:00:42. > :00:56.I didn't hear anything classified but the general concession is it was
:00:57. > :01:04.a good decision to appoint Mr Mueller. Russia has been severely
:01:05. > :01:07.limited, probably in inappropriate fashion, so I think a lot of members
:01:08. > :01:12.want the special counsel to be appointed but don't understand you
:01:13. > :01:17.are pretty much knocked out of the game and that is probably what it
:01:18. > :01:20.should be. It was a counterintelligence investigation
:01:21. > :01:24.before now. It seems to me now to be considered a criminal investigation.
:01:25. > :01:29.What does that mean for the Congress? I find it hard to subpoena
:01:30. > :01:33.records of somebody like Mr Flynn who may be subject to a criminal
:01:34. > :01:38.investigation because he has the right not to incriminate himself. As
:01:39. > :01:42.for James Comey, the former director of the FBI, coming before the
:01:43. > :01:48.committee, if I were Mr Mueller, I would jealously guarded the witness
:01:49. > :01:52.pool. One of the big losers in this decision is the public. We had a
:01:53. > :01:57.really good hearing with Yates and Clapper where the public could hear
:01:58. > :02:01.what happened with them. I think that opportunity has been lost,
:02:02. > :02:04.maybe for the greater good, but there are a lot of people in that
:02:05. > :02:07.room who are shocked that when a special counsel has been appointed,
:02:08. > :02:15.that Congress has limitations on what we can do. So I have always
:02:16. > :02:20.believed that a counterintelligence investigation did not need a special
:02:21. > :02:23.prosecutor or Council. A criminal investigation might. The deputy
:02:24. > :02:27.Attorney-General decided to appoint a special counsel at one of the
:02:28. > :02:31.results of that, the ability of Congress to call people who may be
:02:32. > :02:37.witnesses in an investigation conducted by Mr Mueller is going to
:02:38. > :02:42.severely restrict what we can do. Can you confirm it is now a criminal
:02:43. > :02:46.investigation? I never got to ask my question specifically about that.
:02:47. > :02:50.But the takeaway I have is that everything he said was that you need
:02:51. > :02:55.to treat this investigation as if it may be a criminal investigation. I
:02:56. > :03:00.think the biggest legal change seems to be that Mr Mueller is going to
:03:01. > :03:03.proceed forward with the idea of a criminal investigation versus the
:03:04. > :03:07.counterintelligence investigation. There are no facts laid out as to
:03:08. > :03:14.why you would change that but appointing a special counsel has
:03:15. > :03:17.created, I think, a dynamic where Congress is going to have to cross
:03:18. > :03:24.into Mr Mueller lane because of the possibility. Could we get the memo
:03:25. > :03:28.is requested yesterday? I think Mr Mueller would tell us what we can
:03:29. > :03:32.get and what we can't. So your investigation will be put on the
:03:33. > :03:42.back burner. Joe Lieberman's name has now emerged as a contender for
:03:43. > :03:46.the FBI. One of the winners of this decision is the FBI, because they
:03:47. > :03:57.don't have to deal with this. Joe Lieberman is a pillar of credibility
:03:58. > :04:02.and a good choice. Does it take care of your concerns? Yes. Having a
:04:03. > :04:08.special counsel hurts our country terribly. Anyone is entitled to that
:04:09. > :04:12.opinion. I would suggest to the President that when one has been
:04:13. > :04:16.appointed, are that decision, cooperate where appropriate, fight
:04:17. > :04:20.back when you have the legal ability to do so. I have been through this
:04:21. > :04:24.before with the Clinton administration. Clinton hired an
:04:25. > :04:30.individual lawyer to deal with all things related to Mr Starr. If I was
:04:31. > :04:33.breast and I would focus on defending the nation and getting his
:04:34. > :04:39.legislative agenda through the Congress. One of the side issues of
:04:40. > :04:43.this is that Congress has been pretty much sidelined. We can go
