Happen to be republicans, because were having no help its only obstruction from the democrats. The democrats are destroying health care in this country. We have had no help. We will get no votes. No matter what we do, if we gave you the greatest plan in the history of the world, you would have no democratic vote. Its all going to be republicans or bust. And the republicans are working very, very hard on getting a Great Health Care plan. So now its the senates turn to act, and, again, i hope that theyre going to act in a very positive manner. I can tell you the republican senators are trying very hard. The democrats are really in our way. We want millions of americans like rea and dan to finally have the quality and Affordable Health care that they deserve. Theyve been unfairly penalized for too long a period of time. Were working very hard to fix this big problem. I want to thank you very much. And to these two great families i want to thank you very much. Thank you. [ applause ] i have never felt pressured in any way, or in relationship. In the three plus years that ive been the director of the National Security agency, to the best of my recollection, i have never been directed to do anything i believe to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate. And to the best of my recollection, during that same period of service, i do not recall ever pressured to do so. Just a few moments ago, the ranking democrat appeared before reporters with this to say. This is mark warner of virginia. There was no denial about the contents, at least that i heard, about the contents of the post story. So many more questions to be asked. All right. We have a number of reports now. We have this story covered from all angles. Kasie hunt on the hill, Pete Williams on the nominee for the fbi director. Kasie, this hearing, again, nominally about the reauthorization of the fisa, of the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act. A lot of trumprussia, too, though. What are you hearing from lawmakers . Reporter craig, this story, of course, changed dramatically after that Washington Post report about dan coats and this reported request from the president to talk to jim comey about the russia investigation. That of course we have seen republicans and democrats focus on throughout the course of the morning during this hearing. An democrats, of course, at times agitated about these intelligence chiefs refusal to basically say anything, to provide a legal justification for why they werent answering questions, whether this conversation took place, whether there was executive privilege, et cetera. So i think here what you saw broadly from these intelligence chiefs was a refusal to answer questions or give details about this. John mccain on the republican side called the difference between what they said and whats been reported to have happened as orwellian. Senator marco rubio pressing very hard and an gus king, the independent senator from maine who sits on the democratic side, really pressed the nsa director rogers on this point. Take a look. Why are you not answering these questions . Is there an invocation of the president of the United States of executive privilege, is there or not . Not that im aware of. Why are you not answering . I feel its inappropriate. What you feel isnt the answer. The answer is, why are you not answering the questions . Is it an invocation of executive privilege . If there is, lets know about it. If there suspect, answer the questions. I stand by the comments i made. Im not interested in repeating myself. I dont mean that in a contentious way. Well, i do mean it in a contentious way. I dont understand why youre not answering our questions. Reporter its importanto note this level of contentiousness with intelligence chiefs very outside the norm for a hearing like this. This sets the sage for jim comey, very highly anticipated testimony tomorrow before this committee. There is an expectation he will be more forthcoming on some of these questions than these intelligence chiefs were today. Again, the kind of expectation from members of the committee who i have talked to and their aides, is that he wont get into the details of the fbis investigation, into whether or not there was collusion between Trump Officials and russians throughout the course of the campaign. But that he might be willing to answer more questions about this potential obstruction of justice. Why do they expect him to be more forthcoming than the intelligence chiefs we saw today . I think partly because there has been a sense privately and publicly that the former fbi director has really changed his approach in the wake of his firing by the president. And i think theres been a little bit of expectation lowering in recent days. Theres been reports hes not going to say that President Trump obstructed justice in this case. But then again, hes essentially a witness in this special prosecutor, mr. Muellers investigation of all of this. So the question is, what are the facts of his interactions . And he has been interacting with if senators on this committee, hend the chairman richard burr. They talked o saturday. Burr has been relatively open for this committee to usually completely nail down a lot of these things. He told reporters he doesnt anticipate that jim comey has been told theres anything he cant say. That fbi director mueller has been cleared for takeoff essentially. So the approach to that hearing and i think there was a question about what the dni, coats and the nsa director rogers were going to do here today. They got their answer there. But it was really a total unknown going in here. I dont think theres a sense of that with jim comey. I know youre still gathering up reaction from lawmakers. Kasie hunt for us on capitol hill. Pete williams, the president in ohio. Hes just made one