Analysis and discussion of the days top stories and compelling issues from Lawrence ODonnell. The meeting was, so get information on Hillary Clinton. The original trump lie about this meeting was that the meeting was about russian adoptions. But the president s lawyers were forced to admit in a letter to the Special Prosecutor that President Trump dictated a false statement to the New York Times about that meeting knowing it was false, a statement saying the meeting was about russian adoptions. The legal implications of the president s tweet are gravely threatening to the president s son. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics. But it is not done all the time in politics, and its totally, totally illegal. If it is a meeting with foreign citizens trying to help the Trump Campaign. Federal law makes it a crime for a Foreign National to, quote, directly or indirectly help an American Campaign with financial contributions or, quote, an
other thing of value. Federal election law recognizes Opposition Research as, quote, a thing of value. Federal election law makes it a crime to, quote, solicit, accept or receive a thing of value to a campaign for Foreign National. The email traffic setting up the meeting in trump tower during the campaign with russian nationals shows donald trump jr. Eagerly soliciting what they call dirt on Hillary Clinton after they had clinton dirt to contribute to the Trump Campaign. The president s tweet yesterday said that the meeting, quote, went nowhere. The trump line of defense about the meeting was that the russians didnt hand over any dirt on Hillary Clinton. As we sit here tonight, we dont know if thats true. We dont know what happened in the meeting. We dont really know what happened after the meeting. We dont know whether the russians directly handed over dirt to the Trump Campaign about
Hillary Clinton directly to donald trump jr. Or to anyone else in the campaign. But there are three ways to violate federal election law on contributions from Foreign Nationals. The trump line of defense says the Trump Campaign did not actually receive any dirt on Hillary Clinton from the russians, and, so, there was no crime. They are now insisting that the meeting was legal because they did not receive any dirt on Hillary Clinton. And so if that is true. Donald trump jr. Is not guilty of having received a thing of value from the Trump Campaign from russians. But he did slis solicit it. It is illegal to solicit, accept or receive a thing of value from a russian national. He said i love it. Other emails show donald trump eagerly setting up the meeting in which he hoped to accept and
receive help from the russians. All Donald Trumps eager maneuvers could fit the Legal Definition of solicit. President trump reportedly knows that. And according to one report has expressed worries about Donald Trumps legal jeopardy, which brings us back to why. Why would the president write a tweet yesterday morning that might put his son in even more legal jeopardy . Leading off our discussion now, Jill Winebanks and mimi roca. Shes an msnbc contributor. Jill, it was a quick 44 years ago that Richard Nixon yesterday was handing over those tapes and three days later was gone. On the anniversary of that moment, of the handing over of the tapes, we get this
extraordinarily strange tweet from the president. Since i read that tweet, all i have been wondering about is why. Can you make any sense of the why that tweet would go out . I have long since given up trying to figure out why the president does anything because almost none of it makes any sense. That was very harmful, not just to his son who he was throwing under the bus by admitting the real purpose of the meeting, but to him as well because he drafted a fake report about why the meeting happened. So now hes admitting to obstruction of justice, not just to working with the russians. And you clearly defined what the law is. You cannot accept anything. And if you tried to get it but failed, you have attempted to violate the law. And thats just as much a crime as actually taking it. If i go into a bank and say, give me your money and you refused, i still tried to rob
your bank, and i can be tried for a crime. So the fact that he didnt succeed or at least says he didnt and as you pointed out, we dont know whether he actually got dirt or not. We certainly know that there was an announcement that there would be dirt and then there was a leak of the emails. So did they know that thats what was going to happen . That would be conspireing with the russian government to hurt the election. And thats a crime. Mimi roca, we dont know if the president had help with this tweet. We dont know if someone else gave him that big, fancy word, fabrication. But if he did have help with this tweet or a lawyer looking over his shoulder on this tweet, can you find any conceivable legal theory that would suggest this tweet could be somehow helpful . I dont think he had a good lawyer helping him, if he had a
lawyer helping him. Okay. But, so no. I dont see a great legal theory. One, he sees the Writing On The Wall about his son and that, you know, all arrows point to his son is going to likely be charged with something in relation to this meeting and hes trying to engender some part of sympathy. My poor son. Woe is him. There are some people out there, some Trump Supporters who may go along with that and feel that. This is part of the witch hunt without using the word witch hunt. There is a second part of the tweet that what hes done in the tweet is after 100 tweets of no collusion, no collusion. He now has basically said without using the words in this tweet, yes, collusion. But it was my son and i feel bad for him and i didnt know about
