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George w. bush. randy cay. >> reporter: no question these two former fbi directors have a history. it dates back to 2004 when james comey refused to authorize an nsa surveillance program called stellar wind under george w. bush. comey learned members of the bush administration were headed to then josh ash croft's hospital room to get him to reauthorize the spying program. he called robert mueller to alurt him. >> i told him what was happening. he said i'll meet you at the it hospital right now. >> he was serving as the acting head of the justice department while ashcroft was in the hospital. h...

It includes his firing of james comey and he said that mueller is quote very very good friends with comey and the president said that's very bothersome. cnn's randi kaye looks into the relationship between the two former fbi directors. >> reporter: no question these two former fbi directors have a history. it dates back to 2004 when james comey refused to authorize an nsa surveillance program called stellar wind under george w. bush. comey learned members of the bush administration were heading to then attorney general john ashcroft's hospital room to get him to reauthorize the spying program....

Program called stellar wind under george w. bush. comey learned members of the bush administration were heading to then attorney general john ashcroft's hospital room to get him to reauthorize the spying program. comey called robert mueller, who was the fbi director at the time, who alert him. >> i told him what was happening. he said i'll meet you at the hospital. he's one of the finest people i've ever met. >> reporter: comey was deputy attorney general at the time and serving as acting head of the justice department while ashcroft was in the hospital. he was later named fbi director in 2013...

In march when this program known as code name stellar wind was due to expire. and james comey believed under the justice department's rules it was unconstitutional and illegal and he went toe to toe with the white house and vice president cheney to get it shut down. vice president cheney disagreed, thought it was an important part of the government's tool kit and told james comey that the program would kill americans if it was allowed to expire and that blood would be on jim comey's hands. it culminated in this dramatic hospital room visit to john ashcroft's bedside where jim comey, andy card,...

Another and were really the two central figures in what is now the famous 2004 hospital room incident involving john ashcroft and the bush white house and a showdown over the nsa's terrorist surveillance program. >> tell us more about that. they show up at his hospital room in the middle of the night but go on, tell us about that. >> this was something that unfolded over the first couple of month of 2004, culminating in march when this program known as code name stellar wind was due to expire. and james comey believed under the justice department's rules it was unconstitutional and illegal and...