:04:44. > :04:46.back to dealing with legislative matters that affect the American
:04:47. > :04:51.people. The bottom line here is that the President may not have liked
:04:52. > :04:54.this decision. It was made. I have questions about it. You couldn't
:04:55. > :04:59.have picked a better man to do the job. I think most people in that
:05:00. > :05:02.meeting are generally OK with the idea of a special counsel but what
:05:03. > :05:07.they don't quite understand yet is I think this decision has really
:05:08. > :05:11.limited what Congress can do. I find it hard. I would be reluctant to
:05:12. > :05:15.subpoena someone or document in their possession if I truly believed
:05:16. > :05:19.they may be subject to a criminal investigation. It is not fair to
:05:20. > :05:23.them. Did you get a satisfactory explanation from Rod Rosenstein
:05:24. > :05:30.about why James Comey was fired? I think he viewed the whole process as
:05:31. > :05:33.something Mr Mueller will speak on. But where are you satisfied with the
:05:34. > :05:38.explanation you got? What about the firing of former FBI director James
:05:39. > :05:44.Comey? Rod Rosenstein explained why he wrote the memo and why he thought
:05:45. > :05:51.what James Comey did was interpreted in that way. What he tasked to write
:05:52. > :05:54.that memo? I will let you asking that question. We have a special
:05:55. > :05:59.counsel with all things related to the process of the memo and you will
:06:00. > :06:05.talk to Mr Mueller about that. I got to go. The deputy
:06:06. > :06:09.Attorney-General declined to give details concerning James Comey's
:06:10. > :06:13.dismissal because he is anxious to give wide latitude to Robert Muller
:06:14. > :06:19.to make a determination about where his investigation should go and what
:06:20. > :06:23.it should include. As a former prosecutor, I respect that decision.
:06:24. > :06:28.He did acknowledge he learned James Comey would be removed prior to him
:06:29. > :06:34.writing his memo. What? He knew that James Comey was going to be removed
:06:35. > :06:39.prior to him writing his memo. Joe Lieberman has emerged as a top
:06:40. > :06:42.candidate for FBI director. I think it is a mistake to nominate anyone
:06:43. > :06:46.who has ever run for office. I have spent a lot of time in law
:06:47. > :06:50.enforcement. This is a moment when we need a law enforcement
:06:51. > :06:54.professional that has never campaigned for a presidential
:06:55. > :06:58.candidate, never campaigned for office, never worn a party label to
:06:59. > :07:02.head the FBI. What does that take away from the revelation that he
:07:03. > :07:05.knew that James Comey was going to be fired regardless of his
:07:06. > :07:09.recommendations? I think the facts speak for themselves. I am not going
:07:10. > :07:14.to comment any further because we still don't have the facts, we don't
:07:15. > :07:18.have the documents, we don't have the sworn testimony. He was very
:07:19. > :07:25.careful about not going into any details surrounding the removal
:07:26. > :07:28.because he wants to give Robert Mueller the opportunity to make his
:07:29. > :07:33.independent decision as to where the investigation should go. There were
:07:34. > :07:35.a lot of questions about him cooperating with the congressional
:07:36. > :07:38.investigations with the caveat that he is no longer in charge and he
:07:39. > :07:41.wants to give Robert Mueller the opportunity to do conflict with the
:07:42. > :07:48.committees of jurisdiction conducting investigations. I think
:07:49. > :07:55.generally there was a desire to cooperate. Based on the briefing,
:07:56. > :07:59.this investigation has crossed an important threshold from a CIA case
:08:00. > :08:06.to a criminal case and that might limit Congress's ability to get
:08:07. > :08:10.evidence and bring witnesses to testify. Lindsay is a former
:08:11. > :08:15.prosecutor and I will let his comments speak for themselves. I
:08:16. > :08:17.sense that a writing desire to make sure that Mueller had complete
:08:18. > :08:29.discretion to take the investigation when he thought it needed to go.