it. So hes trying to distance himself. Its just it is a total what we call false exculpatory, what he says about his knowledge. It looks false because it is. And so i think, again, if he had a lawyer advising him, it was not a good lawyer. And, jill, the idea that this is helpful to the president himself alone saying this is a way of saying that the president isnt guilty of anything, i still cant think of any reason to put that in a tweet, even if thats what the president believed, that She Whe Wasnt G of anything. Hes not getting very good legal advice. And something she said also reminded me of why, for example, Rosemary Woods was never indicted for perjury. She testified she erased 18. 5 minutes and described how she did it and the testimony showed that that did not happen. But we didnt indict her because
it would have been a distraction. I dont think the same is true with donald trump jr. Donald trump jr. Played a pivotal role in the campaign and he is not just some Assistant To The President who shouldnt be indicted. If he did as his email said, please give me the dirt. I love it. Especially release it later in the summer when it will do maximum damage, thats an indictment crime and he should be tried for it. If donald trump jr. Solicited this information from russian nationals without knowing that that was a crime, how does that factor into charging this crime or defending against this charge . He doesnt have to know that it is a crime. What he has to have is a general intent here that he knew, you know, what he was doing. So here he knew he was accepting information. Whether it be, you know, actual
documents. When we talk about dirt, as you mentioned, it could just be that they told him they were going to do something or that they had access to information, and thats why, you know, trump made that announcement. So he does not have to know. Ignorance of the law is no defense and people are familiar with that. There are some crimes when you have to have a more specific intent. But here it would have to be general knowledge about the conduct that he was doing, not the specific law that he was violating. And in particular, if were talking about conspiracy law, you know, he could be liable for joining a conspiracy that the russians already had underway when they hacked into the democratic emails and had them in their possession. You can join a conspiracy at any time. You dont have to be there from the beginning, as long as you are aware of the general object of the conspiracy and you join it and do something in
furtherance, which again all arrows point to trump jr. Did that. Thank you both for starting us off tonight. Really appreciate it. When we come back, the Prosecutions Star Witness took the stand today in the trial of former Trump Campaign manager Paul Manafort and immediately implicated Paul Manafort in several crimes. And new reports from white house sources indicate the president is more worried than ever about the Special Prosecutors investigation, especially the investigation of donald trump jr. But allstate actually helps you drive safely. With drivewise. It lets you know when you go too fast. And brake too hard. With feedback to help you drive safer. Giving you the power to actually lower your cost. Unfortunately, it cant do anything about that. Now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . Crisp leaves of lettuce. Freshly made dressing. Clean food that looks this good. Delivered to your desk. Now delivering to home or office. Panera. Food as it should be. Today rick gates, the star prosecution for the case of the United States of america versus Paul Manafort testified that he committed crimes with the former Trump Campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. The prosecution asked did you commit any times with mr. Manafort. Gates again responded yes. Gates is manaforts longtime business association, who is cooperating with mueller in exchange for a reduced sentence. Gates spent his first hour on the stand admitting to the jury most of the bad things and crimes that he has done. Gates admitted to helping Paul Manafort commit bank and tax fraud, Holding Money in hidden bank accounts, money that was
used to fund Paul Manaforts lavish lifestyle. He testified he knew what they were doing was illegal but said he lied because Paul Manafort directed him to lie. But he also admitted to crimes of his own, such as Embezzling Hundreds Of Thousands of dollars from Paul Manafort and lying to the fbi. This is a crucial element in the manafort defense teams approach, which is to try to blame rick gates for these financial crimes, insisting that Paul Manafort was taken advantage of by rick gates. Paul manafort sat in the courtroom staring down his former aid just at the beginning of this show down and the jury will, in the end, have to pick who to believe, rick gates or Paul Manafort. Joining us now the Intelligence National supporter for nbc news. Mimi is still with us. We dont know if Paul Manafort is going to take the Witness Stand in his own defense. Although, it is hard to imagine a real defense in this case that doesnt include Paul Manafort. So what do you think at this stage the jury is seeing in the rick gates testimony . Well, theyre seeing kind of an unattractive character on the one hand, lawrence, an admitted criminal. A guy that got up there and talked about a crime spree that he and Paul Manafort were involved in by his story. But also admitted, as you said, to all these other crimes, some of this the prosecution said they didnt even know about until mr. Gates brought it to his attention as part of his Plea Agreement where they say you need to confess all your bad acts because it will come out at trial anyway. She thought the jurys body language, they were leaning back in their seats after having been
