History Of Explosive Congressional Hearings.
CAMEROTA: Fired FBI director James Comey expected to deliver blockbuster testimony today before a Senate panel, but how will it stack up against other explosive congressional hearings? CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look back for us.</s>TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For airing grievances, probing issues, or political punch, congressional hearings can be explosive.</s>HILLARY CLINTON, (D), THEN-SECRETARY OF STATE: The fact is we had four dead Americans.</s>FOREMAN: Consider 2013's testimony on the Benghazi attack and this moment from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.</s>CLINTON: Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make?</s>FOREMAN: It's been that way for generations, from testimony on the sinking of the Titanic to Joe McCarthy's hunt for communists and his denunciation by Army attorney Joe Welch.</s>JOE WELCH, ATTORNEY: Have you no sense of decency, sir? If there is a God in heaven it will do neither you nor your cause any good. TWISTED SISTER (Singing "We're Not Gonna Take It").</s>FOREMAN: To a hearing on allegedly obscene music in which the lead singer of Twisted Sister argued with future vice president Al Gore.</s>AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: What does SMF stand for when it's spelled out?</s>DEE SNIDER, "TWISTED SISTER": It stands for the sick mother f******friends of Twisted Sister.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did the president know and when did he know it?</s>FOREMAN: The Watergate hearings proved enormously consequential for President Richard Nixon.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did there come a time when you were asked to develop the capability in the White House for intelligence gathering?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Intelligence gathering? The answer would be no.</s>ANITA HILL: He talked about pornographic materials.</s>FOREMAN: Anita Hill's accusations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas spurred debate about sexual harassment. His denial and slamming of the committee even more talk.</s>CLARENCE HILL, THEN-SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: As far as I'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks.</s>FOREMAN: Hearings that brought impeachment, corruption probes, harsh accusations against the</s>IRS. LOIS LERNER, FORMER IRS DIRECTOR OF RULINGS AND AGREEMENTS: I have not broken any laws.</s>FOREMAN: Scathing words for cigarette makers --</s>REP. HENRY WAXMAN, (D) CALIFORNIA: The difference between cigarettes and Twinkies and the other products you mentioned is death.</s>FOREMAN: -- and outraged questions for the Secret Service.</s>REP. NITA LOWERY, (D) NEW YORK: We're talking about a respected member of the Secret Service who was absolutely drunk.</s>FOREMAN: Admittedly, congressional hearings often lead to nothing, but every now and then this unique type of political theater collides with something important and then it really can be a show worth watching. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.</s>CAMEROTA: Absolutely. That was a fun trip down memory lane. I mean, the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas stuff, that was totally appointment viewing when it was happening.</s>CUOMO: It is true because it was fundamental to the selection of a Supreme Court justice so you often have an intersection of politics and law. You have that today, although I would argue not as much as people think.</s>CAMEROTA: You think it's much more political?</s>CUOMO: I think this is almost exclusively political and, in fact, I think one of the criticisms of Comey by the lawmakers and by the media after it will be that he is being inherently political in this, but it will be worth watching because there's been so much hype from both sides. So who will come out looking better? It's going to be just a matter of hours before the reckoning for the man on your screen. Remember, everybody's saying that this is going to be about President Trump and what it means for him. The man on your screen is going to face some heat today. The most important questions he faces, next.