Lets begin at the white house with cnns joe johns. Joe, what are you learning . Reporter good morning, john. The attorney generals role in the firing of james comey is certainly being called into question this morning, even as he started out in the interview process to find comeys replacement. Now, one of the big problems, certainly, for the attorney general, is the fact that he announced to the world that he had recused himself from all things relating to the russia investigation, that because he had an appearance of a conflict of interest after meetings with Russian Ambassador sergey kislyak. Now, of course, its compounded by the fact that the president of the United States did go on the record in a public interview and say that the russia investigation actually was a factor in the firing of comey. So, the ethics of the situation have been called into question by democrats on capitol hill, and the fred werth heimer watchdog group, democracy 21, has also called on the attorney general to remove himself from the process of selecting a new fbi director, all of this after former director of National Intelligence went on tv, on cnn over the weekend, and said the president of the United States essentially is undermining the system of checks and balances in the country. Listen. I think in many ways our institutions are under assault, both externally and thats the big news here is russian interference in our election system. And i think as well, our institutions are under assault internally. Internally from the president . Exactly. Because hes firing the checks and balances . Well, i think, you know, the Founding Fathers in their genius created a system of three coequal branches of government and a builtin system of checks and balances, and i feel as though thats under assault and is eroding. Reporter Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has said the senate ought not confirm a replacement for comey until sometime well after at least a special counsel is named to investigate the russia situation. The Senate Republican leader, the majority leader so far opposed to that idea. Back to you. Joe johns at the white house, thank you very much. Among those being considered for this top job at the fbi, senator john cornyn, former congressman mike rogers and acting fbi director andrew mccabe. Also theres talk about trey gowdy as well, and some are urging the president not to tap anyone with political ties. Our Jessica Schneider is tracking that for us. Good morning, jessica. What are you hearing . Are there any leaders on this list so far . Reporter well, at least eight people interviewed this weekend, poppy and john. And you mentioned cornyn and rogers. Both of them republicans and very political, but the push for a nonpartisan pick is coming from both sides of the aisle. You can see here john cornyn, republican from texas, Senate Majority whip, the second most powerful republican in the senate. And then, of course, theres mike rogers. Mike rogers was formerly at the fbi as a special agent, a former republican congressman from michigan. He has actually been endorsed by the fbi agents association. Theyre pushing for President Trump to make him their pick. So, also on that list of eight, you have current acting director andrew mccabe, also former assistant attorney general under president bush alice fisher, in addition to new york judge michael garcia, fbi special agent in charge adam lee, as well as judge henry hudson from virginia, and also frances townsend, the former Homeland Security adviser to george w. Bush. She also served in the department of justice under president clinton. President trump also said it is possible he could pick someone before departing on this is overseas trip on friday. Senator Lindsey Graham, meanwhile, is telling the president , look, keep politics out of this. I think its now time to pick somebody that comes from within the ranks or of such reputation that has no political background at all that can go into the job on day one. You know, who does the fbi director work for . To me, its like appointing a judge. The president actually appoints a judge, but the judge is loyal to the law. Reporter so, that push for a nonpartisan pick coming from both sides of the aisle. We know that President Trump will be reviewing the reports and recommendations from all of these interviews over the weekend. Perhaps there could be more candidates as well. We do know the president will meet with a few of the leading candidates himself before making his pick, the president saying it could potentially come before friday. Poppy and john . All right, Jessica Schneider for us. We are watching it very closely. Look, it is some push for an fbi director with no political ties, but former cia director James Woolsey says finding someone who actually wants this job could be difficult. Listen. I think its going to be very hard to find a good fbi director who is willing to operate under the circumstances that weve seen this week. All right, lets bring in our panel, James Galliano is a cnn Law Enforcement analyst and retired fbi supervisory special agent. Richard painter is a former white house ethics lawyer. And mike baker is here, former cia operative and cofounder of diligent tellall a Global Intelligence security forum. Nice to have you all here. Mike, let me begin with you. You seem to be on the side of Lindsey Graham and those who say absolutely no one with any political background whatsoever. Why . Well, i think, first of all, i think its whats needed at this time. I think its whats needed by the fbi. I think that would be the best step for them. To bring in an independent, lowprofile director. Look, we dont need a highprofile individual in this position. Its the director of the agency. What do you need . You need a solid manager who understands the culture of the fbi, who understands operations