leaning forward as if to express skepticism about gates. That doesnt mean they wont eventually believe what hes saying. I thought he was an effective and compelling witness even as he was admitting to all these crimes because he is a man with nothing left to lose. His whole goal right now is to minimize his prison term. If he lies on the stand, his agreement is null and void. So, you know, hes only started part way down the road of admitting to all these various charges in the specifics that he acknowledges up front he was guilty of. He was indicted alongside mr. Manafort of the same bank and tax fraud charges. Right up front he said, yes, i was guilty of those charges. I only pled guilty to this one charge, but i was guilty of all this other stuff. Heres what else i was guilty
of. Mimi, as a prosecutor, you have dealt with this many times. You put on the stand your star witness is a person that committed crimes with the defendant. So you have the admitted criminal on the Witness Stand in exchange for a reduced sentence saying, that guy over there, that defendant, is a criminal. Absolutely. And, you know, i put on the Stand Witnesses who have been committed just horrible crimes, murders, you know, drug trafficking, liars, fraudsters. As ken noted, the jury does they get it. They dont like those cooperators and they probably dont like rick gates and they may be leaning back in their seat, but that doesnt mean they wont believe them. Thats the key. You dont have to like him. You have to believe him. You dont have to, but you should. And heres why. And then they give the jury
reasons to believe the cooperator. The government prosecution is never going to ask a jury to solely rely on a cooperating witness like rick gates. They will back their case up with corroboration, evidence. They will ask, does this make sense and fit in with the other evidence. They will point to the Cooperation Agreement. It is very important. It is designed, the government corop Ration Agreement that all u. S. Attorneys offices use and the one that was used here to incent vise truth telling. The way a cooperator can mess himself up is to plead guilty under a Cooperation Agreement and lie on the stand. They will end up getting a higher sentence than if they pled guilty on other crimes. Thats how they get a reduction in the sentence. So there is all these different tools that prosecutors will
point to to a jury to explain why they can believe the cooperator. They dont have to like him and they probably wont, but here is why you should believe him. They will also remind the jury that we, the government, we didnt pick this guy. Paul manafort did. And of course he committed crimes. Thats what Paul Manafort was doing. And gates took responsibility for it, and thats why hes here today. And, ken, to mimis point that prosecution is never relying on any one witness, The Gates Testimony follows one of the shortest witnesses in the case so far, federal official simply pointing out the fact that they never reported any of the, what, 15, 14 or so Foreign Bank Accounts that they were legally required to report, gates and manafort. Thats just fact at this point. Yes, lawrence. Absolutely right. Thats why i have been saying tonight that even if gates totally collapsed under crossexamination and the jury
discounts everything he says, there is still a pretty strong case against Paul Manafort on exactly the point that you just made. There was a Treasury Agent who testified about the requirements to report Foreign Bank Accounts. Paul manafort didnt report any of him. And his tax preparer said the reason is because she never disclosed them to her. She was totally unaware of them and that is a felony if it is proven that it was willful. The only manafort defense there is he didnt know it was a crime. There is a lot of evidence to contradict that, lawrence. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. You bet. When we come back, a former head of the cia said that the president has deep, twisted and irrational impulses and a former fourstar general is now saying the president has outright separation from the truth. Donald trump is starting to sound even more dangerous to those former government officials. And later, why are republicans in danger of losing
what is supposed to be a very safe republican seat . There is a onepoint lead in the latest poll by the democrats in that very dramatic race where the voters will go to the polls tomorrow in ohio. Nk that all Money Managers are pretty much the same. But while some push High Commission investment products, Fisher Investments avoids them. Some advisers have hidden and layered fees. Fisher investments never does. And while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, Fisher Investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. Maybe thats why most of our clients come from other Money Managers. Fisher investments. Clearly better money management. Now im gonna tell my momma
