Washington week on pbs, and im pleased to have him back on the program. Welcome back. Lets talk about Jeff Sessions and the fact he decided to stay on and what this split with the president means and what can we read into it . It was a stunning and revealing moment at the same time to have the president sit down with peter baker and Maggie Haberman and Michael Schmidt of the your times as quote and talk to his frustration with his attorney general which can be traced back to Jeff Sessions austria decision to refuse himself from the russia investigation. Ever since then, the president has been furious behind the scenes because he believes sessions recusal has left him personally and his administration vulnerable to attack from democrats, obama to the special counsel now being run by bob mueller. And it has created a suffocating cloud around the white house where the rest of the agenda seems to get stalled, and he traces a lot of this back to sessions who he thought could be his manager justice department. Are saying it was the firing of james comey that led to the appointment of bob mueller. And if he had not listened to the people urging him to fire comey, he would not have had the special prosecutor put in place by the Deputy Attorney general. That is exactly right. There is a lot of swirling factors that have led the president to this point. It is not just sessions recusing himself. It is the decision by the president to have a private conversation with the former f. B. I. Director that prompted the special counsel. If prompted all the reshuffling within the investigative units in the justice department. My sources at the white house said the president believes he does not have an exit land. He has brought so many lawyers in. They are telling him to be more disciplined, to not weighin on the day by day developments. But the president feels he has to be his own defender. That came through in the interview. Without sessions fighting his fight, without his lawyers being out there in an aggressive way, he thinks he has to be the spokesman and where youre at the same time. Charlie what happens to Jeff Sessions as attorney general . It is an intriguing drama within the trump administration. Ive covered the now attorney general for a long time, that to his senate days. He was the ideological core for what trumpism became in 2015 and 2016, this populist, nationalist fusion of conservative politics and activism in anger and anger. It is often credited to steve bannon, but in fact the attorney general sessions has been cultivating these kind of political themes for a long time. He was the first senator to endorse trump during the campaign. That is why he was first in line to be appointed attorney general. He was important in the early days of this administration shaping the executive action on immigration, helping the president think through criminal justice policy. Because of that recusal, you see trump and his personality come to the fore. He is so transactional, so determined to make decisions based on the public imagination of where he stands. If sessions was no longer helpful, he was out. We have not seen him be part of the inner circle ever since. Charlie did the president want him to resign . People inside the white house say the president made the decision to make these on the record claims that they were quite shocked that he went on the record with these comments. They were interpreted as a push out the door, the sessions would wake up on thursday and safety cannot longer serve as attorney general. In any other administration, this kind of dynamic, a president speaking out against his own attorney general would prompt a resignation. But the president dislikes confrontation, direct confrontation. We have seen this throughout his career. You see sessions isolated over at the justice department, not really sure how to interpret what happened in the New York Times interview. This was not some strategic outburst. This was an outburst by the president in an interview. That is why he had sessions on thursday morning say im going to stay. We will see how long that lasts. Charlie how does this fit into the russian probe . Hearings next week, some private, some open . A lot of questions remain about paul manafort, don jr. , the son who had a meeting last summer with russian figures, and jared kushner, the soninlaw and senior adviser. They all promised they would like to speak to the Senate Intelligence committee. The question up in the air is whether these will be open hearings, whether these would be closed hearings. It looks like it is going to be closed. We will see if it even happens. With don jr. And paul manafort, likely to be closed hearings. You see the senators now trying to move forward with their own investigation. Mark warner, the ranking democrat from virginia, richard burr from north carolina, they want to show their constituencies progress in the investigation. That is why you see a flurry of activity on capitol hill. There is some progress on the capitol hill congressional investigation. The real story is bob mueller and the special counsel, what he is looking into. You see in the interview real news, that the president is concerned mueller is looking into his personal finances and the trump organization. Charlie some speculate that has been the reason all along the reason donald trump did not want to reveal his income taxes. The question about russian money and how it has played into various trump ventures over the past few decades has been an unanswered question throughout this entire process. And clearly if you look at the president s remarks, he is skittish about the idea of his tax returns maybe being reviewed by mueller or at least elements of his finances being reviewed by investigators. Because the president believes he can perhaps skate any kind of obstruction charge or about how he handled the investigation with comey and others. But if it becomes a broader investigation with a scope that goes back into the 1980s and 1990s when he was struggling with his finances and his businesses were in debt, some in bankruptcy, and how Foreign Investors played into is under