Sour grapes. A sour grapes mood by democrats who blew last falls election, insisting it is past time to get this passed and unify the country to get big things done. Chief White House Correspondent john roberts starts us off tonight from the north lawn. Good evening. President trump said he is close to naming a new fbi director, and white house sources tell fox news the leading candidate is the former connecticut senator Joe Lieberman. A lot of republicans believe lieberman would get universal confirmation in the senate, but at least two democratic senators, Claire Mccaskill and Patrick Leahy say it would be a mistake to name someone to that position was a political background. Still, nominating lieberman may help turn around a relentlessly negative news cycle that has been surrounding the president. In the east room, President Trump responded for the first time in person to the appointment of a special prosecutor to look into russias attempts to influence the u. S. Election. I respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch hunt and theres no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always pick for myself and the russians. The president said he respected the decision to appoint former fbi director Robert Moeller to look into the matter, he also denounced it as bad for the nation. I think it divides the country. I think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. So i can tell you that we want to bring this great country of ours together. I hate to see anything that divides. Im fine with whatever people want to do, but we have to get back to running this country. The resident responded for the first time to a memo said to be written by former fbi director james comey, that claims that in a february meeting, the president asked comey to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn. Did President Trump say that . No, next question. The appointment of Robert Mueller to take over the investigation was met with near universal praise. He has impeccable credentials. He was a former fbi director where he served with distinction. Before that, he was a career prosecutor. Hes going to follow the facts, do a thorough investigation. They need to clear the decks. Some republicans say theres a danger a special prosecutor could feel compelled to pursue convictions, they also thought it could work in the president s favor if his statements about no collusion are true. From the president s perspective, you would rather not have any of it but if mueller says theres no evidence, its going to be hard for the democrats to argue. White house staffers see it as in a opportunity to get back to the president s agenda. Today democrats appear to have dialed it back. I have a significantly greater confidence that the investigation will follow the facts whenever they. Another controversy is rising around Vice President mike pence and whether he was aware Lieutenant GeneralMichael Flynn had informed the transition he was under investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for turkey. In a march nine interview, the Vice President told bret baier he knew nothing of flynns business dealings. The first i heard of it and i think its an affirmation of the president s decision to ask general flynn to resign. Pences office said the Vice President stands by his comments in march upon first hearing the news regarding general flynns ties to turkey. Michael flynn has not set aside whether he will comply with subpoena. James comey is said to be eager to testify at is said to have many more memos he has so far been keeping to himself. Bret john roberts who live on the north lawn. Thank you. With the controversies and distractions mounting for the president , his number two appears to be stepping up to try to move the trump agenda forward quickly. Chief washington correspondent james rosen has that story. Speaking to the u. S. Chamber of commerce, Vice President pence addressed the political shocks, striking atone by now familiar from him. One intended to reassure. Whatever washington, d. C. , may be focused on, rest assured President Donald Trump will never stop fighting for the issues that matter most to the american people. Good jobs, safe streets, and a boundless american future. Those comments came hours after politico reported conservatives begin to whisper president pence. Eric erickson road republicans who defending the wounds of this president have no need for him with mike pence in the wings. As the Vice President keeps up his schedule, including an event wednesday welcoming Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to his office, aides say he remains focused on the job, enacting the trump agenda. He is offended by talk of impeachment or of him as the preferred alternative for Congressional Republicans fatigued by the controversy attached to President Trump. Also recoiling from such talk, the house speaker. Thereve been some members who have said we would be better with Vice President pence. What is your take . Im not going to give credence to that. Unlike his predecessors, dick cheney and joe biden, the incumbent Vice President registered a Political Action committee, a move that will enable him to support republican candidates in 2010. Ron christie, a former aide to Vice President cheney, urged the white house to raise mr. Pences profile now. There are a lot of supporters of the Vice President who wondered why he took this job in the first place and they are questioning whether or not he made a mistake. I look at this and say im glad