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He didnt have to make a decision. he could have just sent it to congress. but then it triggers that we are not an adjunct to congress point. thats a weird, odd and sort of -- its a point that beefs up the role of the executive, which is something that barr -- a view that barr has taken i guess for the past 30 years, that the executive branch is never to be subordinate to congress. but sending something to congress for their rightful determination as to the guilt and innocence of a president is r...

Or emboldened. >> emboldened. thats a good point. >> david gergen, jeff toobin, thanks. when it first broke the story that had us question whether it was from the onion. and the lengths the white house will go to hold a grudge against the late john mccain, who is dead, we should point that out, and yet the president is still focused on him. also, meghan mccains reaction. ♪ ♪ the house, kids, theyre living the dream ♪ ♪ and here comes the wacky new maid ♪ -maid? uh, im not the... -♪...

The president today couldnt even criticize the actions of the staffers, if, again, if it was just staffers doing this. he called them well meaning. a, you can look at that he doesnt want to throw them under the bus because he is lying. he is actually the one who directed it and he doesnt want them then leaking out that he directed it. but the idea that he couldnt even just apologize and say you know what? this was really -- it was just inappropriate, and you shouldnt cover up a war heros name on...

Should have been an unequivocal no. and its sort of foolish that the attorney general couldnt go there. >> i know you have a question. >> jim, what do you think about the precedence thats being set here, that the president of the united states orders a criminal investigation of his political enemies in a -- you know, in the previous administration with power to declassify anything over the objections of the intelligence agencies? what do you think about that as a principle for how a president co...

System we have. >> the president, you know, has also characterized the court approved surveillance of campaign advisers as spying, language the attorney general has echoed. heres what he said about that today. >> i guess its become a dirty word somehow. it has never been for me. i think there is nothing wrong with spying. the question is always whether its authorized by law and properly predicated. and if it is, then its an important tool the united states has to protect the country. >> the atto...

Yesterday, and also barr wouldnt go into the second reason why he wouldnt even reach a conclusion, because he thought it was unfair to president trump if he did reach a conclusion given the fact that he would never have a day in court because of the department of justice guidelines. >> right. and its interesting. in one line that wasnt played from the interview that i think viewers will see tomorrow is that barr continues that point where he says we dont just punt things -- he didnt use the word...

And petty. in other words, his own chief strategist at the time thought the president was reaching, and now he seems to have built it into some kind of boardroom clash of the titans. the real question tonight is why so angry? dont we remember a time when he and his people were pleased as punch with the special counsels work? >> i think everyone here and everyone frankly across america was happy. >> the mueller investigation is the gold standard. >> the mueller report was great. it could not have...

Its just that they didnt because, again, of the department of justice guidelines. >> for prudential reasons, out of fairness to trump, you know, we were here covering this live, the 17 minutes on the lawn. and, you know, it was almost worth it to hear all 17 minutes together. >> i know. we thought -- to be honest, we thought of playing the whole thing, because it is startling. >> it is just the torrent, the torrent of lies. i mean, you covered some of them, but you didnt cover all of them. its j...