investigations. Bringing somebody up through the bureau im not sure thats going to happen but what im saying is that would be, i believe, the correct pick. Bringing anybody in with any baggage at all and that would include the current acting director, mccabe i think would be opening this up to just endless firefights on both sides of the aisle. James, what do you think of this . You actually worked in the bureau. Yes, and its interesting because i heard the argument from mike rogers, and it was posited this morning on your show by the fbi Association President tom oconnor, and i also heard hes got broad support from the other side of the aisle, Elijah Cummings supporting him. I think that the argument that the next director has to come from within the ranks of the fbi is a facile argument and heres why. Fbi agents are trained in closequarter battle how to take down an assailant and all those kind of things. The fbi director, their job is battle on the hill, in the oval office. And i think out of the seven fbi directors, fulltime, appointed by congress fbi directors i served under four of them only one of them, louis freeh, was a former fbi agent. I just dont think that needs to be part of the calculus for saying this guy or womans going to be good for the job or not. There was a fascinating interview done with fbi director james comey not this week, not last week, in 2014, but it reared last night on 60 minutes, and it is worth taking a listen to this part. You say that the president wanted independence from his fbi director, but the Justice Department answers to the president. It does, but it has to maintain a sense of independence from the Political Forces. I dont mean that as a per jurortive term, but the Political Forces in the executive branch, and thats why the director is given a tenure term, so it is guaranteed that youll span president ial administrations to make sure that youre leading in a way thats not influenced by the political winds. Richard painter, to you, with your hat on as a former white house ethics lawyer. Is there, given comeys comments about why fbi directors have tenyear terms and why they have to be beyond politics or even the appearance thereof, do you believe that anyone with a political background can be tapped and be trusted by this president at this point in time . Oh, i think they can. Ive worked in republican politics for about 30 years. I know some of these people. Theyre very good people. I think they could do an excellent job as director of the fbi, but its going to be critical that there will be an independent prosecutor for the trump russia connection investigation. That should not be handled by the fbi director. And neither should any other of i think the many scandals that this administration. None of those should be handled by the fbi director who is an appointee of the president. There needs to be an independent prosecutor. That should be done before there is a confirmation of any nominee for the fbi directorship. But these are all very, very good people. I think id consider all of them. I also want to emphasize that the attorney general, jeff sessions, should stay out of the trump russia matter. He already recused, yet he got involved with firing comey. Thats a breach of the agreement. He also lied to the Senate Judiciary committee about his own contacts with the russians. So, i think the attorney general really has made the situation a lot more difficult than it needs to be. He needs to recuse. And i understand your opinion, the attorney general, your call for a special prosecutor. Neither of those things seem to be happening right now. What is happening is the Deputy Attorney general, rod rosenstein, is going to capitol hill this week to brief senators at some point in a closeddoor meeting. Richard painter, what does he need to say . What questions do you think he needs to answer to the senators . Well, i think that the firing of director comey was completely mishandled by the white house and the Justice Department. We had lies being told by the White House Press office that were repudiated almost immediately by the president of the United States. I think that was a disaster, so hes going to answer a lot of questions about that. But furthermore, going forward, there is no excuse for not having an independent prosecutor. And the longer this administration drags that decision out, the worse its going to be. There has to be an independent prosecutor for the trump russia matter and all of the other scandals coming out of this administration. No new fbi director should be asked to investigate those things with a president whos just simply going to say youre fired the minute he gets close to anything that is incriminating. James, to you. Former dni clapper said yesterday that he feels like the checks and balances that this government is based on is eroding and that that confidence is eroding and that these institutions, the intelligence agencies are under assault. Are you in contact with folks at the fbi who feel the same way . Is that a widely shared feeling, do you believe . I dont. I have the utmost trust and confidence in the institution that are the men and women of the fbi. I mean, to steal a woody allen line, i think the method that President Trump dispatched with his fbi director was a travesty of a mockery of a sham. Its his decision. We fully support that and understand that. It was the method that he did it. Whether or not the fbi is going to, you know, implode because of this, i say absolutely not. The men and women of the fbi are committed to the ideals of the constitution and their allegiance to our motto, which is fidelity, bravery, and integrity. Mike, one last word. Four days before the president s overseas trip. What can he do in those four days to turn things around politically and within the fbi . Well, i dont think he can do anything