Lisa murkowski, dont even mention james comey or acting director Andrew Mccabe. Every one of them has gotten on the wrong side of this president , a man who definitely doesnt forget. And now there are rumblings that even some conservatives are turning against the president. So the question tonight is, is vendetta politics a winning or a losing strategy . Lets discuss now. Cnns chief Political Correspondent is dana bash, White House ReporterKaitlyn Collins and analyst Patrick Healy of the New York Times. Dana, ill start with you. The attacks on attorney general Jeff Sessions today, acting director Andrew Mccabe, also Lisa Murkowski for her no vote on health care. What do you think of these swipes . Is this vendetta politics . I dont know if this was vendett politics, because that would imply there was some good in the politics hes doing, and there just isnt. I think you can put Jeff Sessions in one category and everybody else in another. Lisa murkowski, going after her is not unlike him going after dean heller or anyone else who votes the wrong way. But going after your attorney general the way he has day in and day out, not just a regular attorney general, a guy who was the first to endorse him in the senate when everybody thought that Jeff Sessions was out of his mind. Put his political clout on the line. Put his political clout on the line, gave thenPresident Trump legitimacy with the conservative base which was no small thing for a former democrat of manhattan to be invited to alabama to be introduced to the conservative base with one of their heroes, Jeff Sessions. And not only that, Jeff Sessions was on the plane with the candidate, was very close with him. We saw it day in and day out. And i think from trumps perspective, that is why he feels so upset and so betrayed. They were so close, he doesnt understand why sessions didnt tell him if hes going to be attorney general, hes going to have to recuse himself for all things russia. Right or wrong, that is why the president is so upset and will not stop, despite white house aides trying every single day to get him to put the phone down, stop tweeting, stop talking about it, dont talk to the New York Times about it, enough. Patrick is like, why are you looking at me . The attorney general actually had to do his job and follow the law, which is interesting. What would he do otherwise . On the campaign, he attacked every one of his opponents. It did work. Im wondering if it works in governing because the public likes Jeff Sessions. The president was playing to a very specific base that he was trying to grow, and like dana said he was getting to Jeff Sessions with the hard right. Jeff sessions endorsement in february 2016 only came a couple weeks into the primaries. Donald trump had shown strengths in south carolina, but he still hadnt really proven that he was one of them. And a lot of those voters who loved Jeff Sessions listened to hard right radio. You know, they had sort of heard that message for a long time, and they were still trying to accept donald trump. But thats the thing, right now he still sees a lot of these cabinet secretaries, he sees the people who work for him essentially as people who work for him. They serve him, they dont necessarily serve the constitution, they dont serve chief Law Enforcement officer for the people, not for the president. Its interesting because the president said, oh, he saw my crowd sizes, i had 30, 40,000 people and then he came on board. Sessions didnt need that. This is how he punishes. This is how donald trump punishes people throughout his career. He expects people to deliver a result for him. There probably, in his mind, couldnt have been a bigger result than Jeff Sessions as attorney general somehow shutting down this russia investigation that so galled him as the president and then instead recuses himself. Kaitlyn, i havent forgotten you. Dana, hold on a second here. Real quickly, this is a difference here. Democrats arent necessarily on board with Jeff Sessions, but they do think that Jeff Sessions they are now. Theyre on board. Not with his policies. They want him to be attorney general. But that hes wrong, they dont want him to be treated this way. Thats the sdindistinction, i t. Even though the democrats are saying, mr. President , youre wrong, and we havent sign lot of pushback by this president and havent seen it the way were seeing this pushback because they are the ones who have to confirm a new attorney general, they are the ones saying, no, dont even try to do whats called a recess appointment because were not going to have your back on this. There is an article stating the president is letting Jeff Sessions stay for now. Well see. Why didnt Jeff Sessions replace acting fbi director Andrew Mccabe, who was in charge of the administration but got money for Hillary Clintons political run and her representatives. Drain the swamp. Whats incredible about all of this is Jeff Sessions was at the white house all day today and didnt meet with the president. Thats exactly right, john. He was at the doj for what he said was a routine meeting. Donald trump wasnt at the white house yet. He didnt have anything until 10 30. Its astounding these two men were in the same building, and instead of going and speaking to him directly and airing his frustrations with Jeff Sessions directly, donald trump is choosing to tweet about them. I would like to point out, going fwo back to that tweet that stretches the facts a little bit. Donald trump interviewed Andrew Mccabe to be followup director in may. When