Friends or their community or because of themselves, like, when they take one of these jobs that they are doing something girly. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and indivials. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff it was another day in washington that generated more questions than answers, with apparently conflicting statements coming from the white house, fueling the firestorm surrounding the dismissal of the former f. B. I. Director. William brangham begins. Brangham it was another day the president laid into jim comey, the man he fired who days ago. Hes a showboat, a grandstander, the f. B. I. Has been in turmoil. You know, that i know, that Everybody Knows brangham those remarks came as the man whos now filling in for comey, acting fbi director Andrew Mccabe, painted a starkly different picture of his former boss. I hold director comey in the absolute highest regard. I have the highest respect for his considerable abilities and his integrity. And it has been the greatest privilege honor of my professional to work with him. I can tell you also that director comey enjoyed broad support within the f. B. I. And still does to this day. Brangham mccabe spoke at a Senate Hearing today to discuss various global threats, but democrats spared little time blasting the president for his dismissal of comey, who had been scheduled for this same hearing. However President Trumps actions this week cost us an opportunity to get at truth at least for today. Brangham for his part, mccabe pledged that the ongoing f. B. I. Investigation into russian meddling in the election, and whether trumps team colluded in that meddling, will continue no matter what. As you know senator, the work of the men and women of f. B. I. Continues despite changes in circumstances any decision so there has been no effort to impede our investigation to date. Cannot stop men and women of f. B. I. From doing right thing and upholding constitution. Brangham mccabe added he wont be updating the president on that russia investigation. Senators pressed him about mr. Trumps claim that comey had told the president he was not personally under investigation. Mccabe said he couldnt comment on specific conversations between the two. Republican Susan Collins of maine followed up is it Standard Practice for the f. B. I. To inform someone that they are not the target of an investigation . It is not. Brangham meanwhile, in that same nbc interview, the president doubled down on that claim, saying comey told him three times he wasnt a target. He said it once at dinner and then he said it twice during phone calls. Did you call him . In one case i called him and one case he called me. And did you ask am i under investigation . I actually asked him, yes, i said if its possible would you let me know am i under investigation . He said you are not under investigation. Brangham mr. Trump also said he had decided to fire comey long before meeting with attorney general Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein on monday. I was going to fire comey, my decision. It was not you had made decision before they came in the room. I was going to fire comey i there is no good time to do it by the way. They, they because in your letter you said i accepted their recommendations, so you had already made the decision. Oh, i was going to fire him regardless of recommendation. Brangham but that seemed to contradict what senior white house officials had been saying all week press secretary sean spicer, Vice President mike pence, and Deputy Press SecretarySarah Huckabee sanders had all indicated that the firing was driven largely by concerns from the justice department. At todays press brief, sanders offered an explanation for the seeming inconsistencies. I think its pretty simple. I havent had chance to have the conversation directly the president. Ive since had the conversation with him. He laid it out very clearly. He had already made that decision. The recommendation he got from the Deputy Attorney general just further solidified his decision. Brangham meanwhile, outrage over comeys ouster stretched beyond washington. Lawmakers, including new jerseys tom macarthur, have seen vocal opposition at town Hall Meetings to the president s action. We need an independent prosecutor. And i hear you but there are loads of other people who dont see it that way. Brangham despite those calls, there have been few signs so far that a special counsel will be named. For the pbs newshour, im william brangham. Woodruff and we get more now from the white house and from capitol hill from our own john yang and lisa desjardins. Lisa, im going to start with you. You were at the hearing today where james comeys successor, at least for the time being, Andrew Mccabe, we just heard a little bit from him, his first public appearance i guess, what, in less than 48 hours after this whole thing came down. What stood out to you from this hearing . Quite a day, huh . On his third day on the job, Andrew Mccabe was in front of Senate Intelligence committee members, and for the most part, judy, he was noncontroversial, but when asked about his former boss, f. B. I. Director james comey, mccabe defended him as man of integrity who mccabe said enjoyed broad support in the f. B. I. To this day. Thats important because it directly counters what the white house has said. They said that comey was undermining morale at the agency. Minutes after mccabe said that, the Senate Intelligence chairman, republican richard burr, came out and also defended comey. That became a theme, judy. I spoke to several republican senators who today felt they had to defend comeys