:08:30. > :08:35.Did Rod Rosenstein take any responsibility for the firing of
:08:36. > :08:40.James Comey and the memo that he wrote? If not, where does the
:08:41. > :08:42.responsibility lie? I think obviously he stressed the
:08:43. > :08:46.responsibility for the decision lies with the President. It is an
:08:47. > :08:54.executive branch decision and it was an executive action. His memo was
:08:55. > :08:59.written within the context of it. You very much avoided giving
:09:00. > :09:07.specific answers as to circumstances around the writing of the memo and
:09:08. > :09:12.it did somewhat help, saying that should be the province of Mueller's
:09:13. > :09:21.investigation. He very much totally backed away from ever going. Did he
:09:22. > :09:25.tell you that the 8th of May was the day that he knew James Comey would
:09:26. > :09:28.be terminated. I missed the beginning of his opening statement.
:09:29. > :09:33.I cannot say for sure he did not say that. Is it your impression based on
:09:34. > :09:36.the briefing that this has now crossed the threshold from
:09:37. > :09:39.counterintelligence to a criminal matter? He stressed that this was an
:09:40. > :09:44.investigation and he didn't go beyond that. Going beyond that would
:09:45. > :09:47.prejudice people's billion as to the nature of it. There is no
:09:48. > :09:51.pre-determination that someone committed a crime, just an
:09:52. > :09:57.investigation. How will the Security Council negatively impact Congress's
:09:58. > :10:03.ability to investigate? That was never raised. Is it your
:10:04. > :10:07.understanding that Rod Rosenstein knew that memo would be written. He
:10:08. > :10:11.has commented that he knew the President had made statements like
:10:12. > :10:18.that. Having a special counsel could harm our country terribly. Do you
:10:19. > :10:24.agree? No. What do you make the fact that the President knew that he was
:10:25. > :10:28.going fire James Comey before he wrote the memo. No action is final
:10:29. > :10:31.until it is final. You can imagine the President in frustration saying
:10:32. > :10:36.he wanted to buy the guy but you don't know until it happens. Did the
:10:37. > :10:41.President direct him to write the memo? I don't recall so I had better
:10:42. > :10:45.not respond. The President made it his decision to fire James Comey
:10:46. > :10:50.based on Rod Rosenstein's memo but it turns out that is incorrect. That
:10:51. > :10:56.was raised as a point and he deferred the rest of the exploration
:10:57. > :11:04.of that to Mueller. What is your view of the potential domination of
:11:05. > :11:08.Jolie benign -- Joe Lieberman as FBI director? I had not heard that. The
:11:09. > :11:15.Democrats said they did not think a politician should be nominated. I
:11:16. > :11:17.suppose Joe qualifies as a politician but we have to define
:11:18. > :11:29.politician. We just completed an hour and a half
:11:30. > :11:33.session with the deputy Attorney-General. I think it helped
:11:34. > :11:42.inform a lot of the members who may not be on the intelligence committee
:11:43. > :11:48.and the biggest takeaway for most members was that the appointment of
:11:49. > :11:52.Bob Mueller as the special counsel, special prosecutor, that the deputy
:11:53. > :12:00.Attorney-General is going to give him very wisely way, and he
:12:01. > :12:05.consequently did not answer specifics on any question that was
:12:06. > :12:10.asked in terms of questions about the memo. I will just leave it at
:12:11. > :12:16.that and I will take one quick question. Senator Blumenthal just
:12:17. > :12:19.told us this was becoming a criminal investigation. Is that you'll take
:12:20. > :12:29.away from the briefing? As someone who is an Intel committee member and
:12:30. > :12:36.open to more information, I don't want to comment. Can you follow up
:12:37. > :12:39.on the timing that when Rod Rosenstein you that James Comey
:12:40. > :12:44.would be fired? We have heard that he knew on the 8th of May. Was that
:12:45. > :12:47.your understanding? In light of where we are now investigation, we
:12:48. > :12:58.will have more to say about that but I don't want to comment. Mueller's
:12:59. > :13:03.investigation will swamp yours. One of the things that I made a very
:13:04. > :13:05.strong comment on to the deputy Attorney-General was that we had
:13:06. > :13:10.different purposes and different standards. We are looking at
:13:11. > :13:18.counterintelligence. The justice department looks more and criminal.
