Trump Again Claims "No Collusion" With Russia; Is Comey's Media Blitz Helping Or Hurting His Credibility
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as the two gentlemen you told me about, they've been saying I'm going to rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months, and they're still here. So we want to get the investigation over with, done with, put it behind us, and we have to get back to business.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, that was President Trump addressing whether he plans to fire special counsel Robert Mueller or deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. And, he also repeated one of his favorite lines that there is no collusion despite the fact that the investigation has reached no conclusion yet. Joining us now is CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd and CNN law enforcement analyst Josh Campbell. Great to see both of you. So, Mudd, how do you hear the president's mindset there and his response? Does that mean that Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller are safe?</s>PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST, FORMER COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL, CIA: Heck, no. I would look at Rosenstein before I'd look at Mueller. I mean, if you look at the law I think the president would have a challenge firing Mueller. I think, though, people are forgetting one key element of this and that is the investigation will live on regardless of what the president does about Rosenstein and Mueller. First of all, if he ever did that, the president --</s>CAMEROTA: But just explain that to us one more time Phil because we hear so many people with different opinions about that, which is if he puts in one -- if the president puts in one of his guys who's like- minded with him who says you know what, I think we're done with this, how does the investigation live on?</s>MUDD: Well, there's a couple of elements here. First, if he puts in one of his guys that person has to be confirmed. Do you think the Congress is going to confirm somebody who doesn't affirm that they'll let the investigation continue? I'd like to see that confirmation process. There are a couple of other boring pieces here so let me bore you for just a moment. Number one, in the digital age, this entire file will live forever in the FBI so even if you eliminate one person the files will survive for the next team. Secondly, the team below Mueller is not going to be terminated. I know some of the senior lawyers on this -- that team. Those guys are brilliant. So I think Mueller is critical partly because of the -- his character -- the esteem he brings to the job. But both the documentation and the team behind him, and then the congressional support to continue the investigation if the president ever does anything -- I think this investigation will go on even if it gets ugly, and I expect it will get uglier.</s>CAMEROTA: Try as you might you cannot be boring, Phil Mudd. Josh, do you agree with that assessment?</s>JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO JAMES COMEY, FBI: I do. I agree with my good friend Phil. And I'll tell you from a practical standpoint if you look inside the FBI -- I mean, the focus of an investigation -- counterintelligence investigation is to identify a threat and to mitigate. So just because you have political actors that are trying to shut down investigations that doesn't mean that the threat goes away. So within the FBI -- and Phil knows this from his time there -- there's a process for actually closing an investigation. You have to go in and affirmatively state that there's either no longer evidence or you no longer see a threat. There is no box to check that says closed because of political pressure.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, very good context for us to know. Next topic, James Comey. As you know, he's on this media blitz. So he went on "THE VIEW" and he got some very tough questions from all sides. So let's listen to the questions that they posed and some of his answers.</s>MEGHAN MCCAIN, CO-HOST, ABC "THE VIEW": Your second in command, McCabe, was fired for lying multiple times within the FBI. You defended his character on Twitter. That's OK -- lying is OK internally?</s>JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, ABC "THE VIEW": You said that you reopened the investigation into Hillary's private e-mail server 11 days before the election because quote-unquote, "I was operating in a world where Hillary Clinton was going to beat Donald Trump." Now, should the FBI have taken it upon himself -- on yourself to guess who was going to win? I mean, that seems out of your purview.</s>SARA HAINES, CO-HOST, ABC "THE VIEW": One thing I wanted to know when I read the book. You referenced Trump's possible self-tanning, the size of his hands, his hair. Was it worth it when we've seen that all already, at the expense of possibly some credibility?</s>JAMES COMEY, FORMER DIRECTOR, FBI: I think you're right. If I had it to do over again I wouldn't put that paragraph in.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, this wasn't "60 MINUTES." This was " THE VIEW," Phil Mudd, and I wonder if James Comey is now regretting more than just that paragraph. I mean, since he's been under fire for the choices that he made and his judgment.</s>MUDD: Well, as he should be. I mean, you can't go on these T.V. shows and expect that somebody who reads a paragraph where you characterize the size of the president's hands isn't going to say hey look, you're trying to portray yourself as the high road guy and you put this stuff in your book. You didn't expect that people would pick up on that and now you're saying it shouldn't have been in there? That said, I think we're skipping over one key issue. There's been confusion in the past few days about the style of what Comey wrote -- should he have put in some of the stuff, should he have taken the low road in a few cases, and the substance. How many people on those shows are questioning whether or not he told the truth when he characterized whether the president asked for a sort of loyalty oath? I don't think anybody's questioned that. So the key here is is it an accurate portrayal -- is this book an accurate portrayal of his interaction with the president? Meanwhile, the conversations have been about why the heck are you talking about the size of the president's hands when you're trying to claim that you're a high road guy? I didn't get that either.</s>CAMEROTA: Well, sort of, Phil. Hold on --</s>MUDD: I'm ready for my role on the view, Alisyn.</s>CAMEROTA: Hold on one second. I mean, sort of that yes, there is some interest in why he included some of those more petty, I guess, details.</s>MUDD: Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: But you heard the women there. I mean, the women there were asking, I think, interesting, relevant questions. Meghan McCain was asking an important question about why he would defend Andrew McCabe who it was then revealed lied. So here's the answer to this, Josh. Let me play for you what James Comey -- oh, I actually have to read it, hold on. So, Meghan McCain said you defended Andrew McCabe on Twitter. That's OK? Is lying OK internally? Here was his response. I'm going to read it to you because we don't have it ready. "No, it's not. In fact, the McCabe situation illustrates what an organization that's committed to the truth looks like. We investigated. I ordered that investigation. We investigated, hold people accountable. Good people lie." What do you think of that, Josh?</s>CAMPBELL: Well, it's true. I mean, if you think of all of the people that you know that you've come across in your life, that you've worked with, maybe they're your friends -- there is no one out there who has never lied. But that doesn't mean that they also can't be good people. In the case of Andrew McCabe, I think what this shows is that there's a process in place to hold accountable those who stray. And in this case, according to the inspector general, it looks like that he lied and that severe action was taken, as it should have been. But if you step back and look this is a process working. This is saying we don't care how great you are, how nice you are. If you lie, if you break the law, if you violate these policies you will be held to account. And I think that that's what Comey's saying.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, we really appreciate getting both of your perspectives. You guys know this situation, the FBI and James Comey, well. Philip Mudd, Josh Campbell, thank you. And we should let everybody know that today, Jake Tapper will ask James Comey the questions that others have not asked. This will be live on "THE LEAD" at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on</s>CNN. CUOMO: An historic day in Cuba. After nearly 60 years, the Castro dynasty is over. Over, though, must stay in quotes. Who's taking over and what does it mean for the Cuban people really being free, next.