether its financial, nonfinancial, compromising information. What explains this president s bizarre behavior where he will attack literally everybody, but he handles Vladimir Putin with kid gloves . Congressman jim himes, appreciate it. This is a big day. People have been waiting for this. Theyre hanging on your questions. I will be among them. Thank you for coming on new day. Thank you, chris. Appreciate it. Stay with cnn. This is going to be a big day. This is not hype. These questions have been paralyzing part of our political process. What will the fbi director, what will the head of the nsa finally say to get any measure of satisfaction to any of it . Wolf blitzer, jake tapper, the big guns anchoring our special coverage of the House Intel Committee hearing with fbi director jim comey, Admiral Mike Rogers follow him at 10 00 am eastern. Our coverage starts at 9 00 am. Poppy . British Prime Minister theresa may plans to trigger article 50 next week with a formal letter announcing britains withdrawn from the european union, twoyear countdown to official brexit. In tennessee, there is a manhunt under way for a former teacher suspected of kidnapping one of his students. 50yearold cummins. Take a look at the girl on your screen, 15yearold elizabeth thomas. They were last spotted in decatur, alabama, about a week ago. Cummins is armed. The girl could be in imminent danger. He was suspended from the job last month for alleged inappropriate contact with elizabeth. Did you see it this weekend . Not the ncaa tournament but disney live adaptation of beauty the beast. It opened with huge numbers. Emma watson as belle broke the record. Coming in at 170 million. Its also the best Opening Weekend of 2017 so far. Even more impressive, the film brought in 350 million worldwide. I didnt know she could sing that way. Did you . Shes perfect. I didnt know. If you told me that in advanced, i wouldnt have been surprised by anything. I want to go see it. Is that weird . Not at all. You are going to have now that you have the baep baby, yo going to see all the movies you want to. A little young, dont you think . Not if you want to see it. Coming up for us, the president s agenda sidetracked, clearly, by his unproven wiretap claims. Can he get it back on track . This is, perhaps, the most krimt week of his presidency. Well go deep on that next. Bigley. Our disciplined approach remains. Global markets may be uncertain. But you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. Call us or your advisor. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. At bps cooper river plant, employees take safety personally down to each piece of equipment, so they can protect their teammates and the surrounding wetlands, too. Because safety is never being satisfied. And always working to be better. Z2a1fz zx9z y2a1fy yx9y you need one of these. You wouldnt put up with an umbrella that covers you part way, so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day . Aleve, live whole not part. Tell you what, ill give it to you for half off. Deartheres no other way to say this. Its over. Ive found a permanent escape from monotony. Together, we are perfectly balanced. Our senses awake. Our hearts racing as one. I know this is sudden, but they say. If you love something set it free. See you around, giulia fbi director swrams comey will testify soon before congress. Already up tweeting this morning. This story is fake news and everyone knows it. The democrats made up and pushed the russia story for running a terrible campaign and lost. The real story that congress, the fbi and others should be looking into is the leaking of classified information. Must find the leaker now. Joining us to discuss, Rick Santorum and former florida congressman. Congressman, let me get your reaction to the president s tweet. Nothing about neil gorsuch, which could be a big win for the president. Sure, it could be. It shows the president completely off message. He has been. Hes digging himself deeper. Comey hearings are going to be obvious. Democrats want to talk about trump. Republicans want to talk about russia. And if we do step back, it could be a big day about whether russia meddled in our elections. So let me get your take, senator santorum. Ranking member adam schiff is saying on twitter, mr. President , the russians hacked our election and interfered. No one disputes this now but you. This is whats called a fact. During our hearing, mr. President , there is no evidence that mr. Obama tapped your phones. This is what is called fiction. You have long been a supporter. You often defend the president on this network. What do you say in response to adam schiff, though . I would agree that theres no evidence that there was any tapping of mr. Trumps phones. But the truth is also theres no evidence of any collusion between the Trump Campaign and russians or any knowledge. Theres no facts of any knowledge of what the russians were doing with respect to, quote, trying to influence the election. So, i mean, you make the claim that this is wiretapping is baseless. I would agree with that. There doesnt seem to be any evidence. But there also doesnt seem to be any evidence that theres collusion or knowledge of arent they really separate issues, senator . They are separate issues but neither of them have any basis of information to be able to sort of make the claim. And i agree. You know, criticize the president on what he is saying on the wiretapping. But lets also criticize the democrats. And i would argue that the media for making a lot of what we really dont have any information that the russians actually did collude or acted with knowledge of the Trump Administration that. Left out there. We dont really know about that