speech. We expect another. Flooding the zone, if you will, in terms of counterprogramming. I believe thats a term Kristen Welker used earlier. Via tweet a few hours ago, the president announced his pick for the fbi. What do we know about Christopher Wray . Reporter quite a it wibit. He has experience in federal law enforcement. He served as a u. S. Attorney in atlanta, where he worked with local fbi officials and he had a number of different positions up here in washington, at the Justice Department headquarters, from 2003 to 2005 he was the assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division. And when he was there, that was the only dion that dealt directly with the fbi on a daytoday matters. So he knows the fbi from both the street agent level and the headquarters level. Hes been in private practice, representing Chris Christie during the bridge gate controversy in new jersey. He knew Chris Christie, because when they were both together as federal prosecutors. And he also knows james comey. When he was the assistant attorney general, he reported to the Deputy Attorney general who at the time was james comey. So hes getting generally positive responses from republicans on in the senate. Theyll have a confirmation hearing in another couple of weeks. They have not scheduled it yet. Hes been through this background clearance process several times before from his other positions in the government. The announcement itself seemed a bit odd. Typically when a president trots out his new person to run the fbi, is there not a ceremony . Reporter ive been back and looked at the previous four all the way back to reagan, in terms of the modern times of the fbi, when you were expecting to appoint an fbi director to serve for a tenyear term, that certainly was the practice, to have a rose garden ceremony. Pete williams, thank you. Toward the end of the hearing, kasie hunt just mentioned this, john mccain and directoroats exchange. Ry interesting the crux of it that the Washington Post story. Take a listen. I guess if i understand you right, director coats, is that in a closed session, you are more than ready to discuss this situation. Is that correct . I would hope we would have the opportunity to do that. I hope we can provide you with that opportunity. You know, its just shows what kind of an orwellian existence that we live in. Michael mcfall is a former ambassador to russia and msnbc contributor. And ari melbourne, msnbcs chief legal correspondent. The senator from arizona went on to say what was orwellian is that you can pick up the paper and read these details about conversations that mr. Coats wouldnt deny happened. But his point was, these are privileged conversations. If theres a conversation with the president about stopping the russia probe, would that be a privileged conversation . The short answer is the white house isnt exerting executive privilege right now. So they should have been free to say whatever they wanted. Even if this were a , its not even a position the white house has yet asserted. Thats why the witnesses looked so awkward. They referred to potential reasons not to talk, and there may be valid ones, but they didnt invoke them in a legal sense. Theres no legal reason they could not have spoken out . Not yet asserted, which is bad for the white house and these witnesses, even though there was good news for the white house, namely a kind of a vague blanket denial. This is senator angus king, senator from maine, known for being fairly even tempered. He was visibly angry at one point. Here it is. Its your position that the special counsel is entitled to ask you questions about this but not an Oversight Committee of the United States congress . It is my position that i have to be particularly careful about not stepping into the special counsels lane. Where does the special counsel get defense, is there some legal basis for that . Its a straightforward question. Its not involving discussions with the president but with mr. Comey. What is the legal basis for your refusal to testify to this committee . Im not sure i have a legal basis. Your take . He seems honest there at the end. Theres an old song whoop, there it is. Whoop, there it was. That is damning from the director of intelligence. Im not sure i have a legal basis not to answer the question. You are under oath, you are appearing before the congressional committee. Yo need to answer unless you have a legal reason not to answer in typical course. So he could have just said, i dont feel like answering the question. Thats why this hearing is more of a beginning than an end. It may be that later a legal reason is given. What if anything new did we learn today . Well, nonanswers are also answers. The fact that theyre not disclosing facts that they know that they think would be good for the president in and of itself says something. Theres a lot more to this story. This is really the beginning. I think all of the gentlemen today didnt want to say things before the testimony tomorrow. And the last thing i would remind you of, remember, the dni and the nsa, their area of responsibility is not investigations of the russians. They do a different job. And i think therefore to be pulled into that is something they feel uncomfortable, irrespective of who is the president. Thats just not a job they are signed up to do. Theres also this Interesting Exchange between senator marco rubio and admiral rogers. Again, we should note here that marco rubio, one of two senators last night who apparently had dinner at the white house with tom cole and President Trump. This is admiral rogers saying hes never been directed to do anything illegal. Senator rubio wanted to know if he had ever been asked. Take a listen. Has anyone ever asked you, now or in the past, this administration or any administration, to issue a statement that you