:13:19. > :13:24.They have a much different standard. There may be factual collaboration
:13:25. > :13:37.that falls short of full legal collusion. In many ways, our view is
:13:38. > :13:42.broader than a justice department FBI investigation. You could have
:13:43. > :13:49.trouble getting access. That is a great question and I got some
:13:50. > :13:56.clarity. We will need to look at that in terms of de-confection. A
:13:57. > :14:03.lot of that responsibility was passed on to Mueller. We have talked
:14:04. > :14:04.about it as soon as possible. Early next week we will get a chance to
:14:05. > :14:21.sit down. I have no informs at this point that
:14:22. > :14:25.would in any way indicate that former director comby would be
:14:26. > :14:29.procluding. Let's realise what happened here. The deputy Attorney
:14:30. > :14:33.General has appointed a special prosecutor which I called for to
:14:34. > :14:37.make sure there was, you know, further independence. That special
:14:38. > :14:46.prosecutor will basically take over what was already happening at the
:14:47. > :14:51.FBI and at the DOJ. I would be very discouraged if somehow this new
:14:52. > :14:59.director was going to set out trying to renew special prosecutor... The
:15:00. > :15:04.special prosecutor would proclude Mr Comey from testifying in public.
:15:05. > :15:09.Clearly it had been, I believe Mr Coemy's intent to choose a venue and
:15:10. > :15:15.testify. Nothing really has changed. The scope of the investigation's
:15:16. > :15:23.still the same, if not broader -- Mr Comey. I could not understand why
:15:24. > :15:28.there would be any reason why, a few days ago, director Comey's intent
:15:29. > :15:33.was to testify. My hope is sooner rather than later because congress
:15:34. > :15:36.breaks in another week. If that opportunity presents itself, I would
:15:37. > :15:41.like to get it done as soon as possible. Just to confirm, you and
:15:42. > :15:47.the chairman expect to sit down early next week? That is what I
:15:48. > :15:52.hope. That is my hope. I think we are going through the normal course
:15:53. > :15:58.of, how do we get to him but, you know, I can't think of anything that
:15:59. > :16:07.I wouldn't clear on my schedule to sit down with Mr Muller.
:16:08. > :16:11.Your take on it? We got through the important briefing with the Attorney
:16:12. > :16:15.General who's appointed Robert Muller to head up the investigation
:16:16. > :16:21.into the Russian issue. One of the issues I raised with him is, my
:16:22. > :16:26.concern that we have multipolicety of congressional committees
:16:27. > :16:29.investigating this same matter and how can we best coordinate those
:16:30. > :16:35.activities with director Muller and the FBI so we don't inadvertently
:16:36. > :16:45.interfere or impede his investigation. Licity of
:16:46. > :16:47.congressional committees investigating this same matter and
:16:48. > :16:49.how can we best coordinate those activities with director Muller and
:16:50. > :16:51.the FBI so we don't inadvertently interfere or impede his
:16:52. > :16:54.investigation. We understand the important of this investigation and
:16:55. > :16:55.we don't want to get in the way. It seems with the oversight
:16:56. > :16:58.investigations, the Judiciary Committees, sub committees of those
:16:59. > :17:04.committees, that that is a train wreck waiting to happen. I'm hoping
:17:05. > :17:14.we can get through the majority leader and perhaps the democratic
:17:15. > :17:19.leader. Some sort of agreement that there will be a single point of
:17:20. > :17:25.contact so we can facilitate this. The other problem is, we could just
:17:26. > :17:28.as Welwyn advertently impede an investigation and basically make it
:17:29. > :17:36.impossible for them to take the matter to court. We don't want to do
:17:37. > :17:46.that. Were you surprised to learn the President already decided to
:17:47. > :17:49.fire James Comey? The FBI director serves as the President's pleasure.
:17:50. > :17:53.My understanding is that that was one of the rationales but not the
:17:54. > :17:56.complete. Initially the White House said the President made this...
:17:57. > :18:02.Well, I can't Of the Department of Justice... That wasn't me. I heard
:18:03. > :18:07.the same thing you heard. You have removed yourself from consideration.