yet. Well, what we do know is that we dont have any information that thats the case. What we do know, congressman, according to 17 Different National intelligence agencies is that russia did try very hard to meddle and interfere, tried to sway. They wouldnt go as far to say did sway but tried to sway the election in trumps favor. Theres much more basis in fact of russias meddling in our election than there is on the president s claim that his predecessor committed a felony and wiretapped him where there is not one shred of fact. The wiretap speaks to a larger credibility issue. The president lied about the crowd size at the inauguration, and the Electoral College win, wiretapping. How on thursday does he sell the American People a Health Care Bill . How howe does he sell anything at this point . It goes to the fact that he has been attacking people all along. At some point, he needs friends. At some point he needs credibility, and he has wasted that in his first two months. He has the credibility, though. When you look at the tracking poll numbers, 37 low of the its been. He does have that credibility, still, within his base. Within his base. And members of his own party. Senator santorum, calling on the president to apologize if, indeed, comey does testify theres nothing there with regard to the wiretapping. I see no indication thats true. Its not a charge i would have ever made. Frankly, unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof, i think president obama is owed an apology in that regard. Tom cole and others have called on him to apologize as well. If comey gets up there and says, senator, that the president lied, that there is nothing to this, should he apologize . I dont think that the president should apologize for that based on what jim comey says. Other agencies are looking into this, to determine if anything was done. When should the president apologize . Should he ever apologize for saying his predecessor committed a felony . Whats it going to to take for you to say, yes, indeed, he was wrong and should apologize . If its not jim comey, who is it . Obviously, like i said before, there are a lot of intelligence agencies that are involved in wiretapping. I guess once we have a clear picture that none of them were involved, probably the president should step forward and say hes now convinced its not the case and make the appropriate apologies. But i dont think he feels that hes there at this point. Do you agree with the senator . I lost sound on the senator. You did . I think the president should apologize. Theres a bigger issue, whether this president is intellectually qualified to be president of the United States. He is going to make more false claims. The question is, are we dealing with a president who is electorally qualified . Of course. But intellectually qualified youre saying hes not smart enough . Look at how he what do you mean by thats quite a charge. I think hes going about his own Health Care Bill listening to you and chris in the morning. He does not practice nor details and understands the finer points of domestic or Foreign Policy. When he throws out a wiretap charge, what does that mean . We know hes lying about that, but he doesnt understand what a fisa court is. He doesnt understand he he just made an allegation of a felony, that hes crippling the United States on a world stage. That doesnt just speak to credibility but intellect. Senator santorum . Thats just absurd. The president of the United States this is what the left does. They always take a situation and then they go one step too far. Your fellow republican. Well, i just think its an absurd claim to suggest that the president doesnt have the intellect to be president. President trump has run a multibillion dollar organization. He ran the most, i would say, Historic Campaign from the standpoint of coming out from nowhere to be elected president. And to suggest that he doesnt have understand the details, talk to paul ryan. Paul ryan over the weekend talked about how the president is deeply involved in the negotiations and working very diligently with the house, unlike what president obama never did, the smart president , quote, smart president never had the ability to sit down and work with people and actually put a deal together. Donald trump is smart enough to realize you have to get your hands dirty and Work Together to get things done and hes doing it. Youre going to see a Health Care Bill pass this had week. Before we go, isnt it undercutting the millions of americans who voted for this president , put their livelihood in his hands to say he is not smart enough . No. He was duly elected president. We need to see him surrounded by his cabinet and need to see more of the cabinet and less of the white house team. He has put together a team of remarkably qualified secretaries. But he shouldnt dabble in the finer points of domestic and Foreign Policy when he simply doesnt understand it. Congressman jolly, senator santorum, nice to have both of you here. Chris . Santorum strips jolly of republicanness because he doesnt like his answer. Headline. President trump and james comey. Remember their first meeting . Little interesting to watch. Fbi director is about to testify about the president s wiretapping claim. Here is the moment, by the way. Check your screen. Remember this . Kind of brings him in. Little thats what that was. No kiss from pence. No surprise there either. So, is this going to change their relationship today . Part of the bottom line, next. Your Insurance Company wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. And if you have more than one Liberty Mutual policy, you qualify for a multipolicy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. What