knew to be false . For me, i stand by my previous statement. Ive never been directed to do anything in my three plus years not directed, asked. That i felt to be inappropriate or pressured to do so. Have you ever been asked to Say Something that isnt true . I stand by my statement. Director coats . I do likewise. What was marco rubio getting at . I think he was getting at the phenomena that weve been discussing since this hearing today, namely that these witnesses were eager to discuss their feelings and their impressions. But not the facts. In other words, they were happy to discuss what they felt was directed at them, not what the president said, not what the president actually asked them to do, namely the words that came out of his mouth. And that was especially surprising, given that as ari said, the white house has not invoked executive privilege, but the witnesses also made clear, bob mueller did not ask them to withhold any of their comments, and i should note that a request like this on the part of the president to a National Security official would not be classified. So they cannot also rely on an argument of classification. So as ari was alluding to, there is no justification not to relay the facts. But instead, they use their feelings as a crutch here. Ambassador, youre someone who has likely had a few private conversations with president s over the years. Did these gentlemen have a point at all about not relaying private conversations with the president of the United States in an open public forum . Again, im not the lawyer on your panel here. Obviously, executive privilege has not been invoked. I worked for president obama for five years. Most certainly i would not have been eager to talk about our private conversations unless compelled to do so. Thats important to say. But the second point i want to emphasize, if theres no smoking gun here, if theres nothing to hide, of course, we would have heard a lot more from them than we heard today. So their nonanswers to me suggest that theres real facts that we need to know, and i suspect in the coming days, maybe even starting tomorrow, well begin to know those facts. We most certainly need to know them. Lets talk about tomorrows hearing. Director comey set to appear 9 00 a. M. Tomorrow morning. If today is any indication of what we can expect tomorrow, what is to say it is, what do you think we can expect to hear from the fbi director, former fbi director, and perhaps even more importantly here, what wont we hear . I would expect jim comey to speak in some detail about how President Trump addressed him, the nature and structure of those interactions and whether theres anything to be inferred thats negative, for example, asking people to leave the room or trying to create a lack of witnesses or other people that can be negative. And the words that President Trump used himself. I dont think jim comey will seek to characterize or add his opinion above and beyond the facts that are here. We will not hear any details i would expect about whats going on inside the russia inquiry. You mentioned a structure of those conversations. Why is that important . We are speaking, we have microphones on and other people in the room. If we speak in this format, its very known to be public. If i say one more thing i want to talk to you about, craig, i want to take off the mike and have a side bar with you, that tells us something, from an investigative stand point. It may say we want to have a private conversation. Thats not always bad, but it could be something worse. All right. President trump has made his way a few miles from where we just saw him on the tarmac, in cincinnati, ohio. Hes expected to talk infrastructure. Lets listen in. The very magnificent ohio river. Were here today to talk about rebuilding our nations infrastructure. Isnt it about time . Spending money all over the world except here. We dont spend our money here, we spend it all over. And well do it using american labor, american energy, american iron, aluminum and steel. [ applause ] we believe in the dignity of work and in t greatness of the american worker. No worker like our american worker. I want to thank secretary purdue, secretary zinky and administrator pruitt for joining us today. You saw what we did with our great administrator. You saw what happened last week with the socalled paris accord. We will we will keep our nation so great and so strong. And we will never have outside forces telling us what to do and how to do it. [ applause ] that would have been a huge anchor on our country. Im also grateful that the governor, his wife and family could be here along with Lieutenant Governor janeane hatchton, from kentucky. Great place. [ applause ] where is janeane . And Lieutenant Governor mary taylor from ohio, thank you, mary. Thank you very much. [ applause ] were also very excited to be joined by top labor leaders in the United States. I have negotiated with these people for so long. Theyre tough. But they get the job done, right . Together, were goingo put our skills and trade people back to work. Shawn mcgarvey is here with us today, president of the North American Building trades union. Shawn took part in one of our very first meetings at the white house. That was a great meeting, shawn. And was there with us when we issued the longawaited approval for the keystone excel pipeline, which has started. [ applause ] after years and years of stagnation, they said thats never going to happen. We got it started. Its going to happen and its about 48,000 jobs. Its a big job, and thats just the beginning. We have many other things happening, including the dakota pipeline, also moving along and very rapidly. We will also welcome eric dean, president of the united iron workers, and Terry Osullivan of the labors union of north america. I will say to you all today what