:18:08. > :18:14.We understand Joe leekerman has appeared at the top of the list. An
:18:15. > :18:18.acceptable nomination? In a very divided nation's capital and
:18:19. > :18:25.country, he is the only person that could get 100 votes, he's
:18:26. > :18:31.universally well respected -- Liebermann. Do you agree that it
:18:32. > :18:36.could hurt our country? He believes there is no basis to it. Russia was
:18:37. > :18:40.very much involved in trying to undermine public confidence in our
:18:41. > :18:45.elections and it's a serious enough matter that we are conducting a
:18:46. > :18:50.broad by partisan on the committee that I sit on getting access to some
:18:51. > :18:54.of the most sensitive and raw intelligence that the intelligence
:18:55. > :18:59.community produces. We are taking this enormously seriously. Are you
:19:00. > :19:02.suggesting that the scope should be narrowed down for the
:19:03. > :19:05.investigations? No, I'm p I'm saying there will be a lot of requests made
:19:06. > :19:11.of the FBI and the Department of Justice as part of this
:19:12. > :19:14.investigation. So we need to coordinate with director Muller how
:19:15. > :19:18.we seek witnesses, we seek documents and that sort of thing because you
:19:19. > :19:21.can imagine if they are getting a multiple request from all sorts of
:19:22. > :19:25.different committees that it's going to be a lot of confusion. There's
:19:26. > :19:31.going to be delay. It's not in anybody's interests to delay or
:19:32. > :19:34.impede or impair this investigation. So the investigation should continue
:19:35. > :19:40.at the pace and scope that it's currently doing? That's right but we
:19:41. > :19:45.also node too be focussed on our role. We are not the FBI or the DOJ,
:19:46. > :19:49.we are conducting oversight investigations and that's our
:19:50. > :19:54.appropriate role. Has the nature of the investigation changed from
:19:55. > :19:59.terrorism and if so what are the repercussions? I assume this has
:20:00. > :20:03.been a counterintelligence investigation primarily, but as the
:20:04. > :20:06.deputy attorney said, this will be up to director Muller under the
:20:07. > :20:22.appointment he got. Thank you all very much.
:20:23. > :20:28.Let me just say briefly, Higham not going to go into the substance of
:20:29. > :20:32.his answer, except to say, those answers really need to be given to
:20:33. > :20:38.the American people in public under oath. He should come before the
:20:39. > :20:43.Judiciary Committee and tell the American people who he's told us in
:20:44. > :20:49.this setting. I urged him to do so because it is important to the
:20:50. > :20:54.confidence and trust of the American people in our criminal justice
:20:55. > :20:57.process. I was disappointed in some of his answers, they were less
:20:58. > :21:02.forthcoming and specific than I think they should have been but I'm
:21:03. > :21:06.going to await judgment until I hear more and I'm going to be posing
:21:07. > :21:10.additional questions to him as we go along. What were some of the biggest
:21:11. > :21:14.unanswered questions coming out of the meeting? Relating to the
:21:15. > :21:19.background of his memo, his consultation with others in the
:21:20. > :21:25.Department of Justice and the reasons for the firing of director
:21:26. > :21:32.Comey. I'm satisfied that Bob Muller can follow the evidence wherever it
:21:33. > :21:37.leads, including not only the Trump campaign's possible collusion with
:21:38. > :21:40.the Russians and interfering but also potential obstruction of
:21:41. > :21:43.justice by the President of the United States. Are you speaking
:21:44. > :21:48.specifically Sir to the firing of director Comey? There is mounting
:21:49. > :21:52.evidence of obstruction of justice, no conclusion yet that there was,
:21:53. > :21:58.but that evidence needs to be pursued and there are a variety of
:21:59. > :22:00.pieces of evidence and the firing of director Comey may be one of them.
