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Trump Cites FBI Turmoil; Comey Fired regardless of Recommendation; Acting FBI Director's Testimony; Senate Intel Committee Hearing. Aired 1-1:30p ET
Aired May 11, 2017 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEN. RICHARD BURR (R), NORTH CAROLINA, CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Well, I don't think -- I make no judgment on whether a special counsel would interfere. This investigation will go forward and will be completed. It's a commitment that the vice chairman and I have with each other.
He may have a different opinion as it relates to an independent counsel than I do, but we share one similarity. We're both committed to finish this investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee because that's our job.
And we're going to do it right because that's what's expected of us. And anything short of that is to say to 85 other members of the United States Senate and the American people, we're the wrong ones to do oversight on a daily basis.
We believe we're right and we're going to prove it in the accuracy of our investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But did you decide in there that your path is clear that, for instance, subpoenas of Flynn won't interfere with what (INAUDIBLE.)
BURR: We're very comfortable we've got (INAUDIBLE.)
SEN. MARK WARNER (D), VIRGINIA, VICE CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: We feel very good.
BURR: Yes, ma'am.
WARNER: He understood that we needed to deconflict and I think we'll have an appropriate process in place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president said in his letter that he's -- he was told he's not targeted in this investigation. Can you eliminate if that as a possibility?
BURR: We can't comment on that. That's a conversation that took place between supposedly Director Comey and the -- and the president.
Our job is to make sure that we follow the intelligence where it leads and, hopefully at some point, we'll be able to make a determination, a definitive determination as to whether that statement's accurate. WARNER: And I would just add that I would refer you to Mr. McCabe's
comments about what traditional procedure would be. That that would not be something that, in a traditional case, would be discussed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you confident in the answers you got (INAUDIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Lisa (ph) from the PBS (INAUDIBLE.) You said that this meeting was to set up the rules of the road. How would you describe what those are and did Director Comey come up at all in this meeting?
BURR: Director Comey did not come up. He was not the subject of it. And though there are some details to workout, there was acknowledgement and understanding of the need for us to be able to pick up the phone, share with them what we were likely to do and could get immediate clearance on whether that interfered in any way, shape or form with what their investigation was.
WARNER: The only thing I would clarify on that is, you know, and the DAG did not address it, but I raised the point of one of the reasons I felt the need for the independent counsel was because of the -- I think, the very messy process that went through in the firing of Jim Comey.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are your thoughts on the disparity between Andrew McCabe's testimony today and the Russia -- and the White House (INAUDIBLE) that Russia is not a priority?
BURR: I'd address that to either director -- acting director McCabe or to the White House. It's not -- that's not an assessment we're going to make. We're looking at threats from the standpoint of what went on.
WARNER: And it, clearly, though, the amount of time that we're both spending and staff is spending, it is a priority for this committee to get to the bottom of this.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you confident that Mr. Rosenstein can lead the Russia investigation?
BURR: Well, listen, I don't think that's up to Senator Warner and myself to make. The president's made a determination if, at any point, he doesn't feel he is, then a change would be made. If, for some reason, the DAG determined he couldn't carry out his job, he would make a decision.
We don't have the luxury of picking who we work with. We work with who's inserted in the roles and we work out the pathways that best accommodate the needs of what our mission is. And, in this case, it's the investigation.
One last -- one last question. One last.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you gotten a -- have you gotten a response here --
BURR: One last question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president just told Lester Holt that he was going to fire Director Comey whether or not he had that recommendation or not. And he called Director Comey a showboat and he called him a grandstander. Do you agree with that assessment? We just heard something different from these --
BURR: I'm not going to speak for Senator Warner. I'll let him do that. I put out a statement the night of the director's firing. I found him to be one of the most ethical, upright, straightforward individuals I've had the opportunity to work with.
He provided our committee more access to information than any director of the FBI. Sure, there were FBI employees that disagreed with how he handled the Clinton e-mail announcements and his interaction or lack thereof with the attorney general, at the time.
The lion share of FBI employees respect the former director. And it shows the professionalism that he brought to the role that he was in. And I'm sure he will, at some point, have an opportunity to share, if he wants to, his side of the story.
But I'm confident that the vice chair and I look forward to working with acting director McCabe in the interim or whoever the president chooses.
[13:05:07] Because, at the end of the day, Mark and I do realize whoever is president has the authority to pick their director of the FBI. We don't fault that.