will he say . What will he say . That is the question. Fbi director jim comey will be in front of congress this morning. He will be asked about wiretapping, surveillance. He will be asked about the existence of an investigation into russian connections with the trump staff. Is he going to give answers . Bottom line, philip rubbinger. Now before we get to the substance, lets deal with the style. Lets replay that moment. Remember when comey and trump had their introduction moment, the handshake and the kiss . Come over here, jim. Youre the real star. And what was that, philip . Was that just a whisper in the ear or just a little you know, were all good now . What was your read on that . I think he was just trying to be friendly. The relationship was up and down with trump. He hated comey when he wouldnt indict Hillary Clinton. In the end he loved comey because of that letter. Whatever trump thinks of comey is dependent entirely on what he thinks of trump at that moment and if hes creating problems for trump. He may really hate comey come lunchtime today. Right. Can he fire comey . Can . Yes, he can. Would he, should he . How would it look . He serves at the pleasure of the president , only a little bit into his tenyear span of service. Would that look like the president was trying to cover something up if he fires comey . It would be a pretty extraordinary move for him to do that. Technically, he can. I think its very unlikely that he would. It would certainly create all sorts of questions about this russia connection and the investigation. I think its an unlikely move for the white house to make. Yeah. I think it would be even in this administration, even with the forgiveness for trump and what he does, that would be a huge problem. We are used to seeing shocking things. Yeah, but, phil, that would be a big deal. Hard to pivot, except in the worst way for the administration. Thats right. On the wiretapping, do you believe democrats and some republicans who want this cleared up and to go away, do you think theyll get satisfaction . Yes, he said wiretapping. Yes, he said president obama and, to broaden it beyond that at all, i get why people would criticize that. But it has gone beyond that. And what if he doesnt say no kind of surveillance by anybody, any agency, and rogers comes on and echoes that. Short of that, will wiretapping live . I think it will always live because donald trump is making this point as is his press secretary, sean spicer. I dont think the media and the public at large will give up on this. For the president to make that sort of charge about his predecessor is remarkable. And its incumbent upon him to show some evidence and regardless of what comey says this week, the issue will still linger there. You had great reporting over the weekend, was my sunday night reading on whats going on inside the white house. The president hates these stories, palace intrigue stories. Two months in, day 60 of the trump presidency, who do you get the sense has the president s ear . His staff are eager to talk about them. We talked about 18 different white house officials and other friends of the president and really came to conclude theres a new dynamic in the white house. Its not Reince Priebus versus steve bannon what it seemed to be at the beginning. Theyve formed an alliance to take on what were calling the new york moderates, gary cohn, dina powell, who has tied to goldman sachs, trying to model the president in image, tone, policy and push a more centrist businessfriendly agenda, clashing with the republicans, conservative nationalists in steve bannon and priebus. With an gets more satisfaction today, the idea of whether or not there was surveillance of trump by the Obama Administration or whether or not there is an actual inquiry into connections, knowledge of trump staff and what the russians were doing during the election . Well, i imagine were going to hear a lot more specifically about the charge that President Trump made on the wiretapping. That seems like a pretty easy know, based on everything weve been hearing and cnn has been hearing and other news outlets, that there is no evidence of that wiretapping. The bigger question is the russian investigation. The public wabts to know answers to that and members on the hill will be pushing comey to answer. Stakes are high. Very high. The president tweeting just now. Heard fake news cnn is doing polls again despite the fact that their election polls were way off, disaster. Much higher ratings at fox. He just tweeted that. Theyre not our polls. Theyre gallup polls. Its very different to poll peoples opinion about a sitting president as to how they may go vote. Very different. Plus or minus on the polls on the National Vote was on, what happened in specific states. The president really concerned today, philip, on twitter, trying to shape the narrative. I hope hes watching us. Oh, hes watching. Philip, great reporting by you and your team. Just ahead, can Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch give the white house a big win . How far will democrats go to block him . Our legal experts will break it down. As the network its on. And verizon has been ranked number one for the 7th time in a row by rootmetrics. man hey, uh, whats rootmetrics . Its the nations largest independent study and it ranked verizon 1 in call, text, data, speed and reliability. woman do they get a trophy . Not that i know of. But you get unlimited done right. man 2 why dont they get a trophy . man 3 they should get something. woman 2 how about a plaque . I have to drop this. My arms getting really tired. Unlimited on verizon. 