Cohen, flynn, Paul Manafort, have revealed they were in contact with administration and Campaign Members the whole way in each of what they did to breck the law. We have a man who knows white house politics from the inside and he has s here to make the case that sent his New York Times oped speeding around the internet. Then we have another stunner tonight. A russian spy has flipped. What does she know about russias efforts to hurt america . And why did the president call on her, maria butina, at one of his Campaign Events . Well lay out what we know and get deep interthat. And anyone want to be chief of staff . The president is supposedly on fire once again because pences chief of staff nick ayers passed on the job. The latest on the new list to replace general john kelly but the real story is how many want to avoid that job and why. Its monday, lets get after it. You cant keep up with the news, its impossible to plan this show. A few minutes ago a letter likes of which i have never seen before came out from 44 former senators, 32 democrats, 10 republicans, two inspects. Im going to read you this letter in full. Its not the biggest headline of the day but it reflects on what were going to deal with now and i think you should hear in the full, ill read it to you, well have people discuss it but i want you to process it for yourself. Now they are reaching out because of what we saw in the Mueller Probe and whey they anticipate coming ahead which obviously our president is doing tonight as well. Redactions are a clue, it means theres more, a continuation but also we read between those lines and we see that the president s knowledge, that people around him knowing what about those who were breaking the law were doing, will be a big deal and it certainly is for democrats. His stress level is rising, so is theirs, to be frank with you. They have a big calculation to make. Were hearing from a source close to the president that he is expressing concern about impeachment after the new congress is sworn in next month and we know that the democrats are wrestling with how much oversight to do early on. Big developments. We have a former white House Counsel bob bauer, hes here to break this down. Bob, thank you for being here. I read your New York Times oped, i had known who you were and followed you in the past and that was going to be the show tonig tonight. Little did we know there would be so much context to have this conversation so the headline of the president being worried, do you believe he has good worry or better reason than hes had up to now to worry the democrats could make a move on him . He has a continuing worry and i think a mounting worry and i want to say its a worry that wouldnt be grounded, i dont think, rationally in the democrats doing whatever is politically expedient. Its because his behavior is bringing him squarely within the law and precedents that would in effect point in the direction of a impeachment inquiry. Make the case. Im going to test the case. Obstruction of justice is obviously where you put your cross hairs in your oped. Its not a topic we discuss much beyond his actions about flynn and comey. Make your case point by point. Whats the first big point of why this is a legitimate case for the department of justice to look at on behalf of the president . Lets take for example the sentencing memo filed in the cohen case. There we find out Michael Cohen circulated within the white house its not identified with whom, the testimony he was preparing to give to congress. That testimony included statements he was going to make about the hotel project. When negotiations when the russians took place and when they ended and he was eager to show to state that those negotiations ended before the active face of the Republican Primary Campaign in 2016. That was not true. That was part of his written statement. Prosecutors say this was premeditated testimony, it was circulated within the white house. Its inconceivable that white house staff, knowing what the president s personal lawyer was going to say about one of his business deals didnt let him know so the president it seems without abextraordina without an extraordinary explanation to the contrary, that Michael Cohen was going to go to the congress and lie. Respect for you picking up on what few did in the sentencing memo. It was the last point they made that cohen had been helpful on which was describing the circumstances around which he gave the congressional testimony. Many people looked over it because it wasnt splashy. You seize on it and i understand why. However, here would be the counter. Prove i knew if im the president. Cant prove it, you cant talk to my lawyers, you talked to dowd, dowds lawyers says he didnt expose me to criminality so he must not have said what youre saying right now otherwise theyd be lying lefts assume dowds lawyer is acting in good faith so you cant show that i knew. Even if i did know, thats not a crime and its not obstruction of justice for me to know about whats going on. You have to show i engineered the same. Well, let me begin by saying we always assume weve had the last word from mr. Mueller and his team and the team in the Southern District always surprise us so theres still facts to emerge about who received the testimony and who within the white house was in receipt of information about mr. Cohens tension to lie. But now lets take this to constitutional precedence. When Richard Nixon was impeached, he was impeached for lying publicly about the investigation into watergate and whether one occurred. He was impeached for lying about the activities of his campaign to try to win the election in 1972, his reelection in 1972. Now if donald trump knew Michael Cohen was about to lie on a business deal he was directly involved in, in fact, mr. Cohen was operating on behalf of mr. Trump in negotiating that deal and he took no action to stop him from lying, then it seems hes implicated in