that im a traveller im Gonna Follow The Sun now im gonna tell my momma that im a traveller transitions™ light under control™ i got it. I gotcha baby. vo its being there when youre needed most. Hes the one. vo love is knowing. It was meant to be. And love always keeps you safe. vo love is why we built a car you can trust for a long time. The allnew Subaru Impreza sedan and fivedoor. A car you can love no matter what road youre on. The Subaru Impreza. More than a car, its a subaru. Right now, get 0 Apr Financing on the 2018 Subaru Impreza. Psychiatrists have publically said they believe is sick and dangerous tweeted this. The fake news hates me saying that they are the enemy of the people, only because they know its true. I am providing a Great Service by explaining this to the american people. They purposely cause Great Division and distrust. They can also cause war they are very dangerous and sick the former Acting Director of the cia responded to that tweet saying, we pay way too much attention to these whacky trump tweets that Shouldnt Drive news cycles, but the more i stare at this one, the more it seems like a deep, twisted and irrational impulse that, alarmingly, he cant control. Its beyond unpresident ial. Here is a sampling of the president s recent musing that
could be labeled delusional and sick. Remember the beautiful first lady coming down the escalator in the white dress that big day when everybody said, oh, hes just doing this for fun. He doesnt real ly mean it. Man, if i dont mean it, i hope you tell me soon because its a lot of work. But coming down the escalator and you remember what i said . I mentioned words i wont even mention them tonight because there is a lot of young people here. But i mention words and everybody thought it was wonderful. But then about two days later, they said, did he say this . Did he say that . Guess what . What i said is peanuts compared to what turns out to be the truth. Its peanuts. So there is the president of the United States telling his audience last week that what he said in the speech announcing his candidacy was unfit for the
ears of young people and children. Tonight retired fourstar army general said, President Trump behavior becoming more alarming and ill logical in 55 years of service in the armed service, civil government and business, i have never encountered this level of anger, insulting behavior and outright separation from the truth. Joining us now sergeant mccaffrey. I want more of your reaction from what you are seeing from the president. I know you have been alarmed for a long time from what you hear from donald trump. But is this a new level of alarmed for you . Im not qualified to talk about the president s mental state. Im just talking about his behavior. I have been decades levels serving at the highest levels of armed forces, the Business Community. I personally have never
encountered this kind of behavior, the insulting nature dealing with his clients or us. I mean, the Business Community does that. The armed forces, wed sack a commander who dealt that way with his soldiers. So i think its of great concern. Weve got a couple of more years, at least, with President Trump as the chief executive. And its looking very worrisome the way hes dealing with his domestic audience as well as the international community. And there is a Washington Post report from white house sources indicating that some of the president s behavior might be linked to his increased anxiety about the Special Prosecutors work. The washington most said in private President Trump spent much of the past week brooding. Yet in public, trump is a man roaring. The president more than ever is channelling his internal frustration and fear into a
ravenous maw of grievance and n inv invective. We kcan expect that it will intensify some more. Lawrence, heres the thing. All of this fury is at his enemies. Who appears to be Donald Trumps enemies . The press and black people who do nice things, whether it happens to be a reporter on another network or an africanamerican from akron who opened up a school. Part of what makes donald trump so dangerous as a president is that his rage is not at injustice. It is not at how the United States is viewed against the world. His anger is always focussed on things that dont reflect well on him. Thats what makes him dangerous. I have also said, look, constitutionally, we have the rules in case to keep bad president s in check. We do not have rules in place to take narcissistic president s in check. We do not have rules to take care of that. We have seen it in National Security and domestically. If we get some fundamental change this is fall, i suspect hell become more unhinged if he has to face a Democratic House of representatives. To jasons point that the Chain Of Command designed does not really have any provisions for dealing with a president who people would in that Chain Of Command might suspect as being irrational and out of control. The Chain Of Command, i have been after the media about this, the commander in chief title only