i told you and told our labor unions two months ago in washington, as long as i am president , americas labor leaders will always find an open door at the white house. We had a great day. [ applause ] we love our workers. Were also pleased to be joined by executives from marathon petroleum, cf industries, pea body energy, alliance coal, a. K. Steel,ew cours steel, you like that company. Scotts miracle grow, and many others who are ready to help us build the roads, the bridges, tunnels and waterways of tomorrow. And theyre currently working very hard. In fact, i brought a couple of the greatest buildings, steve roth, richard lefrack. Where are you guys . Come up here, steve. These people arent used to this. They like to build. They dont know about this. Get up here, richard. Two of the great builders of our country. Come here, richard. I have to do this. You want to say anything . Theyre not big talkers. Unless theyre behind a desk. Go ahead, richard, go. Were all fortunate to have the greatest builder in america, donald j. Trump. [ cheers and applause ] standing behind an Infrastructure Program, which america sorely needs and is ready to implement. Do donald, President Trump, thank you. [ applause ] thank you. Come here. Get off the stage, fellows. [ ughter ] richard, that was a good job. These are great builders, and were watching and theyre looking over our shoulders. Believe me, they dont need the money. Theyre not doing it for that. I said make sure its going to come in on time, under budget, maybe even ahead of schedule. But we say on time, under budget, and theyre going to be watching and looking over some of the big jobs we have planned. So it gets done properly. Not these jobs that take 14 years to build when theyre supposed to be completed in 18 months. Youve been hearing about those. Thats been the standard. It wont be happening, not in this administration. The American People deserve the best infrastructure anywhere in the world. We are a nation that created the panama canal, the transcontinental railroad, and the internet if you think about this, the great highway system, the interstate highway system. We dont do that anymore, we really dont. We dont even fix the old highways anymore. But were going to get them going again like never before. These projects, not only open new lanes of commerce, but inspire the immigration and the dreams of millions and millions of people. We crafted monuments to the american spirit. Its time to recapture our legacy as a nation of builders and to create new lanes of travel, commer. D discovery. And were going to see all the way into the future, and the future is going to be beautiful and the future is going to be bright. In my campaign for president , i traveled all across the nation. I saw the crumbling infrastructure. I met with communities that were desperate for new roads and new bridges. Bridges were so dangerous. They couldnt use them. They were worried they would fall down. And youve seen that happen. And i heard the pleas from the voters who wanted to know why we could rebuild foreign countries. We build in foreign countries. We spend trillions and trillions of dollars outside of our nation. But we cant build a road, a highway, a tunnel, a bridge in our own nation. And we watch everything falling into disrepair. Its time to rebuild our country to bring back our jobs, to restore our dreams and yes, its time finally to put america first. And thats what ive been doing, if you havent noticed. [ applause ] while its very early in the administration, i think everyone has noticed, right . We have noticed. The people are noticing like theyve never noticed before. Were already making historic progress. Last month, unemployment fell to its lowest point in 16 years. Right now [ applause ] thank you. Right now, more Small Businesses are planning to hire than at any point in the last decade. Last week, the stock market soared to record highs. Highest ever, boosting the pensions your pensions and your retirement accounts and those of hardworking americans. Ive just returned from a trip overseas that secured more than 350 billion of military and economic investments into the United States. That means millions of jobs. [ applause ] and i want to thank the king of saudi arabia. We spent a lot of time together. Theyre going to be doing very special. You see it with terrorism, the funding of terrorism. Its going to stop. Theyre going to stop the funding of radical islamic funding and theyre going to stop. [ applause ] and they hosted over 50 allmuslim countries. They said theres never been anything like it in our history, in the history of this world, theres never been anything like what took place two weeks ago in saudi arabia. And im very proud to be part of it. Hopefully that can be the beginning of the end to this horrible, horrible situation that the world is suffering right now called terrorism. Weve got to put an end to it and we have to be very tough and smart and we have to be very vigilant and weve got to end it. [ applause ] in my meetings with foreign leaders, from many countries, i sent a clear message that america expects fair trade, a level playing field, and so many other things that were demanding for our workers and our companies. Every other country looks out for their interests. Its time that we finally start looking out for our interests in the United States. [ applause ] the theft of american prosperity has come to a screeching halt, folks. And a new era of american greatness is about to begin. And you see it. Its already beginning. Were going to restore Americas Industrial might. And then i look here and something those barges, theyve been waiting for us to say hello. The captain says, please wave. Hello, captain. He put up that big, beautiful american flag. Creating the jobs and tax base to put new infrastructure all