:22:01. > :22:04.You are confident that the special counsel is look at the firing of
:22:05. > :22:10.Comey and whether that was an effort to obstruct justice? The special
:22:11. > :22:16.counsel must pursue all of the evidence, whether it's the firing of
:22:17. > :22:21.director Comey or memos that were prepared, other documents and other
:22:22. > :22:23.witnesses that may have knowledge about the interference in the
:22:24. > :22:28.election, the collusion that may have happened in the Trump campaign
:22:29. > :22:35.and potential obstruction. At this point we are talking about potential
:22:36. > :22:40.and allegations. Bob Muller has the guts and backbone to stand up to
:22:41. > :22:46.anyone in the Department of Justice, anyone in the Trump administration
:22:47. > :22:52.who tries to interfere with or inhibit that investigation and I'm
:22:53. > :22:57.satisfied that we will know whether that's occurring. The response is
:22:58. > :23:00.given to us -- the responses given to us today indicate that the deputy
:23:01. > :23:07.Attorney General is very sensitive to the fact that the scope and
:23:08. > :23:15.mandate has to be unlimited in so far as additional evidence may be
:23:16. > :23:19.forthcoming related to the Russian meddling or the possible Trump
:23:20. > :23:22.campaign collusion. Senator, can you clear up something for us. One of
:23:23. > :23:26.your colleagues said that it's clear after this meeting that this is no
:23:27. > :23:30.longer a counterintelligence investigation, it's now a criminal
:23:31. > :23:34.investigation. What is your understanding, is this now a
:23:35. > :23:38.criminal investigation? Bob Muller is doing a criminal investigation.
:23:39. > :23:41.The special prosecutor is dog an investigation of criminal
:23:42. > :23:45.allegations -- doing an investigation of criminal
:23:46. > :23:48.allegations that are extremely serious, including possible
:23:49. > :23:50.obstruction of justice and, I emphasise again, no conclusion about
:23:51. > :23:54.whether there was, but there are a number of pieces of evidence that
:23:55. > :24:00.indicate there may well have been and the investigation has to follow
:24:01. > :24:06.that evidence wherever it leads. I'm satisfied that the deputy Attorney
:24:07. > :24:12.General means what he says in the mandate that he gave that anything
:24:13. > :24:16.related to those allegations can be pursued and must be pursue and it's
:24:17. > :24:25.more than just counterintelligence, we are talking here about a criminal
:24:26. > :24:29.investigation. Your predecessor maintained this afternoon...
:24:30. > :24:35.(Inaudible) do you think he'd make a good FBI director? I'm not going to
:24:36. > :24:40.comment on any specific individual until someone is nominated. I
:24:41. > :24:47.believe in general the nominee for FBI director ought to be someone
:24:48. > :24:52.with a background and expertise and experience in criminal justice,
:24:53. > :25:00.preferably a prosecutor and ought to have no political connections or
:25:01. > :25:05.ties and I believe that the... That would rule out Joe Biebermann. I'm
:25:06. > :25:09.not ruling anyone out, that's my preference. Just to be clear, you
:25:10. > :25:15.gave the indication that the President may be under criminal
:25:16. > :25:21.investigations... No. Only that the evidence needs to be pursued
:25:22. > :25:25.wherever it leads, not that any individual person is under
:25:26. > :25:29.investigation. I have no knowledge about what the special prosecutor
:25:30. > :25:37.may pursue. I was one of the first, if not the first who, asked for
:25:38. > :25:42.special prosecutor. I told Rob that I would vote against him if he
:25:43. > :25:48.failed to commit to a point of prosecutor and I did vote against
:25:49. > :25:53.him. Then I voted against him on the floor and I said to him that I was
:25:54. > :25:56.glad he was appointed as special prosecutor. The targets of the
:25:57. > :26:02.investigation and the specific charges at this point are up to the
:26:03. > :26:07.special prosecutor, I'm not presuming that anyone is a target,
:26:08. > :26:11.including the President of the United States. There may be others
:26:12. > :26:17.who are not even known at this point. Senator Blumenthal, did the
:26:18. > :26:23.deputy Attorney General did his commitment that he'll have the
:26:24. > :26:26.resources he needs? He did. I asked him specifically and he presumed
:26:27. > :26:33.that he would. That was a very important point because I said the
:26:34. > :26:36.special prosecutor has to have the independence, resources and
:26:37. > :26:42.unlimited mandate to follow the evidence. Thank you, Sir. I'm going
:26:43. > :26:50.to make a very brief statement and that will be it. First, if one thing
:26:51. > :26:57.is clear from the meeting we just had, it is that Mr Muller has broad
:26:58. > :27:03.and wide ranging authority to follow the facts wherever they go and that
:27:04. > :27:07.gives me some confidence and should give the American people some
:27:08. > :27:11.confidence because he is a man of great integrity and experience.