deals with the u. S. Armed forces. Nobody else. Hes not the commander in chief of the country. And within that Chain Of Command, i think were very fortunate, look, the pentagon, Secretary Jim Mattis is an intellectual. He is worshipped by the armed forces. He is a lawbased person. Fortunately, we got Service Secretaries who are absolutely the best i have seen in 25 years. So i dont think weve got a problem. As secretary mike pompeo, very smart, capable person. But what we are now seeing is a complete separation between the facts on the ground in National Security and Foreign Policy and what the president is saying. His team makes a lot of sense dealing with alliances, dealing with the real threat in north korea and iran. But the president s utterances, for example, coming home from singapore and saying, the new clear threat is gone. Where did he come up with that . It is hard to fathom what is going on. And, jason johnson, has i said earlier in the program, it
seems one of the areas of Trump Tweeting that does have a logic is the racist component of Trump Tweeting, which is in effect a kind of an open form of direct mail to the members of his Support Group who are racist. Right. And heres the thing, lawrence. I think this is very important. And im sure your other guests will agree with me. Racism and white nationals is a National Security issue. It is a National Security issue when the president of the United States demonizes certain working segments of the u. S. Population as somehow being let fit, less trustworthy or less capable. This is what our enemies exploit. This is what russia exploits. This is what china exploits. You look throughout history when other countries have attempted propagan propaganda. What they talk about is how the u. S. Treats blacks and chinese
people and thatti tinative amer. When you have a president that attacks black people, it makes the United States a weaker country. It makes us less capable of protecting ourselves or projecting the kind of strength we need to project abroad. Thank you both for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Up next, the president showed up at a rally in ohio for the republican candidate in a Congressional District and now the democrat is in the lead. Or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. Serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be lifethreatening. Stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. Tell your Healthcare Provider if youve had depression or other Mental Health problems. Decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. The most common side effect is nausea. I cant tell you how good it feels to have smoking behind me. Talk to your doctor about chantix. Its a hightech revolution in sleep. The new sleep number 360 smart bed. It intelligently senses your movement and automatically adjusts on each side to keep you both comfortable. And snoring . How smart is that . Smarter sleep. To help you lose your dad bod, train for that marathon, and wake up with the patience of a saint. The new sleep number 360 smart bed, from 999. Smarter sleep will change your life. Guys,but youve got sto be strong. St remember janet . She got cash back shopping with ebates and hasnt been skeptical since. Whered the money come from . Stores pay ebates. Psh psh then ebates pays you. Psh psh psh psh psh psh psh psh psh and theyll send you a check. Psh oohh sign up for free. Shop your favorite stores. Get cash back. Ebates. Something to believe in. Join today for a 10 bonus. At ally, were doing Digital Financial services right. But if thats not enough, we have more than 8000 allys looking out for one thing you. Call in the next ten minutes. And if thats not enough, well look after your every dollar. Put down the phone. And if thats not enough, well look after your every cent. Grab your wallet. Beeping SoundComputer Voice access denied. And if thats still not enough to help you save. Oh the new one well bring out the dogs. Mush dogs barking the old ones just fine well do anything, seriously anything, to help our customers. Thanks. Ally. Do it right. One more. There is just one more special election for a congressional seat, and this one is now down to a onepoint race. That election is tomorrow in ohio where the republican should have a very strong lead and where tonight we seem to be headed for another very dramatic finish to that race with the democrat, donny oconnor, pulling one point ahead of republican troy balderson. Donald trump won this Congressional District by 11 points. President trump went to the district an soaturday night, bu that appearance might have been more helpful to the democratic candidate. The president was not invited to campaign in this race. I asked him. I said i said, troy, did you
invite trump in here, the president . He said, no, i didnt. So i think donald trump decides where he wants to go and i think they think theyre firing up the base. President trumps Approval Rate is only 46 . A democrat has not held the seat since 1982. Heres what a republican woman said about her decision to not only vote for the democrat, danny oconnor, but to actually go help his campaign. There is not a lot to be proud of about his behavior or his leadership. And when balderson said that he cant i dont know. I believe there was a debate where he said he cant think of a single thing where he would disagree with trump onme. And i thought, really . There is kind of a lot to