over our country. Thats whats happening. But to achieve our full economic strength, we must repeal and replace obamacare. [ cheers and applause ] sinc obamacares implementation began,remiums hav increased by an average of 75 in kentucky, andle and 86 in ohio. We learned that the last statewide insurer in ohio is leaving. Have you folks heard about that . Thats it, byebye. Wave goodbye. What a mess. That could mean another 20 counties and 19,000 people will have no plans. The house of representatives has done the house of representatives has been working very hard, its done its job in passing along an obamacare replacement bill. Now its time for the senate mitch mcconnell, working very hard to act and to save americans from this catastrophic event. Because obamacare is dead. Obamacare was one of the biggest broken promises in the history of politics. Remember, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan. Didnt work out that way. You end up paying not to have insurance, because it was cheaper. But theres another major promise that washington has repeatedly broken, and that is the one where we are here today. Its a promise thats gone unheeded and its called restoring america. Restoring our country. The promise of a safe, reliable been kept. Infrastructure hasnt but were going to keep it. American lives and livelihoods depend on our action together. Thats why im calling on all democrats who honestly have really been obstructionists. Boy, have they tried i mean, every single thing. On health care, i wont get one vote. Obamacare is crashing, its dead. Its in a death spiral as the head of one of the Biggest Insurance Companies said, its in a death spiral. And were coming out to do good, not bad, but to do good. We wont get one democrat vote. Think of it. Theyre just obstructionist, every single thing is obstruction. I dont think honestly, if i were in that party, i wouldnt be doing it that way. I would be doing positive things. Thats why they lost the house, the senate, they lost the white house. People dont want to see whats going on. They want to see us all come together. But i just dont see them coming together. Theyre obstructionists. Im calling on all democrats and republicans to join together, if thats possible, in the great rebuilding of america. Countless american industries, businesses and jobs depend on rivers, runways, roads, and rails that are in dire and even desperate condition. And millions of American Families rely on their water and pipes and pumps that are on the verge of total failure and collapse. We are pleased to be joined today by representatives from many, Many Industries that depend on a truly critical component of our nations infrastructure. The 12,000 miles of inland waterways. We have farmers, coal miners, and those coal miners are happy. Coal miners, oh, they like trump. [ applause ] they like trump. Same with steel workers, and oil workers. Weve taken those restrictions and those horrible regulations off of your companies and well have clean, beautiful air and clean, beautiful crystal water. But youre going to have your jobs also. Youre going to have your jobs. [ applause ] maybe more than ever before. So i want to salute each of you for the work that youve done. And maybe more importantly for the work that youre about to do. Because its going to be a beautiful thing, you watch. These citizens know firsthand that the rivers, like the beautiful ohio river, carry the lifeblood of our heartland. In fact, im very proud that behind us today are those 12 barges look at this, West Virginia. Do we love West Virginia . West virginia. Theyre filled with West Virginia coal. And you know, next week, were opening a big coal mine. You know about that. One in pennsylvania. Its actually a new mine. That hasnt happened in a long time, folks. But were putting the people and the miners back to work. The contents of just one nine barge tow boat, like the one behind me, carries the equivalent of 1,000 semi tractor trailers. People dont realize it, but they do now. [ applause ] roughly 60 of United States grain exports travel down these waterways to the gulf. More than half of all the American Steel is produced within 250 miles of where were standing right now. And its production depends on the inland waterway system and wait till you see what im going to do for steel and for your steel companies. Were going to stop the dumping and stop all of these wonderful other countries from coming in and killing our companies and our workers. [ applause ] youll be seeing that very soon. The steel folks are going to be very happy. Up to 25 of the Nations Energy cargo relies on these channels. And the refineries along their shores. But these critical corridors of commerce depend on a delapdateed system, and their condition is in very, very bad shape. It continues to decay. Capital improvements of this system, which is so important, have been massively underfunded, and there is an 8. 7 billion maintenance backlog that is only getting bigger and getting worse. Last december, up the ohio river ne pittsburgh, one lock built more than 50 years ago, had to be shut down for five days due to hydraulic failure. And you though what that means . Five days means everything comes to a halt. We simply cannot tolerate a fiveday shutdown on a mayor thoroughfare for american coal, american oil, and American Steel, which is going to get more and bigger. America must have the best, fastest, and most reliable infrastructure anywhere in the world. We cannot accept these conditions any longer. A few years ago, a gate broke from its hinges at the markland locks on the ohio liver in kentucky. It took nearly five months to repair. Any of you know about that . Yes wasnt a pretty picture, right . I dont think so. And in 2011, a massive section of canal wall collapsed near chicago, delaying everything and