Russian meddling in the election. Senator Lindsay Graham called susan rice to testify. Republicans are eager to hear from her. President trump has accused her of likely breaking the law. His charge that rice requested the unmasking of Trump Association names who were caught up in surveillance of russian officials. She said she did it in an effort to hurt the Trump Campaign. Trump claimed it was a massive story, having no evidence. Jim sthuto broke the shore and is out front front tonight. Why refusing to testify for susan rice. Reporter im told susan rice used this as a partisan request. Lindsay graham and sheldon whoit house wrote to her. He said i dont see your testimony as germane to the subject, which is russian hacking in the election. I was told she was going to accept the invitation when she thought it was coming from republicans and democrats. She saided when she found out, no, it is part sedan. Of course, the focus, her concern, is it going to be a conversion to take away the russian experience and focus on the uncorroborated claims that she tried to unmask people relat relates. The fbi director, jim comey testified today for four hours. Yeah. He repeatedly and passionately defended his decision to go public with the clinton email just days before the election, right . Thats exactly right. He said he had no regrets. He said it was a very difficult, he said even painful decision for him personally that hes gone back over since then many times. Each time he does, he doums the conclusion that he made the right call. At times definal and other times reflective, james comey said his idea to go public in the clinton email probe made him feel nauseous but he has no regrets. It makes me mildly nauseous but it wouldnt change decision. He said he doubted that top officials in the department of justice could carry out the investigation without did perception of bias. This even before a highly publicized meeting between then attorney general Loretta Lynch and former president bill clinton on a phoenix tarmac. Her meeting with president clinton on that airplane was the capper for me. I then said, you know what, the department cannot by itself credibly end this. That was a hard call for me to call the attorney general and say im about to call a press conference and i cant tell you what im going to say. Reporter director comey argued it was a matter of timing, too early for the trump election, not so for the clintons. Had it been shown that there was investigation into both campaigns, i think the impact would have been different. Would you agree . We didnt confirm it existed until three months after it started and it started publicly. We dont confirm the existence of any investigation that involves a u. S. Person or a class fight investigation in its early stages. Comey also defended his decision to notify congress the day before the vote that the fbi was reopening the investigation after discovery of aums on the computer of youll aip an dean. Theyre being forwarded to him. I think for him to print out for her. It was that discovery that led comey to write his infamous 11th hour letter to congress. I had to Tell Congress we are taking these additional steps. Two actions speak or conceal i dont think many reasonable people would do it differently than i did. Another topic regarding leaks. When pressed repeatedly by lawmakers, james comey said he has never leaked classified information nor authorized his staff to leak information. Thank you very much. Jim. The democratic senator cory booker sits on the Foreign Relations committee. I want to stoortd with the breaking news on susan rice declining the decision to testify. There are concerns that rice tried to learn the identities of Trump Officials during the campaign for political reasons. Thats the republican charge do you support her decision not to testify . First of all, trump makes a lot of wild accusations, outright lies. I wish she would come in and testify. Lindsay graham is a straight shooter. I would like to hear fromler. Anyone who understands the experiences that rice has had as somebody whos been attacked in a partisan manner for her entire career, why her lawyers dont want her to become prey to what might become a partisan witch hunt. Ive known her going back to before both of us were in washington. Shes a straight shooter patriot serving this country. Clearly as someone who believes we should get to the truth, i wish she would come in. The very important fact is this is why i and so many people with the gravity of whats happening with the russian attacks on our country, this is we should have an independent special counsel investigating this that would have access toe interviews with susan rice. I want to ask you you make your point. You bloef her but you wish she would come in and speak her peace and that lindsay p graham is a great shooter. I want to ask about mr. Comey. I know you dont agree with many of the decisions he made last fall. He said again and again and again today when it comes to the 11th hour clinton investigation announcement, he would do it all over again. Let me play a couple of quick collins. It makes me mildly nauseous. Honestly, it wouldnt change the decision. I pray to find a thirds door. I couldnt find