The Russian president dismissed the idea that his government was behind efforts to interfere in the U. S. presidential election.
Transcript for Putin speaks out about election hacking ahead of Comey testimony
We start here with the latest news on that brewing public showdown between the president of the United States and the man he fired as FBI director. This morning «The New York Times» is quoting unnamed white house sources as saying president trump does not plan to invoke scout tiff privilege to try to stop James Comey from testifying before congress next week. Executive privilege is the president’s right to withhold information in the public interest. Important to note, though, trump could still change his mind on whether to play that card in this case. He certainly could. All this comes as Washington counts down to Comey’s potentially damaging testimony. Now, five days away happening on Thursday. It also comes as Russian president Vladimir Putin is weighing in, as well. ABC’s David Wright is at the white house for us this morning. David, good morning to you. Reporter: Good morning, Paula. Good morning, Dan. Here at the white house, they’re bracing for the next shoe to drop in the Russia investigation. This is the story that continues to dominate the headlines despite the president and his team’s best efforts to shut it down. With fired FBI director James Comey expected to appear on capitol hill again next week, the trump administration is still planning its strategy. White house officials refuse to say definitively whether they’ll try to block Comey’s testimony by adearthing executive privilege. Leaving open the possibility of a late intervention. I have not spoken to counsel yet. I don’t know what that — how they’re going to respond. Reporter: Meanwhile, trump’s deputy attorney general tells associated press he’s prepared for the possibility that the FBI investigation into Russian meddling and possible collusion by trump associates could well end up focusing on the president’s decision to fire Comey. And on his own role and the attorney general’s in that decision. Rod Rosenstein told the A. P., if there is a need for me to recuse, I will. Reporter: Russian president Vladimir Putin dismisses the idea Russian hackers tried to interfere with the U. S. Election as a crackpot conspiracy theory. «A hacker could make it look like a 3-year-old did it, » he said. «That’s not proof.» Putin seemed to throw president trump a lifeline amid the controversy over trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. Putin reinsured environmentalists there’s still time. Don’t worry, be happy. Reporter: Vladimir Putin a Bobby mcfarran fan. The man is full of surprises, isn’t he. Don’t worry, be happy, David, while we’ve got you, the white house has asked the supreme court to review the controversial travel ban. This has suffered multiple defeats in the lower courts. Do we expect the supreme court to take up this case and with when will we hear? It won’t be before June 12th, the deadline the court set for challengers to the travel ban to file briefs. Now, beyond that it’s anybody’s guess. And it’s not clear that the court will even take up the case. They would have to grant Sert. That means four of the nine would have to agree to re-open the case. The fast and furious fallout
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