WARNER: Let me in. I trusted Jim Comey. I echo what the chairman said, in terms of his willingness to work with our committee. I thought he had thought he had made some mistakes last fall. But I never called for his resignation. I thought he was a straight shooter.
And, frankly, I'm offended at the president's comments today. This is a continuing pattern of disrespecting the men and women who serve in our intelligence community. And I think the president would be better served, regardless of what his views would be, supporting the I.C., rather than continually questioning and candidly, repeatedly calling into question the leaders' integrity.
BURR: Thank you, guys. We've got a very busy day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for having us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Very strong words of support for James Comey, now the former FBI director, from Richard Burr, the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Senator Mark Warner, the Vice Chairman.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. -- just after 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.
Amidst all of this, as you just heard, President Trump is strongly defending his decision to fire the former FBI director, saying it was all his idea. Adding, he was planning to do it before he even got a recommendation from the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.
Here's a preview just released in this interview with Lester Holt on NBC News.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- has been in turmoil. You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago. It was in virtual turmoil. Less than a year ago. It hasn't recovered from that.
LESTER HOLT, ANCHOR, NBC NEWS: Monday, you met with the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right.
HOLT: Did you ask for recommendations?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I did is I was going to fire Comey. My decision. It was not --
HOLT: You had made the decision before they came (INAUDIBLE.)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was going to fire Comey. I -- There's no good time to do it, by the way.
HOLT: (INAUDIBLE) accepted their recommendations.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes. Well, they also --
HOLT: You had already made the decision.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I was going to fire, regardless of recommendation. They --
HOLT: (INAUDIBLE.)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- he made a recommendation. He's 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.
HOLT: Let me ask you about your 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?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because he told me that. I mean, he told me that.
HOLT: He told you, you weren't under investigation.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, and I've heard that -- I've heard that from others. I think he --
HOLT: Was it in a phone call? Did you meet face to face?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I had a dinner with him. He wanted to have dinner because he wanted to stay on. We had a very nice visit at the White House.
HOLT: He asked for the dinner?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Dinner was arranged. I think he asked for the dinner. And he wanted to stay on as the FBI head and I said I'll, you know, consider. We'll see what happens.
But we had a very nice dinner. And, at that time, he told me, you are not under investigation which I knew anyway.
HOLT: That was one meeting. What was the -- what were the other two?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, when you're under investigation, you're giving all sorts of documents and everything. I knew I wasn't under. And I heard it was stated at the committee -- at some committee level that I wasn't. Number one.
HOLT: So, that didn't come directly from him?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Then, during the phone call he said it. And then, during another phone call, he said it. So, he said it once at dinner and then he said it twice during phone calls.
HOLT: Did you call him?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In one case, I called him. And in one case, he called me.
HOLT: Did you ask, am I under investigation?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I actually asked him, yes. I said, if it's possible, will you let me know, am I under investigation? He said, you are not under investigation.
HOLT: But he's given sworn testimony that there is an ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign and possible collusion with the Russian government. You were the centerpiece of the Trump campaign.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, all I can tell you is -- HOLT: So, was he being truthful when he said you weren't under investigation?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: well, I know -- I know that I'm not under investigation. Me, personally. I'm talking about campaigns. I'm not talking about anything else. I'm not under investigation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: All right. So, there you heard it. President Trump saying he would have fired James Comey irrespective of any recommendations from others inside the Trump administration.
Lots to discuss with our panel. Our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger is with us; our Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto; Kimberly Dozier, she's a Senior Global Affairs Analyst, senior national security correspondent for "The Daily Beast;" and Tom Fuentes, Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, former FBI assistant director.
All right, Gloria, let me start with you. The president saying it was his decision. He made the decision. He didn't care what others recommended. He was going to fire Comey.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, that's fine except his White House has been saying something very different. His White House has been saying that he took the recommendation of Rod Rosenstein. And when he processed this, he then decided that he had no choice but to -- but to fire James Comey.
[13:10:08] Here, the president is saying actually what many people have suspected which is that he didn't like him. He watched him on T.V. There's another quote from NBC where he calls Comey a scapegoat, right? And that he didn't like him. He didn't like what he said at that hearing.
His anger had been boiling inside. I was told by one source who talks to the president regularly that that hearing drove him kind of over the edge. And then, he decided to get rid of the guy.