what is clearly an impeachable offense. Whether in fact all the facts taken together rise to the level of an action for which the president would be impeached and for which the president would convict him remains to be seen but on the face of it we have it, i would add one more point. The president knew Michael Cohen was going to lie because Michael Cohen pub prlicly previewed his testimony before he gave it and he was clear the business negotiation ended before the primaries and he knew that was not true. He said the reason he did tell that lie was to spare the president public embarrassment and to spare the president having to account for a lie the president told himself during the campaign. And to do something which sounded clumsy at the time which was well, i was reading the reports, i was still close and in contact, said Michael Cohen, and i was trying to coordinate my story so as to not mess up with the narrative coming out of the white house. That was suggestive of something, he had more than a gut of watch mig show and reading the papers. Ing my show reading the papers. Then you have flynn and the 18 days of when the others were told and acted on it and the president never exposed his criminality as a reason for getting rid of him and you have Paul Manafort lying about having been in contact with Administration Campaign officials about what he was doing and that makes you think who knew what and when. Fair point, i dont want to waste your mind on that when we have more facts. Many maria butina, the russian spy. Its rare for a russian spy to turn. I dont know how to read the sbreg here. Do you believe the information shes now cooperating with to help herself against her boyfriend is about just her own efforts or do you think theres a chance this russian invasion doing could have some type of nexus with whats going on in the larger probe . It seems like it would have that nexus. I think what this case demonstrates is the different way but mueller isnt doing the investigating. That is correct and what way it winds up feeding into the Mueller Investigation or a house proceeding is still not known. What it does demonstrate, however, is the wide range of russian efforts to influece the outcome of the election and Public Policy and what is striking about this episode taken together with the others is no matter how much evidence mounts about the contacts russians were having with the campaign, with policy makers, the unprecedented cyber intervention that they made into the campaign, the president has consistently told the public in tweet after tweet, Public Statement after Public Statement nothing like that happened and that he was more inclined to believe the president of russia than he was his intelligence services. Counselor, lets let people be reminded by what the president said. I want to continue the politics of sanctions that are damaging of both economy or you have any other ideas . I believe i would get along very nicely with putin, okay . And i mean where we have the strength, i dont think you need sanctions. I think we would get along very, very well. I really believe that. I didnt set that up right. That was an instructive sound because that was the thincandidate now president obviously answering a question and calling on maria butina the russian spy in 2015, she asked a question about sanctions. Now so people understand why this is curious, who the hel slrl is butina and why did he call on her . She infiltrated through conservative groups in the nra. Thats how she found this boyfriend. Hes a political consultant. Why is she asking about sanctions . Sanctions has been relevant with flynn and the ougs russian plant they put in the meeting with the president s son and Paul Manafort and his soninlaw and others in trump tower. Thats the part that makes it more curious. And i wouldnt rule out also the business that the kremlin delegation brought to trump tower in june of 2016, they were also eager to talk about that policy so this was a concerted effort from a number of directions, some of it involved the campaign, some involved the republican influence industry but as far as we know unprecedented and i dont think its fair to assume weve heard the last fact. And as mueller puts more meat on the bones, thats only one course of the male because if this is going to proceed about a political accountability context, then youll get to the oversight hearings and the frustration for the American People will be the redundancy, its just going to pour into a new process of political accountability thats why people with your experience and mind is so valuable. Counselor, please come back and lets test what it could and could not mean. Thank you, bob bauer. Thank you. In the midst of this, the president is concerned, democrats are try fog figure out what to do, mueller keeps putting more fuel for the fires of anticipation about who knew what and when and try did they keep lying about russia. Why do we have 16 associates of this president having had contact with russian difference players before and during and after the election . Why do they lie . In the midst of this comes the letter the likes of which ive never seen. 44 former senators, republican, democrat, independent, to their colleagues in the senate laying out concerns that are chilling and i dont like that tv word but it applies here. I want to read it to you in full and well process what it means next. Youre made of trillions of cells. They Work Together doing important stuff. The hitch . Like you, your cells get hungry. Feed them. With centrum® micronutrients. Restoring your awesome. Daily. Feed your cells with centrum® micronutrients today. From capital one. Nd i switched to the spark cash card feed your cells with i earn unlimited 2 cash back on everything i buy. And last year, i earned 36,000 in cash back. Which i used to offer Health Insurance to my employees. Whats in your wallet . This is big tmobile is offering the awesome