4 lines, just 45 per line. Or how high the pollen count, flonase allergy relief keeps your eyes and nose clear. Flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause nasal congestion and itchy, watery eyes. For relief beyond the nose. Flonase. Thats what they tell us, right . This chasm between us. But what they dont tell you, what doesnt make the news, is this. We carry each other forward. No matter who we are. Or what we believe. Or where we come from. Weve had the privilege to carry a century of humanity. Lovers. Fighters. Leaders. But maybe what we carry isnt just people. Its an idea. That while were not the same, we can be one. And all it takes. Is the willingness to dare. Can i get some help. Watch his head. Im so happy. Whatever they went through, they went through together. Welcome guys. Life well planned. See what a Raymond James Financial Advisor can do for you. Time for five things to know for your new day. Russias election interference and trump wiretapping. Democratic senators not ruling out a possible filibuster attempt with regard to Neil Gorsuchs confirmation. House Speaker Paul Ryan said the gop bill to repeal and replace obamacare will most likely get a floor vote thursday. Authorities suspect a Colorado Wildfire that forced thousands to evacuate their homes may have been man made. No injuries or property damage, though, reported yet. President trump will meet with iraqs Prime Minister at the white house. Theyre meeting, expected to focus on defeating isis and continued economic assistance from the u. S. And allies to help iraqi forces do just that. For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn. Com for the latest. 38 million Older Americans stepping out against the republican Health Care Bill. Christine romans is in the money center. And big dollars to do it. Aarp plans to hold lawmakers accountable. This harmful legislation creates an age tax, cuts the life of medicare and gives sweetheart deals to big drug and Insurance Companies while doing nothing to lower the cost of health care prescriptions. We intend on letting all 38 million of our members know exactly how their represe representatives voted. Aarp, outraged by this analysis, courtesy of the congress youngal budget office. Premiums would rise 13 grand under the gop plan and could pay even more. Insurers are allowed to charge Older Americans four to five times what younger people will pay. House Speaker Paul Ryan acknowledging the bill may need to be changed for that demographic. Bill gates meeting was overshadowed when kanye west showed up at the trump tower on the same day. Gates has been sharply critical with trumps plan to slash foreign aid. How he believes foreign aid makes america safer. Two businessmen with different world views. Bill gates at odds with the president on Climate Change as well. Gates is big. Aarp is big. They started sending me information, by the way. Im not surprised. You know what that means. Good to have a seat at the table. Make your voice heard. See what happens. True, true. Senate confirmation hearings from President Trumps Supreme Court pick neil gorsuch are about to begin. Is it democrats who are on the hot seat . We have a legal expert tell you whats behind that question next. music plays heigh ho heigh ho heigh ho heigh ho its off to work we go heres to all of you early risers, whats up man . Gogetters, and shouldbe sleepers. 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My credit score . Credit karma. Its free. Thats great um hm. Just whip bam boom, its done. That apartment is mine credit karma. Give yourself some credit. The eyes of the world on capitol hill today as two big hearings get under way very shortly. Fbi director james comey set to testify before the house on russia and the president s wiretapping claims and neil gorsuch faces his hearing in the senate. Senior legal analyst and biographer as well as jeffry toobin, senior legal analyst and quite the author himself as well. Nice to have you both here. Jeffrey, lets begin with you on comey. You seem skeptical. You dont think hes going to give a lot. Hes not going to say much . No. Fbi directors dont talk much about pending investigations. And we dont know exactly until they do, right before an election. This is what makes his testimony so interesting. Comey broke every rule that applies to fbi directors, Justice Department officials, to basically destroy Hillary Clintons candidacy in october and november of last year. But if you look at his record, if you look at the customs of the fbi, they dont really talk much about pending investigations. I expect we will get a clear, narrow answer to whether trump tower was bugged. And that answer will certainly be no, since everyone who knows anything about this subject has said no. But beyond that, in terms of what investigations are going on, involving russia, involving trump officials, i expect we will not hear anything close to a definitive answer. One quick balance on this, jeffrey. Weve been hearing from the democrats saying, hey, collusion is not the standard. Proof of collusion is not all were looking for. Were looking for proof of knowledge of what the russians are doing by trump people in real time. Whats the distinction there . Well, the distinction is potentially critical. If, for example, anyone involved in the Trump Campaign or any american aided and abetted the hacking of the dnc or the hacking of John Podestas emails, thats a crime. But if they were simply in touch with russians, who later were involved in hacking, thats not a crime. Its potentially politically very embarrassing, but its a huge difference legally between actually helping and simply just being in conversation. So, joan, lets get your take on the other hearing that is clearly overshadowed by comey. And neil gorsuch may be okay with that. His confirmation hearing on the hill, i wonder how he will address the questions of, you know, Judicial Independence and the things that the president has said about the Judiciary Branch just last week, calling it overreach in their travel ban 2. 