he interviewed him, he didnt air these concerns at all about him. He thought he was substantive enough to be the next fbi director. Then the only reason mccabe is in this position is because donald trump fired the fbi director james comey. The money wasnt 770,000. It was 765,000 from the virginia democratic party, which was a common good in virginia, and the latter, it was for attorney general mcauliffe who was a longtime clinton supporter. He wasnt in charge of the fbi when that happened. So his tweet is completely wrong, the information is wrong. Im not defending it, im just going to try to explain to you, is that this mccabe issue has been a very big issue in conservative media, on conservative radio, on web sites, the notion of this guy being in the fbi and his wife being a democratic candidate. It should be based on fact. It should be, but thats a conversation weve had many times. So, dana, talk to me about the recess appointment with Jeff Sessions. Would all break loose if that happened . What are you hearing about that . Ted barrett and i have reporting today, our executive producer, about the fact that the president has been urged by some people around him to consider, as theyre trying to figure out what to do, lets just say Jeff Sessions quits or the president finally gets up the nerve to fire him, whats next . What do you do . Who could you possibly put in there . Who would want to take the job . To have a confirmation process is one thing, particularly if the president wants to try to find somebody who will come in examiand get r bob mueller, or at least shrink the scope of his investigation, which is actually allowed. The reason why bob mueller, the special counsel, has the latitude that he has is because he was afforded that by the Deputy Attorney general. So the idea that is being floated is for the president to find somebody to put in while congress is in recess, and that person by law could stay through the end of the congress. There is one catch, though. Two catches, actually. One is for eight to ten years, the senate hasnt gone into recess for exactly this issue, for this reason, to try to prevent the president from the opposite party from putting somebody in during the recess. And secondly, there is no appetite that we can find among his fellow republicans to take this leap for him. Which would be a pretty big deal, to put somebody in there, especially if it would be somebody who might dismantle the independent probe thats going on about russia. His integrity, i would think, would instanting be questioned by at least half the country, to the degree someone comes in and is willing to accept a recess appointment, it instantly raises questions like, have they taken a loyalty oath, not to the president but as a man. In the United States we dont do loyalty oaths from the oval office, but what kind of person is willing to take that job . Patrick, i want to ask you, Sarah Huckabee sanders was asked about sessions at the white house. He didnt meet with the president , but this is what she said. He wants the attorney general to focus on what the attorney general does. He wants him to lead the department of justice. He wants him to focus on things like immigration, leaks and a number of other issues, and i think thats what his focus is at this point. If he is so frustrated and so disappointed in him, why doesnt he just ask him to resign or fire him, why does he continue to tweet about him instead . You can still be disappointed in someone but still want them to continue to do their job. Jeff, im very disappointed in you, but guess what, i still want you to come on the show. Ill be here tomorrow night. We heard a lot from Sarah Huckabee sanders there that we have not read in President Trumps tweets. Issues like immigration that donald trump and Jeff Sessions had common cause on a year ago, supposedly they still do. A border wall, going after sanctuary cities, ultimately new policy on undocumented immigrants. But youre not hearing that. Youre hearing hes weak, youre hearing, you know, whats our beleagured attorney general. These adjectives, Sarah Huckabee sanders can say what she wants from the podium, but we all know Donald Trumps tweets are the most authentic expression of what the president believes and feels. I was going to say, i think what she said today is the most authentic expression of what his entire white house staff wants him to know. Its very interesting, because in this alternative reality that were living in, the president says what he wants. He contradicts the people who are up there. Hell say what he wants on twitter, and then shell get up there and say, he still has confidence that he can still do the job. Its bizarre because he says what he wants and then they try to fix it, but does it matter . Does it even matter . Thats a great question. They also complained that reporters dont talk enough about policy in these briefings they couldnt answer policy questions today. They justified taking him off camera because they said reporters just want to be youtube stars. But when sarah was pressed on policy questions, on major policy the question laid out in tweets this morning, Sarah Sanders became irritated, and the president did not think through the specifics of this policy change, and she was annoyed with reporters and threatened to stop the briefing if there were more questions on this policy change. The white house often says the president is his own best messenger and that twitter is the way for him to reach out to his base without going to the media. But when the