prices, that is enterprises, that is a whole other front this white house is not eager to confront. Charlie we will be back in a moment. We continue this evening with senator john mccains brain cancer diagnosis. Lab results revealed a primary brain tumor was associated with the blood clot. Mccain was previously diagnosed with invasive melanoma in 2000. The dr. Joins me to talk about the newest the latest diagnosis. He is one of the leading oncologists in the country and im pleased to have him here. What can you tell me based on the reports you have seen and friends you know in the medical Computing Community about the condition . It is a very aggressive brain cancer. The first step is to take it out and leave no tumor behind. That was accomplished. That is a big step forward. We know if you get a patient chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy together, they are going to live longer and it will delay the time until it comes back. Unfortunately, it comes back in almost all cases. Putting the two together will delay it coming back. Charlie is there a race for time . The forward progress in treating cancer and brain cancer is of such philosophy that you never velocity that you never know what might be possible six months from now. No question about it. So much is going on in this space now that it really is exciting. All of us in the field are jumping up and down. We can target genes. We can reactivate the immune system to attack the cancer itself. Those are some of them on the market. Most are Clinical Trials being developed now. Every time you make a decision in his care, the first question is, is it the right decision and does it preclude you from getting something down the pike that may be more exciting . Prospectshat are the for most people who have this . Is it a life term of a year or two years . I know you cannot make specific conclusions unless you know the patient. And even then, it is difficult. This disease unfortunately behaves very similarly in most patients. His course will be three or four weeks after surgery, he will start oral chemotherapy together with Radiation Therapy. That last six weeks. Radiation is monday through friday for about six weeks. There is a month off and then six months of taking an oral pill for chemotherapy. And then you stop and wait for it to recur. Unfortunately, recurrent happens in almost all patients. At that point, we can try experimental their piece. Can putuniversity, they the polio virus into the brain cancer which makes it more foreign to the immune system and the immune system can attack the cancer. There are several cases reported to have had this there be with dramatic responses in brain cancer that failed almost everything and they are alive years later. So there is hope for the first time in this disease. Charlie what causes this disease . It is luck of the draw, unfortunately. There are genetic associations with a mutant gene. But in most cases, it is luck of the draw. The amazing thing about it is even though the margins were clear, he comes back in almost all cases. Decades ago, they took out half of the brain with this cancer and there was no Better Outcomes than when they take out just the cancer itself because these tentacles go throughout the brain. Amazing adaptive mechanism in this cancer. Charlie does brain cancer spread faster than most cancers or not . Many cancers are limited to where they can spread. The brain is an area where they can keep invading. It is very hard to go in and do things because we need to brain to function. People can get very symptomatically grows one millimeter because it may push on the motor neuron sensory function. Verydit cancer can grow large before you are symptomatic pancreatic cancer can grow very large before you are symptomatically. Senator mccain had some issues speaking sentences. That may have been from the information associated with the cancer. Charlie i think senator Lindsey Graham said he had been tired and feeling more fatigued over the last several weeks. Is that a symptom as well . Your body talks to you. It is not just the cancer. It causes inflammation. That pushes pressure on other areas of the brain. When they take it out, inflammation of bates and classically abates and classically patients feel better. Charlie i know everyone in america is hoping for the best for senator mccain and the recognition of the fighting spirit he has exhibited in his public and private life. David, thank you for joining us. We will be right back. Stay with us. Charlie o. J. Simpson will soon be released from prison after serving nine years for kidnapping and armed robbery. The parole board voted unanimously to shorten his 33 year sentence in a hearing this afternoon. The former professional Football Player previously face trial in 1995 for the murder of his exwife, nicole brown simpson, and the murder of her friend, ronald goldman. O. J. Simpson was acquitted of those charges in the mostwatched court case in history. Here is the report from the cbs evening news, this evening. Mr. Simpson, i devote to grant parole ineligible. And that will conclude this hearing. Thank you. His relief was obvious. Now 70, would soon be free on parole. Frexit was a serious crime and there was no excuse. The hearing lasted more than an hour as commissioners asked simpson how prison had changed him. Are you humbled by this incarceration . While expressing regret, he guns. Ed others brought i am no danger to pull a gun on anybody. I never have in my life. I have never been accused of it in my life. One of the dealers robbed told the parole board simpson had served enough time. He made a mistake. He truly is remorseful. Home just want him to come so we can move forward for us quietly. I am not a guy who has lived a criminal life. I am a pretty straight shooter. Hanging over the hearing was the accusation in 1994 simpson brutally murdered his exwife and her friend. I have always thought i have been pretty good with people. I basically have spent a conflict free life. One of the least selfaware moments i have ever heard. The law professor. There are a lot of things you might say about o. J. Simpson. You might