mike pence is there. I am glad he stands shoulder to shoulder with the president but he understands the way the system and the process works. As the individual to whom Michael Flynn purportedly lied about his conversations with the russian ambassador, Vice President pence can expect the special counsels office will seek him out. Aides say all such medications will be handled by the office of the council to the Vice President with no immediate plans for additional staff or resources. Bret thank you. Tonight, u. S. Senators have a better idea of just what Robert Mueller will be doing as he takes the lead in the trump russia probe. Rod rosenstein held a briefing on capitol hill behind closed doors this afternoon. Chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge was there. Good evening, catherine. I want to ask, did Deputy Attorney general rosenstein give senators a sense of the scope of kneelers investigation . Every senator said its extremely serious and the newly appointed counsel Robert Mueller has a broad mandate. Some senators told us that they think the ongoing fbi case has crossed a threshold from a counterintelligence probe that typically does not result in charges. Special prosecutor is doing an investigation of criminal allegations that are extremely serious, including possible obstruction of justice. Ive always believed a counterintelligence investigation did not need a special prosecutor or consul. They criminal investigation might. Senators told reporters that the Deputy Attorney general was very careful with some of the questions because he told them he didnt want to say anything that might jeopardize the work of Robert Mueller. Bret what the senators said after the briefing, did rosenstein know President Trump was going to fire the fbi director before he wrote that memo concluding comey mishandled the clinton email matter . Senior democrat said definitively that on may 8 the Deputy Attorney general already knew fbi director james comey was going to be fired, and thats one day before rosenstein wrote the memo that was part of the president s decisionmaking process. Justice Department Officials are telling fox news the Deputy Attorney general was not that definitive. One senior republican said the memo was one piece of the president s decision making. Bret catherine, thank you. One person is dead, 22 others hurt tonight after a driver smashed his car into pedestrians on a sidewalk in times square in new york city. Authorities say the 26yearold suspect has a history of drunkendriving. Police do not suspect a link to terrorism. President trump still hasnt gotten the congressional goahead to build the border wall he talks about, but his immigration policy is already having a major effect in Many American cities. National correspondent william la jeunesse shows us how from los angeles. Making good on a promise to overturn obamaera regression policies, new enforcement numbers show a nearly 40 increase in the arrests of illegal immigrants. Not at the border but in u. S. Cities. That is roughly 400 a day, although down from 2014 levels. I. C. E. Says 75 were criminal aliens. Our mission is to acknowledge the damage caused by criminal illegal aliens. Targeting immigrants who commit crimes are more difficult because of sanctuary policies. We have to use resources to find them in the community. For agents, that means encountering spouses, relatives, and coworkers who did not commit crimes but are here illegally. Unlike the prosecutorial discretion discretion used by the obama administration, i. C. E. Does not. Noncriminal alien arrests are up 150 which angers critics like the l. A. Police chief priest big you can say our sanctuary policies are what makes us successful. We get people to talk. We get witnesses to come forward and we get witnesses to come forward. A crackdown on the ms13 gang. Half of those arrested are here illegally. The commission is considering a proposal to ignore minor crimes. The stats show how far apart they Trump Administration is for many immigrant cities. Sources say l. A. P. D. Officials refused to even show up at the ms13 press conference if i. C. E. Attended. Even though they were part of the same joint task force. Bret thank you. The Trump Administration has officially begun the process of renegotiating the nafta trade deal. The new u. S. Trade representative sent a letter to Congress Today starting 90 days of consultation with lawmakers over how to revamp the pack. Robert lighthizer says new deals should do a better job protecting factory workers and should be updated to reflect new technologies. Stocks rebounded today. The dow was up 56. Nasdaq s p 500 gained 9. Nasdaq finished ahead 44. Roger ailes, who created this channel, one said Fox News Channel was set up for a niche audience. It so happens the niche was half the country who felt they were being underserved by the media. Ailes died this morning at 77 years old. His legacy lives on here at fox. Take a look back, he is being remembered as someone, the man who created this channel, the man was being remembered tonight as tough but brilliant strategist and television pioneer, a career that ended here in controversy. Senior political analyst brit hume worked with ailes from the beginning of the channel. He takes a look back tonight. Good morning. My name is roger ailes. 