president tweets like he did this morning, he doesnt have to take questions from reporters, he doesnt have to clarify and he doesnt have to take specifics like our Service Members who are overseas right now and are the transgender going to be sent home today . They couldnt answer the question. Whats really behind the scenes . Whats really behind the attacks on Jeff Sessions . Can he win the war against his own attorney general . Orrow brin. Because moms love is unconditional. Even at 6am. Natures bounty melatonin. Were all better off healthy. Natures bounty knows healthy cholesterol starts in your gut. So we made cardiohealth, an innovative way to support healthy cholesterol, containing lrc, a probiotic strain that helps you metabolize dietary cholesterol. Because we all want to be healthy for whatever comes next. Natures bounty cardiohealth. Wise man, im nervous about affecting my good credit score. I see youve planted an uncertainty tree. Chop that thing down. The clarity you seek. Lies within the creditwise app from capital one. Creditwise helps you protect your credit. And its completely free for everyone. Its free for everyone . Do hawks use the stars to navigate . I dont know. Aw, i thought you did. I dont know either. Either way its free for everyone. Cool. Whats in your wallet . Chances are, the last time yoyou got robbed. An, i know i got a loan 20 years ago, and i got robbed. Thats why i started lendingtree the only place you can compare up to 5 real offers side by side, for free. Its like shopping for hotels online, but our average customer can save twenty thousand dollars. At lendingtree, you know youre getting the best deal. So take the power back and come to lendingtree. Com, because at lendingtree when banks compete, you win. Jeff sessions at the white house today but not for a meeting with the president who was busy lobbying another attack against his attorney general. Cnn legal commentator matthew whitaker, investigative editor, and a special prosecutor michael zellan. Mr. Whitaker, im going to start with you. By all appearances, it looks like the president is trying to force attorney general Jeff Sessions out of his job. Sessions made it clear that hes not going anywhere unless hes fired. What do you think the president is trying to accomplish with his repeated attacks on the attorney general . Its clear the president is trying to put enough pressure on Jeff Sessions so jeff does what the president , i believe, would think would be honorable and that is resign. I dont think Jeff Sessions, who is currently in his dream job as attorney general, is going to do that. Really, i think what ultimately the president is going to start doing is putting pressure on rod rosenstein, who is in charge of this investigation, is acting attorney general, and really try to get rod to maybe even cut the budget of bob mueller and do something a little more stagecrafty than the blunt instrument of firing the attorney general and trying to replace him. Michael, many people say if the president were to get rid of sessions, that would be a step toward getting rid of special Counsel Robert Mueller as well. Do you think thats the end game here for him . Well, its clear that the president is very upset with the Mueller Investigation and that he seems unable to go forward with what is probably sage Legal Counsel which is to let mueller investigate and exonerate him. He just cant get over that. So he keeps doing these things in an effort to undermine the Mueller Investigation, which i think is only empowering mueller and giving him more support on the hill. Legally speaking, rosenstein has some authority over the Mueller Investigation, but its not daytoday supervision. He cant control this investigation in that way. The code of federal regulations that govern this make that explicitly clear. He has given mueller a mandate. Its not the broadest mandate. It says the relationship between russia and the campaign and matters that arise out of it, which is what i think any u. S. Attorney or United States attorney would believe to be a prudent mandate. So i just dont understand from a legal standpoint what the president s end objective is because its not accomplishable. Thats why we have laura coates here. Where are you going with this, don . Do you want to answer that question for us . Walk us through exactly what would happen and who would take charge if President Trump himself was able to replace sessions. Lets play this out fully and thats why you know its quite nonsen nonsensical what the president of the United States is trying to do. If he fires Jeff Sessions, he will be replaced by next in line, who is rod rosenstein, who already sees bob mueller as the chief of the investigative probe. He can only be fired for due cause, and those due cause concerns are enumerated, and frankly, although the Deputy Attorney general, rod rosenstein, could try to overrule a decision mueller makes, he has to ask congress for permission to do so and justify in front of them. And if bob mueller is fired for any reason, and its not for due cause, congress could have a full hearing to figure out whether or not there was a substantial basis to do so. So the president s kneejerk reaction, i think vitriol he is spewing toward Jeff Sessions, really doesnt work in the grand scheme of things. Trying to replace him would need to have somebody willing, ready and able to replace Jeff Sessions. Frankly, i think the chances are narrowing as days go on if people who are so loyal to trump cant get any respect more than rodney dangerfield, why