even say the acquittal was fair. What to say he has led a conflict free life . I dont think so. Simpson will remain in prison until at least october 1. He says he wants to return to florida where he lived before his nevada fiction, but parole officials in both states must agree. Charlie joining me is a legal analyst for cbs news and former prosecutor. Im pleased to have her back on this program. Tell me about o. J. Simpsons parole. It was a long hearing. I think it had a rocky start. The first question to o. J. Simpson was when he went into that room in las vegas, nevada, back in 2007, what was he thinking . The obvious answer is a lawyer coached him, prepared him for that answer, was, i was not thinking at all. I should not have gone in. If i had thought, i would not have gone in. Instead, o. J. Simpson decided to tell his story. And it was really good the entire relitigating the entire kidnapping and robbery case from simpsons perspective which is it is everyone elses fault but mine. I thought to myself this was not the way to begin. But eventually, he redeemed himself by expressing remorse, by expressing how sorry he was, not only to his victims but also to the people of the state of nevada. And explaining how he tried to redeem himself by being a model prisoner. In addition, we not only heard from his lawyer, but we heard from his daughter, and we heard from one of the victims. Charlie who supported parole. The most important. He supported parole. But it was more significant than that. He was actually powerfully, emotionally moving in what was supposed to be a factbased hearing. He talked about what indignity and fear he had suffered as a result of this event. He did not cast that to the side. But he talked about simpson being a good man and that it was not that he was there because he was o. J. Simpsons friend for 27 years, he was there because it was the right thing to do. That this sentence was too long, that he himself had only wanted simpson to do one to three years. And he ended his testimony by saying words to the effect, if you want me to come and pick you up when you are released, i will be there for you. It was when you saw simpson well up and you saw finally some really profound emotion and thankfulness for this friendship, and i think that was critical in what otherwise is simply a grid of factors. Charlie how important is being a model prisoner . Horton very important. No disciplinary infractions for almost nine years. Almost unheard of. Charlie remorse is important. He did that. He did that. Charlie what else is important . What else is important is what activities he was doing in prison to show he was undergoing rehabilitation there and if he were to be released that he would not be a threat to others in society. We have the good and bad with that. Lets start with the bad. He was asked, requested back in 2013 at his last parole hearing, to do something about alcohol because he had been using alcohol the day of the kidnapping and burglary. He says today, i decided not to do that because i dont have a problem with alcohol. I went, this is really bad. Then lets look at the good. He talked about the programs he did do and that the most important one to him, which he felt should be mandatory for all howtes, was a program about you deal with violence. And it was a program about talking things down. And i think that program itself, in addition to taking Vocational Training for Computer Science so he could communicate with his children, but his realization that he needed to do this program, that he would then be able to talk to people and not react. Charlie thank you. Back in a moment. Stay with us. Charlie we begin this evening with part two of a twopart conversation with the foreign minister of iran, dr. Zarif. We talked about many things in terms of those issues that separate the United States from iran, and we have listened to have a foreign minister understands america how the foreign minister understands america. We continue to conversation now. This was before the election 2016. Ive heard people say in five to 10 years, the u. S. Will be closer to run than it is to saudi arabia. Dr. Zarif we are not competing for u. S. Favor. Charlie i know that. I think the geopolitical world is changing. Dr. Zarif i think the United States needs to reevaluate the achievements and failures of the United States in our region. And based on that the the rolet, we will see and place of various countries in the region. We are not competing with saudi arabia. We believe iran and saudi arabia should be a part of a regional dialogue. The newn oped in york times several years ago calling for a regional dialogue. I believe that is what is lacking in our region. We are ready for it. I believe as soon as our saudi neighbors are ready to engage in dialogue, and resolving issues through dialogue, not through pressure because unfortunately this has become a habit of using the United States for pressure on different countries, wrong countries they can or to impose direct pressure. Charlie does this include israel . Dr. Zarif im talking about our immediate neighbors in the persian gulf. In recent years, from the iraqi invasion of iran to the iraqi invasion of kuwait, to u. S. Operations to liberate kuwait from iran, the u. S. Operation against iraq, to al qaeda, to isis, the human to yemen. Lets concentrate. Lets not be too ambitious. Lets concentrate on this region which has been a hotbed of extremism, violence, and war and conflict. And lets deal with this. We are ready to deal with it. We are ready to resolve the problems. We are ready to engage in dialogue. We are ready to engage in confidence building measures. And we believe others should not look for an enemy. There is no need for an enemy. We dont need an enemy. We already have enough enemies. Charlie you dont see the United States as an enemy . Dr. Zarif talking about our immediate neighborhood. The United States can define its relations with iran at this time and for some time, the United States has defined its relations with iran in terms of hostility. This is nothing new. It is not particular to this administration. Unfortunately, the <