21 years ago amid predictions it would fail. For roger ailes, failure was never an option. From simple beginnings as the son of a shop foreman in ohio, Roger Eugene Ailes found his way up. At 25, he was executive producer of the mike douglas daytime tv show. That is roger in the baseball cap. One guest on that show was richard nixon, who was so taken with the young ailes that he hired him for his 1968 president ial campaign. He understood the value of television after losing the 1960 election to jack kennedy. Nixons election started ailes on a broader career as a media and political consultant. In 1984, he advised Ronald Reagan after reagan lost the first president ial debate to Walter Mondale which had raised doubts about reagans age. Ailes advice led to this. I will not make age an issue of this campaign. Im not going to exploit for political purposes my opponents youth and inexperience. Mondales hopes of an upset died among the laughter. Ailes coached george h. W. Bush. President bush 41 tweeted this today he wasnt perfect, but roger ailes is my friend, and i loved him. Not sure i would have been president without his great talent, loyal help. Rest in peace. After head of cnbc and launching the channel that would become msnbc, News Corporation chief Rupert Murdoch tapped ailes to start the Fox News Channel in 1996. We had no studios, control rooms, stars, programs or anything else. We did have an idea. We knew there was an audience. Critics scoffed. This was bill carter of the New York Times comic given the current state of fox news, it may be less a toy than an imaginary friend. It took a few years to build it but the audience did come in for long there were cameras, studios, control rooms and stars. Sean hannity, shepard smith, bill oreilly, megyn kelly, neil kabuto, bret baier, Martha Martha maccallum. The evening shows were built on the views of the mostly conservative hosts but plenty of democrats have found a home at fox as well, including geraldo rivera, juan williams, bob beckel, leslie marshall, ailes was a conservative but those responsible for News Coverage were encouraged to play it straight, as on the eve of the 2000 election. Rogers interest, is it right . Are we sure the sources good . Are we sure the facts are accurate . After that, there was never a moments hesitation about whether we should do the story or not, even though it had the potential to derail buschs candidacy. Fox news ratings climbed. Coverage of the aftermath of the 9 11 attacks, by the end, fox news fox news became everyone in cable news and has remained so ever since. There has always been as scrappy atmosphere. A sense that the work here is a privilege to be enjoyed. I tell people, if youre not having any fun, go home. Go home. You are irritating me. Roger never forgot where he came from. How would you describe yourself . A guy from ohio who worked his way up and got lucky. Going into television as a gofe gofer, and an opportunity presented itself. I think i rose to the challenge most of the time, and was able to create a career. What a career. Last summer, it came crashing down amid allegations that ailes had made repeated unwanted sexual advances toward numerous women at fox news. He denied the allegations but was reformist to resign. The accusations came as a shock to nearly all of fox news who remember him today for his talent, leadership, humor, and kindness. Changing the trajectory, the path of their life, seeing something in other people they didnt see themselves, and he is so sorely missed. He was there for me when i went through some hard times. Are you okay . I wouldnt be here without that man. When i was diagnosed with ms, he got on the phone and said whatever we can do for your family, because we were all part of a family. He was a presence and he will be missed on this channel. He will be missed. Rogers death this morning was announced by his wife who described herself as profoundly sad and heartbroken. He suffered from hemophilia and took a fall in the bathroom of his home in palm beach florida which caused bleeding in his brain. He is survived by his 17yearold son zachary. Stealing all those years, he said so many things to all of us. He used to say negative people make positive people sick. He used to fire us up. I know the man we knew for all those years was not the man at the end of his career that ended in controversy. When he hired me, some 20 years ago, my experience was always one where he was always just the first to reach out. The first person who called. Each time my son had an open heart surgery. When my son died all those years ago, roger, who had a bad ankle and had trouble getting around, he got on an airplane and came down here and was at my side. He was supportive to me at that time as anybody was. I will never forget it. Bret thank you for doing this. Our sincere condolences to his wife beth, his son. We are signing off for you, roger, for the last time on Fox News Channel. Rest in peace. Hey, need fast heartburn relief . Try cool mint zantac. It releases a cooling sensation in your mouth and throat. Zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. Nexium can take 24 hours. Try cool mint zantac. No pill relieves heartburn faster. I need the phone thats where i happen to be. To be the one that rings. I need not to be missed phone calls. To not be missed. I need seamless handoff. Canyon software. From reception, to landline, to mobile. I need one number. Not two. Im always moving forward. Because i cant afford to get stuck in the past. Comcast business. Built for business. Bret Senior PentagonOfficials Say an american air strike has hit prosyrian forces near the border with jordan. They say they were signing up fighting positions in a protecte