reputation against attacks from the white house. Meanwhile, as politicians were doing that, one democratic senator on the Intelligence Committee came out and said she thinks Jeff GreenfieldJeff Sessions should resign over his role in the comey firing. Now, all of this, what does it mean . Basically, judy, i saw the dial move away from the president s position for both republicans and democrats today. Woodruff meantime, john, from the white house, the time line on exactly what happened seemed to be shifting, and the explanation seemed to be shifting a little bit. It didnt just seem to shift, it shifted. They first said it all happened on tuesday, that the attorney general and the Deputy Attorney general came to the president with this recommendation, which he accepted on the spot. Then we learned that actually there was a meeting on monday at which this was discussed, and then it turns out, as the president said in the interview and as Sarah Huckabee sanders said in the meeting today, this was something on the president s mind since last week when he watched james comeys testimony on the hill. They originally said this was all Rod Rosensteins idea. Now the president and his advisers acknowledge he had made this decision before that meeting on monday. Woodruff lisa, just quickly, interesting, there was a republican at the capitol today saying the president himself may not be under investigation. Yeah, not just any republican, republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee chuck grassley. He says he wrote a letter saying he met with f. B. I. Director comey and that comey shared with him who the targets were of the investigation. As for his ranking on the Judiciary Committee. Now, grantsly said he cant divulge who the targets are, but in a carefully worded statement, judy, grassley said nothing that comey told him contradicts President Trumps statement that he is not under investigation. Thats a double or triple negative, but essentially grantsly is indicating that to his knowledge the president is not under investigation. Woodruff justifiably, john, what are you hearing from the white house about whether what has happened is going to affect the pace of this russia investigation . Well, thats another thing thats evolved over the last couple day, judy. On tuesday night, Sarah Huckabee sanders said there is no there there of the russian investigation. She said its time to move on, clearly indicating that the white house wanted it closed. But since then and again today, she said any investigation that was going on on monday before comey was fired is still going on today. They want the f. B. I. To do what they think is proper and fit, and they say they want this investigation to continue but to end as quickly as possible. Woodruff well, i guess it doesnt get any more active at either place at the capitol or the white house. Thank you both. John yang, lisa desjardins. And now what this means for the function and stability of the trump presidency. We turn to man who has had a front row in the white house. Leon panetta was chief of staff for bill clinton. He then served as director of the c. I. A. And secretary of defense in the obama administration. Secretary panetta, thank you for talking with us. So as somebody who has had a top job, the top job at the white house as chief of staff, as we said at the pentagon and c. I. A. , how do you read how this comey episode has unfolded . Well, its a very confusing picture obviously, because a number of reasons have been presented as to why its happened. But, you know, deep down theres no question that however it happened, and for whatever reasons it happened, that this has undermined the credibility of a very Vital National security investigation, and somehow that credibility has to be restored. Woodruff how has it undermined that credibility . Its undermined the credibility because obviously the f. B. I. Was investigating the whole issue of russian interference in our election, and despite the various reasons that have been presented, theres no question that the president remains concerned about that russian investigation, and tying that concern with the fact that he fired the f. B. I. Director and in the way he fired the f. B. I. Director, clearly undermines the credibility of the investigation. Is the white house going to continue to try to influence the direction of that investigation . The key right now is for the congress, for the justice department, for the president to make sure they take steps to restore the credibility of that investigation by appointing a new director of the f. B. I. , who is fair and objective and credible, and i think they should also frankly give consideration to the appointment of a special prosecutor, because the very fact that this president continued to ask the f. B. I. Director as to whether or not he was the subject of an investigation, when a president does that, it clearly is sending a signal that the white house is concerned about that investigation. Frankly, it has to be an independent investigation, and it cannot have or be influenced by the white house. Woodruff are you saying, secretary panetta, that theres no way the American People can have confidence in this investigation unless there is an outside independent special counsel . Well, my concern is that when the president himself has asked the question about whether or not hes the target of an investigation, something frankly that at least in my time is unheard of, that a president would, in fact, ask if he is the target of an investigation, when the president does that, he clearly is sending a signal to what should be a very independent, fair, and