iphone xr, with an unlimited plan, for just 40 bucks a month. Unlimited. With the new iphone xr . yeah iphone xr included. For 40 bucks . that is big. All right. So this letter that im about to read you just came out at 8 30 p. M. The Washington Post published it. Its from 44 former u. S. Senators, mostly democrats, i think 32, but 10 republicans, two independents. And theyre all together with one voice warning the Current Senate of what they are about to confront as the Mueller Investigation draws to a close. Here it is in its entirety. Dear senate colleagues, as former members of the u. S. Senate, democrats and republicans, its our shared view that were entering a dangerous period and we feel an obligation to speak up about serious challenges to the rule of law, the constitution, our governing institutions, and our National Security. We are on the eve of the conclusion of special counsel robert s. Mueller iiis investigation and the houses commencement of investigations of the president and his administration. Remember that line. The likely convergence of these two events will occur at a time when simmering regional conflicts and global power confrontations continue to threaten our security, economy, and geopolitical stability. Its a time, like other critical junctures in our history, when our nation must engage at every level with strategic precision and the hand of both the president and the senate. We are at an Inflection Point in which the foundational principles of our democracy and our National Security interests are at stake. And the rule of law and the ability of our institutions to function freely and independently must be upheld. During our service in the senate, at times we were allies, at other times opponents but never enemies. We all took an oath swearing allegiance to the constitution. Whatever united or divided us, we did not veer from our unwaivering and shared commitment to placing our country democracy and National Interest above all else. All other critical moments in our history when constitutional crises have threatened our foundations it has been the senate that has has stood in defense of our democracy. Today is once again such a time. Regardless of party affiliation, ideological leanings or geography, as former members of this body we urge current and future senators to be steadfast and zealous guardians of our democracy by ensuring partisanship or selfinterest not replace National Interest. And if you look at the names that sign this, youll see a lot of names that have loomed large in our nations history. I have never seen a letter like this and we have never had a time like this. What will these words mean to the men and women working in the senate right now . Were going to take this up in our great debate ahead. My true love gave to me five golden. Six golden rings. Seven golden rings take your razor, yup. Up and down, never side to side, shaquem, you got it . Come on stay focused. Hard work baby, it gonna pay off. Who doesni do. Ve a deal . Check out the united explorer card. Savin on this savin on this savin in here. Rewarded learn more at the explorer card dot com. Theres no place likargh e im trying. Yippiekiyay. Mom. 44 former senators signed a letter tonight saying that our country is in a constitutional crisis and that the senate must stand in defense of democracy. It was a wakeup call, theres no other way to read it. It was people from the past grabbing by the collar those in the job currently and saying, hey, wake up, dont just sit on the sidelines and watch things happen, you were elected to lead and the time is now. A source close to the president tells cnn trump thinks impeachment is, quote, a real possibility. Hes right. Now he feels confident about his chances in the senate because, remember, impeachment in the house, removal in the senate and you need twothirds and would you have enough republicans even come close to approaching 67 votes. . What would it take to get that kind of consensus and thats a word that even nancy pelosi, the big bad waolf of the left when asked about impeachment by me she said slow down, we dont know what the American People want, lets see what the facts are. It would have to be because it was an echo of their desire. Lets debate. Jennifer granholm and rick santorum. Rick an especially valued guest as a former u. S. Senator. You were not asked to sign on to this letter but would you have . No. But i think it tells you something that i wasnt asked to sign on to this letter. If you look at the 10 republicans who signed on the letter, all very good people, friends of mine but they are not i would say conservative republicans or supporters of the president so thats number one. Number two, the fact that they didnt reach out beyond a group of folks who are antitrump gives you more perspective on this. And the other thing what does this letter say . It looks like a letter that maybe was put together or the idea was put together to call on the senate to go after trump or the do something but it looks like a letter written by committee. They couldnt come up with anything other than stand for god and country but it says nothing so i dont know really what this is about. Is it a missive to say this is a wink and a nod vote for impeachment when there isnt i think any realistic possibility that that will occur in the next two years . I have no idea what the letter is all about. I tell you what, you tell al lam simpson hes not a conservative, you better say it with your hands up. I voted against alan simpson in favorite of trent lott because i didnt think he was a conservative. So yeah ill say it to his face and he said similar things to mine. If he doesnt think youre a conservative you have to check your definitions. On other issues. I didnt take it the way the senator the former senator does i took it as this matters youll be called on, you should be ready. I didnt take it as an impetus letter. I read the letter in full because