it. Two actions. Speak or conceal. I dont think many reasonable people would do it differently than i did. He said reasonable people would have done the same thing as they would you call him a reasonable person . What he did to me is flat wrong. He talks about being nauseated. He interfered with an election at a time when all he had to do was taken the extra stem to actually see if theres anything substantive in those emails and if he found something, then notify congress. He is dead wrong in this case. He knows hes wrong. Reality is he did something that was uncalled for, unnecessary and ultimately sbrunsed an American Election that was highly inappropriate for the fbi. When you hear him say he prayed to find a third door, it was incredibly painful, he felt nauseous, do you believe him . Look. I have respect for him in many ways, many areas. But in this case what he did to me was unacceptable. It should be outrageous, democrat or republican, to have in the final moments of the president ial election, no party who be welcoming this standard he just set based on no concrete evidence. He hasnt found anything. He was in the midst of an investigation. He should have gone further in a private investigation. It should be unacceptable for all of us to alloy an fbi drosh to interfere in an American Election. Do you think he should step down . Hes in the middle of a term here. Words youre using, seems a fair question for you. Again, im not making any conclusion about that at all. I wish he would come clean and be clear that he did not have to do this. He could have continued the investigation. By the way, if he did find something that ultimately proved to be not relative to the investigation, but if he did find something, i would want him to come forward. He had nothing else to do. Its outrageous hes defending himself in this manner. I think he should say, hey, i was wrong, in hybridhindsight but were moving forward. At least he koovp given us the najs that is this is not going to be a precedent moment in American History where an fbi director could interfere in an American Election the way this happened. Its almost the stuff of Science Fiction that this could happen in this day and age. You wont go so far as a result of that youre saying he should step down . He should be helds accounts. There should be accountability for this what that is, i dont know. But this is a person thats not taking responsibility for their action and not owning up to the mistake he made. He should be held to account. He also talked today about russias medaling in the election. Heres what he said about the medaling in the election. Is it fair to say that the russian government is still involved in american politics . Yes. Is it fair to say we need to stop them from doing this . Yes, fair to say. Do you agree that the reason theyre going to stop is to pay a price for interfering into our political process . I think thats a fair statement. Senator, do you think the Trump Administration will try to stop russia from doing this or not . Well, so this is the difference between what we were talking about before. His mistake and medaling is one thing. When have you have a foreign nation who has virtually quite literally atakds our electoral process, where theres no, sir question to that, where you have independent investigates tore agencies confirming that. And for the president of the United States to be so dismissive that hes kplands more in the last month about nordstroms than the russians. This is a foreign nation that has atakds us. And theyre continuing to do such activity and determined to do it more, more emboldened in it. If we dont take action, its going to continue to happen. What i know from my briefings and my engagement, theyre getting more and more sophisticated in their ability to undermine our election. They are becoming they cant match us tang for tank, Aircraft Carrier for Aircraft Carrier. They are finding others insidious means to undermine our democracy and very flankly, the values for which we stand. Ok. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And next, when is a wall just a fence. White house spokesman sean spencer sean spicer iechls has an explanation youve got to hear. And showing the spots where the mothers of all bombs detonated, the biggest bomb dropped since hiroshima. 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Food as it should be. New tonight, the white house insisting it is building a wall. In a dramatic moment, the White House PressSecretary Sean Spicer clashed with a bright batter report er on whether trup could really build the wall. Watch for yourself. Why isnt he fighting for the wall . This is the type of barrier that exists throughout the country. You see a place where cars can create Little Things and driver over. Places can get burrowed under. To replace this with 20foothigh ballard ball is the most effective way to do this. This is what we got out of those bill. Are they a wall or a fence . There are various types of walls that can be built. The latest legislation alous us to do. That is called a levee wall on the left, that is called a ballard wall. Thats not a wall. Its a levee wall . It is called thats the name of it. But fencing, not a wall. No, no. In