objective investigation by the f. B. I. And the fact that hes raised that question tells me that whoever is going to be the next f. B. I. Director, whoever that is, will probably get the same question from the president at some point in time. And just because of that fact alone, i just think some kind of independent prosecutor, committee, commission, whatever it would be, but something that is independent of the white house and independent of political influence needs to take place in this matter. Woodruff how much does it matter that the president , that the white house is giving a different explanation for why this happened . Theyre saying it has to do with a fact that they say director comey was not running the f. B. I. Well, he was. And the way they say he mishandled Hillary Clinton email situation. Well, again, and i look back on my days as chief of staff to the president , i think when a major step like that is going to be taken, and clearly somebody should have informed the president that once you fire the f. B. I. Director that theres going to be a huge backlash because of the investigation thats going on, that in the very least the reasons for why hes firing him should have been set down so that everybody had the same talking points, and clearly that did not happen here. And the president again today said he had been thinking about firing director comey for a long period of time. So whatever reasons have been given in these last few days, its only created greater confusion about just exactly why this happened. Woodruff secretary panetta, finally and just for a few second, youre a democrat, but i know youve talked to a lot of republicans. How much difficulty do you think this president is facing in his own party . Well, you know, i think whether youre a republican or a democrat, there is an interest in conducting an investigation into this National Security issue. Weve had a foreign adversary try to interfere in our election. Thats a serious matter, and it needs to be investigated. So i think the republicans, as well as the democrats, are interested in putting this back on track where you have a fair and independent and objective investigation that determines what happened here, whether there was any collusion or not with the campaign, the trump campaign, and what should be done to make sure it never happens again. Woodruff former secretary of defense, former c. I. A. Director, former white house chief of staff leon panetta, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff well get the perspective of two conservatives on how mr. Trumps recent moves have divided the Republican Party later in the program. The president s decision for firing director comey and the interview the president gave today to nbc are again prompting many questions about the way mr. Trump makes decisions and carries out his job as chief executive. A Time Magazine team had chance earlier this week to get a lack at what life is like inside the trump white house. Michael scherer, current Washington Bureau chief, was part of the group that met with the president and turned out before the comey firing. He joins me now. Michael scherer, welcome back to the newshour. You and the Time Magazine folks had an unusual access at the white house. Tell us about what it was like . We got there about 6 30. We were invited into the oval office where he was meeting with a number of senior staff, signing the final orders of the day. From there began an almost three hour, two and a half hour evening where he took us to many parts of the white house that most president s never take the press, that includes starting in his private dining room, which is just down the hallway from the oval office in the west wing where he played us some dvred clips of that days Senate Hearings with color commentary attached. Then we walked down the come nadine. He took us in his elevator up to the residence on the executive floor of the mansion and toured us through the rooms there. That was followed by dinner in the blue room, the big oval room first floor of the residence. Woodruff what did you take away from this . I read the piece today. You said you had an extraordinary two and a half hours with him. From the outside, this is a presidency thats almost bathed in controversy. Did you sense that kind of tension inside . Theres an enormous amount of grievance he feels to the way hes been treated. That was evident almost from the moment we got there. He was talking about how the press has mistreated him. However, he was always very gracious and hospitable, and talking about how his message has not gotten out, how the good things he had been doing were not being recognized. He returned to that time and again. There was a clear frustration. At times he was very emotional, even watching the days hearing, he was sort of mocking the witnesses, and these are former federal officials, testifying before the senate, because i think hes angry at the way the American People have been presented the story of his presidency. Woodruff what do you think he wanted to get across most to you . I think he wanted to get that across. He wanted to make the case that his presidency is far more successful than has been recognized. There was an interesting moment when i asked him, do youly the there has been too much conflict at the white house at some point . And he answered by saying, i think that may be true, and he said, but you have to understand, theres so much meanness out there. Then he reverted back to namecalling of various other Television Correspondents and things like that. But i feel like he is someone who is trying to adjust his own personali