From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is the Daily.

Today, a special edition of the show, as news continues to break around the President,

the firing of FBI Director James Comey, and the investigation into possible collusion

between the Trump campaign and Russia. The latest, the day after Comey's firing,

Trump told top Russian officials that in dismissing him, the pressure was, quote, taken off.

It's Friday afternoon, May 19.

New York Times, Matt Apuzzo. Hey, Apuzzo, it's Barbaro.

Hey, how's it going? Good, good. I'm here with Maggie Haberman.

But Maggie Haberman. Who?

Who? Maggie's, Maggie's joining us in the studio. I'm here.

We're going to jump in, guys. Thank you for coming on. Really short notice.

Yeah. Thank you.

Matt, what have you learned?

Well, today, we learned that in the meeting at the White House and the Oval Office,

the day after President Trump fired the FBI Director, Jim Comey,

the president raised the firing with the Russian Foreign Minister and the Russian Ambassador.

He said, I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job.

I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off. And he added, I'm not under investigation.

Matt, what is the significance of the president saying those words and saying it in the Oval Office

to the people that he's said it to?

Well, it just gives so much more fuel to his critics who say that the president obstructed justice

or was trying to obstruct justice by firing Jim Comey. As the I Director, Comey, who's leading

...