he s a showboat, he s a grandstander. the fbi has been in turmoil. you know that, i know that, everybody knows that. president trump says he was going to fire comey regardless. that is not only inconsistent, it contradicts inner ray way what this white house said was the original impetus for the firing of james comey. this happened at 12:01 or 12:01, fire him because he wore a red or blue tie, this shouldn t be a complicated process. i said if it s possible will you let me know, am i under investigation. he said you are not under investigation. it is just scandalously unethical and i m amazed they think this is a defense for his reaction. what is your reaction to this conspiracies? the message is resist, obstruct, deny, insult, insinuate. severe thunderstorms and damaging winds are moving over parts of the south into the northeast. this becomes a chilly weekend rain climbing up through the mid-atlantic. passengers had to be evacuated from a united airlines
this is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. russians. comey told associates that at dinner, the president asked if he would pledge his loyalty. comey declined, instead telling the president he would always be honest. the president asked two more times, and comey refused again. the third time, mr. trump asked for honest loyalty. to that comey responded, yes, you will have that, meaning he would always be honest, sources said. today in an interview with fox news, president trump disputed comey s account. did you ask that question? no, no, i didn t, but i don t think it would be a bad question to ask. i think loyalty to the country, loyalty to the united states is important. you know, i mean, it depends on how you define loyalty. number one. number, two i don t know how that got there because i didn t ask that question. what about the idea that in a tweet you said that there might be tape recordings. i can t talk about it. i won t talk about that. all i want is
mason: good evening. scott s off tonight. i m anthony mason. this is our western edition. we begin with a president on the defensive. disputed accounts of white house conversations, demands for recordings if there are any and accusations of obstruction of justice. it may sound like a page out of history, but it happened today after president trump took the extraordinary step of tweeting a warning to former f.b.i. director james comey. comey, the man he fired three days ago. we begin with justice correspondent jeff pegues. reporter: the president sent the tweet shortly before 8:30 this morning: this morning: it was a response to what comey says happened at a dinner with t esident trump at the white house on january 27, just one why after the white house was informed former national y thrity adviser michael flynn had been compromised by the russians. e mey told associates that at lonner, the president asked if st would pledge his loyalty. comey declined, instead telling t