this current bill it allows to us do the following. Weve taken the tools that we have to replace and if you look at that one in particular, youve got a chain link fence currently at our southern boarder. The that is literally down there now. Were able to go in there and instead of having a chain link fence relays it with that ballard wall. That exists. Its not the wall the president promised. Hold on, jim charlie asked the same thing, so ill give you a little help on this. This is the 2017 budget. This is a downpayment on what the president will spend on the 2018 budget. Jason carroll is at the house. The white house, you heard, theyre going to be able to build this wall. Right. Look, this isnt it, not yet. I know spicer was saying this is a downpayment. Theres a lot of argument on that front. Theyre making a lot of effort to show, look at this picture, look at that picture, look at this great big glorious wall thats being built. At the end of the day this is not the wall donald trump talked so much about, it would be so big it would have his name on it. The administration did not get the funding this budget goaround for that. What they did, they got some 300 million for border security. That allows them to maintain existing barriers that are already on the border. Lets say theres a fence thats falling down or part of a wall that ha has a hole in it that needs mending, they have the funding to fix that. What they do not have is the some 12 billion that this president wanted and thats some of the estimates, 10 to 12 billion to build this wall. Thats not what the president got this goaround. Perhaps hell get that in september when they try to get another bungtd. They didnt get it this time. Perhaps next time. Thank you very much. Our editor at large and our politics director. Ok. So one interesting thing in a came out, theyre obviously not able to build a new ball. But theyre saying theres a hole in the wall or something goes over or under or whatever, that they can replace it with something much more stalwart. Right . We could basically put up a wrault where theres not a wall now. Nowhere in sean spicers extraordinary statement was he saying mexico will pay for the wall. I guess well table that for now. Yeah. In this agreement that was approved this week to keep the government open, the white house totally caved on this, so the government wouldnt shut down. There is 321 million more for border fencing and yes, that will help in some respects but this does nothing to help build the wall. The reason the president is so adamant about this. Hes furious, im told, about the press coverage of this. Hes now in a fight with himself and conservatives on this. Not even democrats. Democrats are on the sidelines watching. They didnt care what the question no. He had a whole bunch of pictures of fences, which by the way im going to get. Fence versus wall is not a semantics issue here. He came ready with all this. Yes. No matter what they asked he was going to do this. And this is day two. The office of management and budget had the same thing. Look, heres what it is now. Heres the fortification that will be here later. This is bad spin. It just is. The reality of the situation, donald trump said a week and a half ago i need 1. 4 billion as a downpayment on the wall. Congress, including hawks on the republican side said no. I would say rightly that Government Shutdown is much more disastrous than giving in on this for the moment and they gave in. I think thats smarts politics. But donald trump doesnt like to lose, so he wants to find a way to win. Hes going to say see this chain link fence, its going to be a bigger wall. This is not the wall. This is a wall. That begs the question, though. Yes. John donald trump loves a win. Take the win that you didnt shut down the federal government the other day. I dont understand why he isnt touting that. When youre explaining, youre losing. Thats exactly what sean spicer was doing today. He now is in some nuanced land for funding that doesnt exist about a wall or a ballard fence or a hole in the fence that you can drive a car through. Whatevers chlgs hes trying to explain nuance. The simplicity is not attainable. Just im going to builds a wall along the southern border and have mexico pay for it. On the issue of waulg and fence, ok. Sean spicer everyone saw the reporters. Here is why. The president is the one who cares about this distinction. Here he is. The fence. Its not a fence. Its a wall. You just misreported it. Were going to build a wall. So the word fence matters to him. Some of those pictures the reporter are pushing, they look like fences. Sean spicer said they were actually a ballard wall. They call it a ballard fence, not a ballard wall. This word clearly matters to them. They dont want to call it a fence. Because the president , then candidate started calling it a wall on the campaign. I dont know if he really is hard pressed, whatever they built. He called it a wall, now he wants to call it the wall. This is something his supporters really wanted. He as we speak, there is a group at the in the Homeland Security office who are already working on building this. They dont have the money for it yet but they are planning it. Theres so many problems.