it seemed like forever. Great american businesses like land o lakes, which is here today, from minnesota where are they . Stand up. Thats good stuff. Come on, stand up. [ applause ] fear that the lock and dam systems they rely on are no longer dependable. I am here with a message for you and for all of the great businesses that are gathered with us, and maybe more importantly, because thats what its ultimately about, those businesses, workers. Together, we will fix it. We will create the first class infrastructure our country and their people deserve. My new vision for american infrastructure will rebuild our country by generating 1 trillion in infrastructure investment. Our Infrastructure Program a lot, a trillion. [ applause ] you know, as of a few months ago, we spent 6 trillion in the middle east. Along with the death of so many incredible people. And along with all of the other problems that youve been watching every night on television and reading about in the papers. 6 trillion and yet if we want to fix a road or a school, or we want to make sure that a bridge doesnt chance in our country, forgetting about even building new ones, we dont ever seem to have the money. Got to change, folks. Thats got to change. Something is wrong. Somethings wrong. [ applause ] our Infrastructure Program will be based on forging new partnerships and demanding new accountability for every federal taxpayer dollar. Under this vision, the federal government will drastically reduce burdensome regulations, which weve already been doing. We have some more to go, but its going rapidly. I think when people tell me, you know, were doing the largest tax cut in history. People are more impressed with the facthat weve cut so many regulations. If they had their choice, which is so hard to believe. Nobody would have believed. [ applause ] so were getting rid of the regulations and massively streamlining the approvals and permitting process. Already my administration has expeditedenvironmental reviews, and thousands and thousands of big jobs, big, big jobs. I dont mean individual jobs, but projecttype jobs. Thousands of them are being approved rapidly. And if theyre not environmentally sound, theyre not going to be approved. But well tell them youre not going to get approved. But thousands of jobs are being approved all of the United States. And im very proud of it. And scott pruitt has been right at the forefront and hes done an amazing job. [ applause ] hasnt been that easy for him, but he likes to see people go back to work. And he likes to make sure that the environment is perfect and clean. I want to add that, too. Im pleased to announce that the Dakota Access pipeline, which i just mentioned, is now officially open for business. A 3. 8 billion investment in american infrastructure that was stalled and nobody thought any politician would have the guts to arove tt fil leg. And i just closed m eyes and said, do it. [ applause ] think of it, they build this massive pipeline and then they have to hook it up, a little section, and theyre stopped. And i said, thats not fair. And you know, when i approved it, its up, running, its beautiful, its great. Everybody is happy. The sun is still shining, the water is clean. But when i approved it, i thought i would take a lot of heat. And i took none. Actually none. People respected that i approved it. But i take so much heat for nonsense, that it probably overrode the other. [ applause ] its like a decoy. America built the Golden Gate Bridge in just four years, and the hoover dam in five years. Think of that. It should not take ten years to get approvals for a very small little piece of infrastructure. And it wont. Because under my administration, its not going to happen like that anymore. We will work directly with state and local governments to give them the freedom and flexibility they need to revitalize our nations infrastructure. At least 200 billionf the 1 trilli plan will come fm direct federal investment. Working with states, local governments, and private industry, we will ensure that these new federal funds are matched by significant additional dollars for maximum efficiency, and accountability. People watching over each one of these jobs and every penny will count to them. Taxpayers deserve the best results for their investment, and i will ensure that this is what they get. The last administration passed a stimulus package of which only a tiny 7 went to infrastructure and much of that was just wasted money. You folks up front, you know what im talking about. The great infrastructure plan nobody saw any money. Remember shovel ready, right . Shovel ready wasnt shovel ready, that i can tell you. Were not going to repeat that mistake. Thats not going to happen again. Instead, our plan will help states and local governments prioritize their most pressing infrastructure needs, building transformative projects that create a flood of wealth and opportunity to benefit every part of our country, especially rural america. The companies here today are prepared to work with us, and these are Great Companies today. And theyre going to work with us to make sure the right infrastructure gets built and fundedck and its going to be in the right location, everytng about it is going to be right. Businesses like these are ready to invest and create jobs. But we have been waiting for a responsible partner in the federal government. Youve been waiting for a long time. Now you have one. [ applause ] so i want to thank all of the great workers for being here today. I want to thank all of the great Business Leaders. You have some Business Leaders that are legendary people in the audience, running massive, massive companies. And being slowed down, but now theyll be able to speed it up. Not only are they going to repair much of the depleted infrastructure, but that is what a great