So, what they had was a firing in search of a rational beyond the fact that the president didn't like him. And the president was mad about how much attention the Russia investigation was getting. And that's what -- that's what, actually, the president told us today.
BLITZER: Yes, elsewhere in the interview, he says that Comey is a showboat, a grandstander.
BORGER: Right.
BLITZER: And he wanted him out, Jim Sciutto, because the FBI, in the president's words, were in -- was in turmoil.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's contradicted by many people inside the bureau that myself and my colleagues have spoken with. Many have enormous confidence in him and were upset and shocked by his dismissal. So, there's another story told by people inside that building.
I think it's also important to just catalog and list the number of either misleading or contradictory statements and accounts that have come out of the White House regarding this.
One, that the deputy A.G. memo is what led to Comey's firing. That now contradicted by the president, himself, despite the fact that the White House aggressively and unequivocally made that the justification on Tuesday. We were here. We were discussing it. Two, the idea that Comey told the president three times that he's not under investigation.
Misleading because, one, we're told by people inside the FBI, that's information that Comey would never give to the president in an active investigation. Two, though, this is an important distinction, the president, himself, is not a subject of the investigation today. His advisers are, campaign.
And if the FBI or the Senate or House Intelligence Committees find evidence that lead from the advisors of the president, then he will be under investigation.
Two, the White House has said that the investigation is ending, shrinking, et cetera. We heard that from Sarah Huckabee Sanders yesterday.
The fact is, we know it's the opposite. It's expanding. They've asked for more resources. They have issued Grand Jury subpoenas, et cetera. They're asking, now, for financial records.
And, finally, the White House said repeatedly, no evidence of collusion. There's no there there. In fact, Senator Burr and Senator Warner, who lead the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, I reached out to both of them yesterday. Both of them said, that is still an open question.
BORGER: And, today, the deputy attorney general called it a highly- significant investigation. That's not a small thing.
And what was interesting to me is the president continuing to ask the FBI director whether he's under investigation. I -- three times.
BLITZER: And the president, Kimberly, you heard him just say in this new NBC News interview, that he totally stands by what he wrote in this letter firing Comey. And he wrote, while I greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau.
And in this new interview, the president said -- gave some more specifics how that conversation was, saying that he specifically had asked the FBI director, am I under investigation? KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Which would be interfering with an investigation which he's not supposed to do. It all goes back to the legitimacy of his election. He sees this entire investigation into possible collusion with Russia and into his national security adviser, Mike Flynn, as saying that he doesn't belong in the White House.
So, he continues to fight it every step of the way, even in defiance of evidence to the contrary. And he read Comey as being disloyal to him for standing up for the independence of the FBI.
We even reported yesterday that he has had to be told repeatedly by White House lawyers not to reach out to Mike Flynn who he feels bad about how he's being treated in the media. He -- it's as if he still doesn't understand the gravity of this situation.
BLITZER: Here's another --
DOZIER: He can't control it.
BLITZER: -- here's another excerpt that NBC News has just released. This interview that Lester Holt conducted with the president. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, he's a showboat. He's a grandstander. The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago. It was in virtual turmoil. Less than a year ago. It hasn't recovered from that.
HOLT: Monday, you met with the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right.
HOLT: Did you ask for a recommendation?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I did is I was going to fire Comey. My decision. It was not --
HOLT: You had made the decision before they came in the room?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was going to fire Comey. I -- there's no good time to do it, by the way. They --
HOLT: Because in your letter, you said, I accepted their recommendations.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes. Well, they also --
[13:15:00] HOLT: So, you had already made the decision.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I was going to fire, regardless of recommendation.
HOLT: So, there was (INAUDIBLE.)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He made a recommendation. He's highly respected. Very good guy. Very smart guy. The Democrats like him. The Republicans like him. He made a recommendation. He's 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.
HOLT: Let me ask you about your 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?
TRUMP: Because he told me that. I mean he told me that.
HOLT: He told you, you weren't under investigation with regard to the Russia investigation?
TRUMP: Yes, and I've - I've heard that. I've heard that from others. I think that -
HOLT: Was it in a phone call? Did you meet face to face?
TRUMP: I had a dinner with him. He wanted to have dinner because he wanted to stay on. We had a very nice dinner at the White House very early on.
HOLT: He - he asked you to dinner?