0 ruling, talking about this socalled judge the first time around on the travel ban. Can he walk the line, condemn the comments, not the man . Im sure he has practiced many times trying to do that. You mentioned two big hearings. This is the one thats for life. Right. Neil gorsuch will appear for all of us for the first and only time when people can ask a lot of questions. Then hes appointed for life, 30 years, your children, your childrens children will be living in the america where he has set the law. And i think those questions right now are so salient about Judicial Independence and how much he will be an independent actor from donald trump. And i think he will probably today suggest some of that in his personality when he reveals himself to the senators about judicial neutrality. It will be up to the senators to pull out more as they start the q a tomorrow. This is a moment where he will have to set the stage and introduce himself to all of america. We saw him the night that donald trump, you know, announced the nomination. But this is his moment entirely to start answering those questions. Lets see if the democrats have prepared to posture or to really test this nominee. Joan, there are ways look, whats the main thing . The main thing will be hey, are you like scalia, a real originalist . Well put to the side whether that was what scalia really was in practice. Do they find ways to get at what matters or are they just going to punt in grandstand . No. This is a big deal. As i said, once in a lifetime for him. Once in five years, decade for the democrats. Why dont they use this forum to point at some very important legal issues today . Theyll have like 20 hours of testimony over this week that they can talk about the most important issues to americans on individual rights, on privacy. Weve got that immigration travel ban right there on center stage. They cant ask theyll try. They cant get answers from judge gorsuch about how he can rule on that but will try to probe his thinking. They should try to develop and im sure they have developed creative ways to approach it. Even if he tries to say very little on the substance, will he still reveal himself. And, jeffrey, final thought. If you were questioning gorsuch, you had one question, what would you ask . Youre making me so nervous, poppy. I tend to do that. You know, its still the biggest question of all in constitutional law. Should roe v. Wade be overturned. He probably wont answer but its a good illustration of whats at stake in this nomination. I know thats what blumenthal was saying earlier, thats the litmus test. How will he answer . Well be watching both those hearings on the hill today. Its monday. A will the to be expecting today. How about we start with a little good stuff . Your Insurance Company wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. And if you have more than one Liberty Mutual policy, you qualify for a multipolicy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Z2a1gz zx9z y2a1gy yx9y deartheres no other way to say this. Its over. Ive found a permanent escape from monotony. Together, we are perfectly balanced. Our senses awake. Our hearts racing as one. I know this is sudden, but they say. If you love something set it free. See you around, giulia but shouldnt it be about firsts . D in zeros. And seconds. How about adding a third . We think theres a bajillion ways to measure success. And whether you have hundreds or millions. We think you deserve the Financial Freedom to sleep like this at night. This is the new success story. And at tiaa, were with you. Start today at tiaa dot org. Time for the good stuff. Couple of indiana students arent in class. If theyre not in class, do you know what theyre doing . What . Giving back to the homeless. They wanted to supply socks to homeless shelters, a big need, by the way. So, they started a business sky footwear that lets you buy a pair of socks. In return, they donate a pair. People in my own community that were suffering and hurting. How simple a sock is to us is such a huge need to them. They run their business out of their dorm room. Every month they choose a different shelter in their state. Theyve donated more than 2,000 pairs to date. By the way, they picked a good product. Have you noticed that socks have made a huge comeback . Yes. My husband has many interesting color socks. But now im going to buy them from there. Why not . Thats not what i thought you would say college kids are doing in their spare time. Im very happy to see that. Thats why its the good stuff this morning. Special coverage of fbi director james comey testifying before congress. Its going to begin right now with wolf blitzer and jake tapper. We have been calling you guys, the big dogs. The big guys. For the big story. Im vacation tapper. And im wolf blitzer. Welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Just a short time in the saga over President Trumps accusations that his predecessor, the former president barack Obama Wiretapped him inside trump tower in new york city. The head of the fbi is expected to rebuke his claims. Fbi director james comey testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on the wiretapping claims and the investigation into the extent of russias interference in the u. S. President ial election. Head of the National Security agency will also testify. Lawmakers on both sides possible ties to russia. Burning question this morning will comey publicly admit whether there