politically to turn this around. I think its going to be an endless assault on pretty much anything he does politically for, you know, the foreseeable future. I think as far as the fbi goes, i think theyre doing what they have to do. They need to be transparent in their interview process. Again, i would argue look, mike rogers i think would do a very fine job. Theres no doubt about that. But i would just say that, again, i think to try in an effort to at least put a cap on the hyperbole and some of the hysteria thats surrounding james comeys departure and i agree with james, absolutely, it was the messaging, it was the optics, just like so many other things with this administration, its a selfinflicted wound that didnt really have to happen. But i think if they go with the nonpolitical approach to this, they at least have a chance to tamp this down, and at the same time, bring somebody up, again, who can be independent and aggressive, of course, with investigations that need to go forward. Thank you very much. Were out of time. We appreciate it, james, richard and mike. Thank you so much. We are, as we said, waiting for President Trump to leave the white house. Hes headed for capitol hill. Hes going to speak at a National Peace officers memorial in just a few minutes. Question is, is he going to bring up who he is thinking about tapping to replace james comey . North korea says the u. S. Mainland is now within striking range of its missiles. What are we learning about the latest test carried out by the regime . And some good news this morning. So far, we are hearing there are no signs of a new wave of cyber attacks. The bad news, doesnt mean there wont be one soon. When did you see the sign . When i needed to create a better visitor experience. Improve our workflow. Attract new customers. Thats when fastsigns recommended fleet graphics. Yeah now business is rolling in. Get started at fastsigns. Com. Rumor confirmed. Theyre playing. What . We gotta go. Where . San francisco. When . Friday. We gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. Any hotel. Any time. Go where you want, when you want with no blackout dates. [ muffled music coming from club. Blue monday by new order. Cheers. ] [ music and cheers get louder ] the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. Its travel, better connected. The travel rewards credit card from bank of america. Where are mom and dad . saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico goin up the country. Love mom and dad im takin a nap. Dude, you just woke up im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. Nosy neighbor with a glad bag, full of trash. What happens next . Nothing. Only glad has febreze to neutralize odors for 5 days. Guaranteed. Even the most perceptive noses wont notice the trash. Be happy. Its glad. This is the schmidts yard. And, oh schmidt, thats a lot of dirt. But theres plenty of time for scotts outdoor cleaner plus oxiclean to work its magic. All while being safe to use around plants and grass. Guaranteed. This is a scotts yard. What does life look like during your period . With tampax pearl. You get ultimate protection on your heaviest days and smooth removal for your lightest. Tampax pearl and pocket pearl for on the go. Pressure. I feel it everyday. But at night, its the last thing on my mind. For 10 years my tempurpedic has adapted to my weight and shape, relieving pressure points from head to toe. So i sleep deeply and wake up ready to perform. Now through june 11th, save 600 when you buy select tempurpedic Adjustable Mattress sets. Find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic. Com. So, a little later this morning, the president is going to leave the white house, head to the capitol. Hes going to address the National Peace officers memorial service, an event that honors Law Enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. And hes expected to head that way in just a few moments. As this speech comes, there is a swirl of speculation around who the president will pick to replace former fbi director james comey. The white house is also dealing with the fallout from the way that the firing went down, this ahead of the president s first big trip overseas. All right, here to discuss, doug heye, political commentator, republican strategist, former rnc communications director, and hilary rosen, cnn political commentator. Lets talk about the republicans, shall we, in the capitol right now . How much pressure are they under if youre a republican senator right now whos going to have to confirm who the president picks to be the fbi head . What kind of pressure are they feeling and what does it do to them that one of the people being interviewed is the Senate Majority whip, john cornyn . Yeah, the conversations with republicans ive had on the hill arent so much about who it will be. Obviously, those parlor games always happen. But more, is the person going to be allowed to do the job . Can the next fbi director be independent or somebody donald trump can push around or fire at his leisure and set up the same situation as james comey . And john, i know what a big fan of the yankees you are. Its a bit like having derek jeter and only letting him bunt. You need somebody that can do the job that they can do best, and thats the big concern. Its not who. As long as he doesnt have to play defense. I was just going to say, would you like a shot back . Hilary, Chuck Schumer came out over the weekend and said, basically, cease any working with the republicans at all when it comes to confirming an fbi director until they guarantee, until the administration or the Attorney Generals Office guarantees to us that they will put in place a special prosecutor on the russia matter. They dont seem to have the support that theyre going to need behind that one. Do you think that that is universally shared sentiment am