TRUMP: That dinner was arranged. I think he asked for the dinner. And he wanted to stay on as the FBI head. And I said I'll, you know, consider. We'll see what happens. But we had a very nice dinner. And at that time he told me, you are not under investigation, which I knew anyway.
HOLT: That was - that was one meeting. What was - what were the other two?
TRUMP: First of all, when you're under investigation, you're giving all sorts of documents and everything. I knew I wasn't under. And I heard it was stated at the committee, at some committee level, that I wasn't, number one.
HOLT: So that didn't come directly from him?
TRUMP: Then during a phone call he said it and then during another phone call he said it. So he said it once at denier and then he said twice during phone calls.
HOLT: Did you call him?
TRUMP: In one case I called him, in one case he called me.
HOLT: And did you ask, am I under investigation?
TRUMP: I actually asked him, yes. I said, if it's possible, would you let me know, am I under investigation? He said you are not under investigation.
HOLT: But he's - he's given sworn testimony that there is an ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign and possible collusion with the Russian government. You were the centerpiece of the Trump campaign. So was he being truthful when he said you weren't under investigation?
TRUMP: Well, all I can tell you is - well, I know - I know that I'm not under investigation, me personally. I'm not talking about campaigns. I'm not talking about anything else. I'm not under investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, there is the president in that interview.
You know, Tom Fuentes, you used to work - you spent a career at the FBI, worked your way up to become an assistant FBI director. When you hear the president say that the now fired FBI director was a show boat, a grand stander, and he left the FBI in turmoil. Your reaction?
TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, that's insulting, obviously. And the way the firing was conducted was extremely insulting. And most of the people I've talked to at the FBI, actually all of them, have said it was disgusting how the firing was conducted.
However, some of what he says, you know, these are like political polls. You take a poll in June and you take one in September and the numbers might not match and both could be true. Last year in July when Director Comey had his press conference and FBI agents, former agents like me and others that I was with, heard Comey's testimony. And as he was listing off the things that Hillary Clinton had done in the entire server matter, all of us were of the impression, wow, he's going to recommend charges and were shocked when he didn't.
And then the turmoil comes later, not just that she wasn't prosecuted when they thought she and Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills were completely exposed in that matter, you know, but the fact that when they heard about Hillary Clinton's interview at the FBI and a lot of people, including me, questioned, wait a minute, we wouldn't have done that with a gangster like John Gotti or El Chapo or somebody else. You're the main subject of a case. By the way, drop by for an interview. You know, bring whoever you want and all of that. That would have never happened. That main subject would have testified before a grand jury under oath, every word recorded so that it could be used later if testifying under oath again and they contradict.
So the manner in which the investigation was conducted, a lot of FBI personnel thought, wait a minute, if you hold the (INAUDIBLE) with all of the tools available for sensitive investigations that we use every day in organized crime, that we use every day in terrorism investigations, and suddenly you're conducting this extremely important case with what appeared to be one hand behind your back, there was consternation. It wasn't directed directly at Comey, but it was in general, how could this happen.
BLITZER: All right, I want to go to Sara Murray. She's our White House correspondent. She is monitoring the reaction from the White House.
I want to remind our viewers, Sara, we're standing by for Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy White House press secretary is going to be answering reporters' questions fairly soon, later this hour. But what's the latest you're learning?
SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I think that what Sarah Huckabee is going to face are a lot of questions about why the official White House account of how Donald Trump made this decision to fire the FBI director has suddenly changed. Remember, every one of these White House officials, including the vice president, was out there publicly saying that the president made the decision to fire James Comey at the recommendation of Rod Rosenstein. Mike Pence said this eight times yesterday when he was speaking on Capitol Hill. Now we're seeing the president out there today saying, no, it actually wasn't at their recommendation, I had already made the decision to fire James Comey, and then I took their input.
[13:20:06] The other things, of course, we know through my colleagues reporting at CNN is Rod Rosenstein is not particularly happy with the way this firing went down. He's certainly not happy that the White House is pinning the blame on him. So I think that Sarah Huckabee Sanders is going to face a lot of questions about sort of this timeline. When did DONALD TRUMP meet with James Comey? When was he assured by the president's account that he was not under investigation and why did the White House give a totally different explanation as to how the president came to the conclusion to fire James Comey just yesterday than the president himself is giving today?
BLITZER: Yes, the stories clearly have changed over the past 48 hours and the latest account clearly from the president of the United States.
We're going to get back to you shortly. We'll get to that news conference shortly as well.