country does, that is what a great country has to do. America wants to build. Across the nation, our amazing construction workers, steel workers, iron workers, fitters, electricians and so many others, are just waiting to get back to work. With the talent and skill they represent, which believe me, i grew up in the building business. I know the talent and the skill and the courage and Everything Else that they have. There is no limit to what we can achieve. All it takes is a bold and daring vision and the will to make it happen. Nearly two centuries ago, one american governor had jt such a vision, and a will. His name was governor dewitt clinton. As the governor of new york state, he dreamed of a canal stretching nearly 400 miles to connect the Atlantic Ocean in the east with the great lakes in the west. He predicted that its construction would place new york city at the very center of worldwide commerce. He took the idea to washington, but president thomas jefferson, great president , didnt agree with him and he dismissed that concept as total madness. I would like to thank all of the people that helped so much in that incredible event, and i think that jefferson simply understood who he was and who he was dealing with, because if you want a new yorker to do something, just tell them, like our great past governor, that its impossible to do. The governor didnt give up, and new york state achieved what they thought was the impossible. And when the erie canal opened in 1825, he was on the first boat. He personally deposited a bucket of water from the great lakes into the new york harbor. The new canal exceeded even the governors bold vision. It dramatically reduced the time and cost req to transport goods from the heartland. As a result, new settlers rushed into the midwest, including two right smack here. Probably some of you indirectly, right . Definitely some of you. Just as the daring dreams of our ancestors opened new paths across our land, today we will build the dreams that open new paths to a better tomorrow. We too will see jobs and wealth flood into the heartland, and see new products and new produce, made and grown right here in the usa, and you dont hear that much anymore. Hear that much anymore. We will buy american, and we will hire american. [ cheers and applause ] we will not so importantly be content to let our nation become a museum of former glories. We will construct incredible new monuments to american grit that inspire wonder for generations and generations to come. We will build because our people want to build and because we need them to build. We will build because our prosperity demands it. And above all, we will build because okay, we have been listening to President Trump there in cincinnati, ohio. He is talking about his infrastructure plan to a certain extent. It was a wideranging speech extending to an hour. He was at an airport hangar on the tarmac talking about health care and obamacare. This was a speech devoted to infrastructure, that speech wrapping up there. He also spent some time talking about terrorism and restoring america. However, in the last five minutes or so, there has been some breaking news, if you will, and all of us are trying to get through it here, reading through it feverishly. This is jim comeys prepared testimony. This is the testimony that he is set to give tomorrow morning to the Senate Select committee on intelligence. Again, we are sifting through it, but our justice accordance Pete Williams sifting a bit faster than the rest of us. Pete, again, we should note here that were just going through it. There are a number of pages. What have you gleaned so far from this testimony . Any major surprises . Well, im just starting to read it, craig, and a confirmation of what we had been told at the time on background. Hes going chronologically through his meetings with the president. He said when he first met president elect trump was january 6, just a couple weeks before the inauguration. At trump tower he said he and other members of the Intelligence Committee were there to brief him on the intelligence communitys assessment about russian efforts to interfere in the election. Now, we knew about that, but we had been told that he also stayed behind to talk to the president , in essence, about this report that the fbi had obtained from a British Intelligence official that contained some derogatory, and what comey describes here, as well, derogatory information about mr. Trp, and he thought that he shouldsonally do that part of the briefing, and he said he thought it made sense for him, and so he did that, and thats as far as ive gotten. All right, pete. Were going to give you maybe a minute or two to sift through some more. Craig . Go ahead. Then he does talk about the dinner that was first discussed with publicly by the president in his interview with lester holt. He says that the dinner was friday, january 27 at 6 30 in the white house, and heres how he says it came to be. He says the president called him at lunchtime that day and interviewed him to have dinner that night, saying he was going to invite comeys whole family but decided just to have mr. Comey with the whole family coming the next time. Unclear from the conversation who would be at the dinner, although he said, i assumed there would be others, but it turned out to be just the two of them at a small oval table at the center of the green room waited on by two navy stewards, which is sort of the white house tradition. The president said he began comey says the president began by asking whether he wanted to stay on as fbi director, which comey says, and ill just quote from it now, which i found strange because he already told me twice in earlier conversations that he hoped i would stay, and i had assured him that i intended to. He said lots of people wanted my job given