:27:12. > :27:20.Second, after this meeting, it's clear as ever that the intelligence
:27:21. > :27:23.committee in the senate has to continue its work and it should
:27:24. > :27:29.continue full throttle ahead. And the immediate for former director
:27:30. > :27:40.Comey to come testify in public soon is as great as ever. Thank you.
:27:41. > :27:44.Earlier in the week, President Don Donald Trump delivered the United
:27:45. > :27:50.coastguards commencement address. During his remarks after the special
:27:51. > :27:54.counsel to lead the Russia investigation, he criticised the
:27:55. > :27:56.media saying no-one has ever been treated unfairly. His remarks are
:27:57. > :28:11.half an hour. Thank you very much. Thank you,
:28:12. > :28:17.John. Thank you.
:28:18. > :28:27.Thank you and congratulations to the class of 2017 - great job. General
:28:28. > :28:30.Kelly, I want to thank you for your leadership as the coastguards
:28:31. > :28:37.service secretary. You've really been something very, very special to
:28:38. > :28:40.us as a country and to me in our administration -- and our
:28:41. > :28:44.administration. You've done through the your entire life, an incredible
:28:45. > :28:52.job defending your country. The thank you very much, John.
:28:53. > :28:58.And John and all of his folks are also doing an incredible job
:28:59. > :29:03.protecting our homeland and our border, and I am thrilled that my
:29:04. > :29:14.first address to the service academy is at the graduation ceremony.
:29:15. > :29:21.Believe me, it is a great honour. I have been here before and it is a
:29:22. > :29:24.very special place. Every cadet graduated today, as your
:29:25. > :29:31.Commander-in-Chief, it is truly my honour to welcome you aboard. And
:29:32. > :29:34.you should take a moment to celebrate this incredible
:29:35. > :29:42.achievement. Governor Molloy, thank you for being here. We are glad you
:29:43. > :29:49.could join us and I know how busy the governors are now. They are out
:29:50. > :29:53.there fighting. It is never easy. Budgets are little tired but we are
:29:54. > :29:59.doing a job. All of a sudden a job working together. I so want to
:30:00. > :30:03.welcome the Admiral and his leadership. His leadership has been
:30:04. > :30:09.amazing. Today's graduates will be fortunate to serve under such
:30:10. > :30:21.capable and experienced comment on. He really is fantastic. Thanks also
:30:22. > :30:24.to the academy superintendent. Admiral, I understand you come from
:30:25. > :30:29.a true coastguard family. Two brothers, nephew, cousin, have all
:30:30. > :30:35.passed through these halls. That's very impressive. I guess you like
:30:36. > :30:40.the place. Somebody in your family has been doing something right, I
:30:41. > :30:44.can tell you that. I am sure that they all are very proud, just as we
:30:45. > :30:50.are very proud of the fine young officers who are graduating today,
:30:51. > :30:53.Admiral, on your watch. I would also like to take this opportunity to
:30:54. > :31:01.express our appreciation to all of the parents and grandparents and
:31:02. > :31:03.family members who have supported these amazing graduates. Give your
:31:04. > :31:04.parents and everyone at hand. Come on.
:31:05. > :31:19.APPLAUSE Because America has families like
:31:20. > :31:26.yours and will keep all of those families safe and very, very secure.
:31:27. > :31:31.They are keeping your family safe. If you are not already, you are
:31:32. > :31:36.about to become militarily families. So starting today, I hope you feel
:31:37. > :31:42.the full gratitude of our nation. These fine young cadets are about to
:31:43. > :31:48.take their rightful place on the front line of defence for the United
:31:49. > :31:54.States of America. Cadets, you deserve not only the congratulations
:31:55. > :32:08.but the gratitude of each and every American, and we all salute you. A
:32:09. > :32:12.proud nation. And you are part of a very, very proud nation, which
:32:13. > :32:21.salutes the 195 cadets at the coastguard academy class of 2017.
