Recounting It News Today

Got this conversation as he is recounting it, the president is recounting it, john mclaughlin, we dont know yet what jim comey will say, if he does come forth this may, in fact, inspire him to come forth sooner than later to give his side of the story? >> i think in any conversation, you have to have both sides of it. thats one thing ive learned in my old business. i guess ill be a little surprised if its quite as simple as the president lays it out. now lets allow for the possibility that the p...

Termination letter to mr. comey. you write, i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i am not under investigation. why did you put that in there? >> because he told me that. i mean he told me that. >> he told you you werent under investigation with regard to the russian investigation -- >> was it in a phone call or meet face to face. >> i had a dinner with him because he wanted to stay on. >> he asked for the dinner. >> dinner was arranged. i think he asked for the ...

The way. they -- >> because in your letter you said i accepted their recommendations. you had made the decision? >> i was going to fire regardless of recommendation. >> so there was no -- >> he made a recommendation. hes highly respected, very good guy, very smart guy, the democrats like him, the republicans like him. he made a recommendation. but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. >> let me ask you about your termination letter to in comey. you write i greatly appreciate y...

Into an active criminal investigation, be it about him, his associates or anyone else that might be implicated in donald trumps universe. so that is probably inappropriate. it is not technically illegal by any means. the other headline that you were just discussing with our correspondents, it is significant that the president has now admitted he wanted to fire james comey regardless. this is a white house that has said from the podium and elsewhere, the opposite, that this was an idea that came ...

Its not trivial. this is an important part of the job of being president of being chief of staff. >> and the other piece of it is, we were talking to david kohn, one of your successors as deputy cia director who says you never know what could have been brought in on that camera in terms of the technical surveillance devices possibly implanted. we all go through security clearances, but there are devices that could get through a magnetometer. >> i would hope that white house security would have a...

Lester that he did ask james comey, the fbi director, whether he said if its all right if i can ask you this, am i part of this investigation. was that inappropriate? is there any legal issue there? >> two different questions, andrea. about its appropriateness let me set that aside. on whether its illegal or violates some rule, now, you know, i caution as i say this, that you ask two lawyers a question and youll get three answers is the old expression. but ive talked to a couple of former federa...