disagree with trump on. Maybe not everything. But hes done a lot of pretty questionable remarks just even since hes been in office. I dont think hes grown into the presidency. If anything hes gotten worse on what he says and does. In the last Congressional Election in this district, the republican won by 37 points in 2016. Charlie cook will join us next to explain why that 37point lead has disappeared and become a onepoint lead for the democrat and what all this might mean for the big Election Night in november of this year. So wet anything. Even vengeful vermin. Not so cute when theyre angry. And we covered it. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum
of the cook editorial report. And viewers of this program know he is the person i defer to on all matters involving Congressional Elections. Charlie, how did this happen . How did the democrat not democr close this thing, but now sit with a onepoint lead on election eve . Pat teaberry had, as you noted earlier, no problems. This is not a republican district, but its not a donald trump district. Its not suburbs, well educated, and so its not a trump specific kind of district. And i think the president s causing republicans just a lot of problems in this district. What lessons are there out of this campaign that democrats and republicans need to think about in november . Well, you know, this special
elections, we watch them in the oddnumbers years and the first part of election years to give us a sign of what direction is the wind blowing and roughly the velocity. But the thing is, we knew a year ago that the republican majority in the house was going to be in danger and we have known that for some time. Thats why this is maybe not as instruct i have as the pennsylvania 18 or the Georgia Special election last year. We know that the republican majority in the house is just teetering right on the edge, so this would be sort of less illustrative of Whats Going On than, say, pennsylvania was earlier this year. But its look, theyre in real trouble. For the democrat to win, he has to change the minds of voters who voted for donald trump in the president ial
campaign. Cant win without getting trump voters. Is there something in the way this candidate that has spoken to them that can be helpful to democrats strategically . I dont know that its the messaging as much. Neither of these are particularly memorable candidates. I dont think its a message as much as voters saying, maybe its time for a little check and balance, putting a check on President Trump. I think its more that kind of thing that a lot of voters are just have real misgivings about Whats Going On and this is a way to send a signal that theyre not all in for President Trump or where the Republican Congress is going right now. But pat teaberry was a very, very moderate republican, and that kind of republican can do well, but theyve got their hands full tomorrow. There is that fear among democrats that all they need to do is run against donald trump. You know, i think im not sure that would be my messaging but that would be in effect Whats Going On, that for the voters that are really upset with President Trump, they just need to have an opportunity to vote against him. But a democratic candidate would be welladvised not to focus too much on President Trump but to come up with a positive message, an economic message, and be the vehicle for that discontent toward President Trump. Charlie cook, thanks for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Tons last word is next. Viewer warning, there will be boston accents. In the u. S. Its americas most popular street name. But Allstate Agents know thats where the similarity stops. If youre on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the Washoe Zephyr could damage your siding. And thats very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. But no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local Allstate Agents knows yours. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . Crisp leaves of lettuce. Freshly made dressing. Clean food that looks this good. Delivered to your desk. Now delivering to home or office. Panera. Food as it should be. His mother has been a parishioner for 45 years. Marty walsh administered the oath of office. Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I William Grass. I William Grass. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That i will faithfully and impartially. That i will faithfully and impartially. Do all Duties Incumbent on me. According to the b of my abilities in understanding agree bli to the constitution of the United States of america. The constitution and laws of this commonwealth. The constitution and laws of this commonwealth. The ordnances of the city of boston. The ordnances of the city of boston. And the rules and regulations. And the rules and
regulations. Of the Boston Police department. Of the Boston Police department. So help me god. So help me god. Congratulations, commissioner. [ cheers and applause ] Boston Police commissioner William Grass gets tonights last word. Philip rutger and Ashley Parker are the reporters whose story apparently drove President Trump into a tweet storm this weekend. They will join brian in lawyer lawyer where Brian Williams that starts now. Tonight, the unraveling cover story for that trump tower