The president today contradicting the official White House position on the firing of James Comey, the now former FBI director. Up next, we'll go live to Capitol Hill. James Comey's replacement has just testified before Congress. The acting FBI director. He added another contradiction to this changing White House story.
Once again, take a look at live pictures coming in from the White House Briefing Room. We're going to hear a lot more. That's coming up from the deputy White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Much more right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:25:14] BLITZER: Welcome back. The new comments from President Trump on his reasons for firing FBI Director James Comey will certainly be a huge topic at the White House press briefing that is about to begin. You're looking at live pictures coming in from the Briefing Room in the West Wing of the White House. We'll go there live once the deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, begins this briefing.
But first, the Senate Intelligence Committee wrapped up its public hearing on the worldwide threats just a little while ago. The FBI director, James Comey, was scheduled to appear before he was fired. In his place, we had our first chance to hear directly from the acting FBI director, Andrew McCabe, as he took questions from members of the committee.
Our congressional correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is up on Capitol Hill.
Sunlen, take us through what we heard from the acting FBI director.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it was very interesting to see Andrew McCabe today really trying to be very deliberate and trying to express the notion that the investigation is, in his opinion, unaffected by the firing of FBI Director James Comey. That it continues to move forward and continues to be very focused. And it was interesting the way he described the extent, the exact extent of this probe. He described it as a highly significant investigation.
That in contradiction to the way the White House has been chosen - choosing in the recent days to describe this investigation. It was only 24 hours ago that we heard from White House spokesman behind that podium calling it probably one of the smallest things on the FBI's plate. But it was notable, that was not the only contradiction today coming out of the testimony of Andrew McCabe and perhaps the biggest one was that he really seemed to shoot holes into the core and central part of the White House argument for why they fired Director Comey. They claim that he had lost confidence and support of those within the FBI. That is something that McCabe today said is false. Here's first his opinion of that today and what the White House was saying only 24 hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In your opinion, is it accurate that the rank and file no longer supported Director Comey?
ANDREW MCCABE, ACTING FBI DIRECTOR: No. No, sir, that not accurate.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's been an erosion of confidence. I think that Director Comey has shown over the last several months and frankly the last year a lot of missteps and mistakes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: Now, certainly another notable moment from today's hearing, McCabe was asked about the request that CNN has reported on and others that FBI Director James Comey, before he was fired, made a request for more resources in that investigation. This is something that Andrew McCabe today said he was not aware of and he believes the resource level is adequate. Here's what he said moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCABE: Sir, if you're referring to the Russia investigation, I do. I believe we have the adequate resources to do it and I know that we have resourced that investigation adequately. If you're referring to the many constantly multiplying counter intelligence threats that we face across the spectrum, they get bigger and more challenging every day and resources become an issue over time. But in terms of that investigation, sir, I can assure you we are covered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: Now McCabe's role right now might be short-lived in this acting interim FBI director role. We know that they are actively interviewing replacements right now for an interim FBI director. But that said, he did vow when he was pressed by many Democrats on the committee today, he vowed that he will not update Trump or anyone in the White House on the status of that Russia investigation. He also said that he would alert the Senate Intelligence Committee if anyone tried to interfere or influence the probe.
Wolf.
BLITZER: Sunlen, very quickly, the Senate Intelligence Committee is running their own investigation. Do we know what's next as far as that's concerned?
SERFATY: Well, we know right now, Wolf, there is an outstanding invitation for the former FBI director, James Comey. They have, on a bipartisan basis, invited him to appear before the committee and they have not, at this point, heard back yet. They said they expect to very shortly. But we also heard from the ranking member on the committee today, Senator Mark Warner. He says, look, our work continues on. I believe we should have a special counsel. We should take this out of the FBI's hands. But we've got to continue the work we're doing up here on Capitol Hill.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Sunlen, thanks very much.
The chiefs of the Senate Intelligence Committee, they've met now with the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, the man the White House says recommended Comey's firing. We heard just - we heard from them just a little while ago up on Capitol Hill.
Let's go to our senior congressional reporter Manu Raju. He's joining us.
Manu, what did we learn about this meeting? Do we know if other lawmakers are also wanting to hear directly from Rosenstein?
[13:30:07] MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, at this meeting about - roughly about 45 minutes, Chairman Richard Burr of the Intelligence Committee and the vice chairman, Mark Warner, did