the abuse i had taken during the previs year, and he would understand, comey says, if i decided to walk away. He says, and ill just continue quoting here, my instincts told me that the oneonone setting and the pretense that this was our first discussion about the position meant the dinner was, at least in part, an effort to ask me for my job and create some sort of patronage relationship. In other words, an effort to have me ask for my job and create some sort of patronage relationship. That concerned me greatly given the fbis responsibility. And then he says in this statement, what we had again been told about by friends of mr. Comeys about the request for loyalty. Comey says the president said i said that i love my work, i intended to stay on and serve out my tenured term. And then because the setup made me uneasy, i said i was not reliable in the sense that politicians use that word but that he could always count on me to tell the truth. I added that i was not on anybodys side politically. A few minutes later the president said, again quoting from mr. Comey, the president said, i need loyalty, i expect loyalty. Comey said, i didnt move, speak or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence. The conversation then moved on, but he returned to the subject near the end of the dinner, and comey says he explained why it was important to have the fbi and the white house be independent. Near the end of the dinner, comey says the president returned to the subject of the job,aying he was very glad i wanted to stay, adding that he had heard great things about me from other people, and then he said, i need loyalty, and comey says, i responded, you will always get honesty from me. And then the president paused and said, thats what i want, honest loyalty. And comey says, thats what youll get from me. So then he says he went back and he wrote a memo about all of this, and he says during the dinner, the president returned to the solacious material i had briefed him on during our first meeting in january, expressed his disgust for the allegations, strongly denied them, and he said he was considering ordering me to investigate the incident to prove that it didnt happen. He said, i replied that he should give that careful thought because it might create a narrative that we were investigating him personally, which we werent, he says. Thats an important thing. So as of the dinner, the fbi is saying the former fbi director is saying here that as of the time of the dinner, the fbi was not investigating the president , and then he says, it would be very difficult to prove a negative if anybody asked whether that came up. And then he talks about the next meeting, february 14 in the oval office for a curounterterrorism briefing, and this is the par about the Michael Flynn request at home out before. He says the two of them were alone. The president said, i want to talk about mike flynn who had just resigned the previous day. The president began by saying, mike flynn didnt do anything wrong in speaking with the russians. Talked about a lot about mike flynn and then said, hes a good guy, hes been through a lot. He repeated that flynn hadnt done anything wrong but had misled the vice president. Then he said, according to comey, and let me quote from the memo. This is the way comey quotes the president. I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. Hes a good guy, i hope you can let this go. Pete, i think its important to note for our listeners and viewers, thats obviously in quote. This is something the fbi director put in a memo immediately after the meeting, correct . Right. And he said, i then replied that he is a good guy, adding that he had positive experience himself dealing with flynn. I did not say i would let this go. The president talked about leaks. He says, the subject of the conversations with the Russian Ambassador came up. Et he said, i didnt understand the president to be talking about the broader investigation into russia or possible links into his campaign. I could be wrong, comey says, but i took him to be focusing on what just happened with flynns departure. Pete, can i call your attention to page 7 . You pagination is different from mine, so i dont know what that means. Toward the end, the march 30 phone call. Okay. The march 30 phone call. This is right above the april 11th phone call, and the paragraph where it starts with, in an abrupt shift, he turned the conversation to the fbi director andrew mccabe. Underneath that he talks about the cloud. Do you see that portion . Yeah. Go ahead. Can you pick up there . You go ahead. So he finished by stressing the cloud that was interfering with his ability to make deals for the country, and said that he hoped i could find a way to get out that he was not being investigated. This would sound to a lot of folks, pete, that here is the president of the United States asking the fbi director to get out this message that he, in fact, was not under investigation. Again, were just reading this, so i dont want to put you on the spot here in terms of analysis. Well, and of course, its no surprise that its been reported before that the president had asked him or asked the fbi to say that he wasnt on the hook. But what he says is, he said, i hoped i could find a way to get out, in other words, make it public, i guess, that he wasnt being investigated. I told him i would see what we could do, comey says, and that we would do our investigative work well and as quickly as we could. He says, immediately after that conversation, comey called the man who was acting as Deputy Attorney general at the time, because already attorney general sessions had recused himself, to report the substance of the call from the president and said i would await the Justice Departments guidance. I didnt hear back from him before the president called me