:32:22. > :32:25.Good job. And I understand from the Admiral is that this has been a very
:32:26. > :32:29.special class. You have been trained here to handle the toughest of
:32:30. > :32:36.situations, the hardest moments, really, that you can experience, and
:32:37. > :32:42.the hardest in people's lives to help the week in their hour of need.
:32:43. > :32:46.But even for the coastguard, this class has been exceptionally
:32:47. > :32:52.dedicated to public service. You served breakfast at the local food
:32:53. > :32:58.bank every single weekday. You rebuilt a home with Habitat for
:32:59. > :33:04.Humanity. Last year you lead cadets in donating a total of 24,000 hours,
:33:05. > :33:09.a lot of time, to community service. You have done amazing work and in
:33:10. > :33:11.the true coastguard fashion, you had fewer people and fewer resources,
:33:12. > :33:18.but you accomplished the objectives and you did it with skill and with
:33:19. > :33:21.pride and I would like to say under budget and ahead of schedule. We are
:33:22. > :33:26.doing a lot of that now at the United States government. We are
:33:27. > :33:33.doing a lot of that. I won't talk about how much I saved you on the F
:33:34. > :33:39.35 fighter jet. I won't even talk about it. Or how much we are about
:33:40. > :33:42.to save you on the Gerald Ford, the aircraft carrier, which had a bit of
:33:43. > :33:45.an overrun problem before I got here. It will still have an overrun
:33:46. > :33:50.problem. We came in when it was finished but we are going to save
:33:51. > :33:53.some good money. When we build the new aircraft carriers, they are
:33:54. > :33:56.going to be built under budget and ahead of schedule. Just remember
:33:57. > :34:04.that. That will allow us to build more. Now of course there are always
:34:05. > :34:07.a few slip-ups from time to time, you know that. For example, I
:34:08. > :34:18.understand that once or twice first-class cadet Bruce came... Wary
:34:19. > :34:26.as Bruce? -- where is Bruce? Bruce, how do you do this to yourself? As
:34:27. > :34:31.regimental parking officer, you might accidentally have caused a few
:34:32. > :34:37.tickets to be issued or a few of your cars to be booted. Bruce, what
:34:38. > :34:42.is going on with you? Cadets, from this day forward, we want everyone
:34:43. > :34:49.to have a clean slate in life, that includes Bruce, right? So for any
:34:50. > :35:00.oversights or small violations that might have occurred this year, as
:35:01. > :35:05.tradition demands, I hereby absolve every cadet for every minor
:35:06. > :35:11.offensive. Bruce, stand up again, Bruce. They saved you because they
:35:12. > :35:19.all wanted me to do that, OK? Thank you, Bruce. Congratulations, Bruce.
:35:20. > :35:24.Good job. By the way, Bruce. Don't worry about it. That is a tradition.
:35:25. > :35:28.I was forced to do that. You know that. Don't worry. This is truly an
:35:29. > :35:34.amazing group of cadets that are here to date for commission. You
:35:35. > :35:42.could have gone to school anywhere you want it and with very, very few
:35:43. > :35:47.responsibilities by comparison. Instead you chose the path of
:35:48. > :35:53.service. You chose hard work, high standards, and a very noble mission
:35:54. > :36:00.to save lives, defend the homeland, and protect America's interests
:36:01. > :36:07.around the world. You chose the coastguard. Good choice. Good
:36:08. > :36:14.choice. You've learned skills they don't teach at other schools right
:36:15. > :36:19.here in the grounds of this academy and also on the larger campus, the
:36:20. > :36:21.open sea. That is a large, large campus. A beautiful campus. But the
:36:22. > :36:44.greatest lesson you have learned... I am very, very pleased to welcome
:36:45. > :36:50.him today. He will introduce some of our policies for this election. It
:36:51. > :36:57.kind of feels like the only way is down now! Thank you so much for
:36:58. > :37:04.coming to today's launch of the cat guarantee. It sets out what the
:37:05. > :37:08.Green Party elected to the House of Commons would stand up for on your
:37:09. > :37:13.behalf. These are big and these are bold ideas that with the right
:37:14. > :37:18.political will are possible. They are about building a confident and
:37:19. > :37:21.caring Britain and a future that we can all be proud of.