Book. The gloves are off. Also, pardon me . A judge says former Campaign ChairmanPaul Manafort lied to robert mueller. Is he playing for a pardon . Well dig into that. And 2020. Trump zeros in. A new report looking at who President Trump fears most as a possible 2020 democratic opponent. Well get to those stories in just a moment. But we start with that Andrew Mccabe memoir. President trump lashing out just a short time ago at the acting fbi director who was fired, quote, disgraced fbi acting director Andrew Mccabe pretends to be a poor little angel when in fact he was a big part of the crooked hillary scandal and the russia hoax. A puppet for leaking james comey. An insurance policy in case i won. Mccabes tellall released next week, 60 minutes released an excerpt from the first interview with Andrew Mccabe, detailing the tumultuous weeks of the trump investigation and there was a question whether that investigation would survive President Trump and his mafialike attempts to safeguard his presidency. I wanted to make sure our case was on solid ground and if somebody came in behind me and closed it and tried to walk away from it, they would not be able to do that without creating a record of why they made that decision. The books title tells you everything you need to know about mccabes opinion of donald trump. The threat how the fbi protects america in the age of terror and trump. One exempt published this morning mccabe compares the president to a mobster, just as his former boss did, james comey. The president and his men were trying to work me the way a criminal brigade would operate. He also writes, every day brings a new low, with the president exposing himself as a deliberate liar who will say whatever he pleases to get whatever he wants. If he were on the box, thats another name for a lie detector machine, at quantico, he would break the machine. Im joined by Pete Williams, nbcs justice correspondent, glenn, msnbc legal analyst, former federal prosecutor, jake sherman with politico is with me and so is clint watts, Msnbc National Security analyst and a former fbi agent. Pete, ill start with you. The Justice Department has apparently responded to what mccabe has reportedly said. Whats doj saying . Well, first i have to i have to explain what theyre responding to before i tell you what the response is. Theres we have not seen the excerpts from the book about this. We have heard cds describe what mccabe says. According to that, mccabe repeats something that had been earlier reported, namely mccabe had a meeting with Rod Rosenstein and according to mccain, rosenstein suggested someone from the fbi should wear a recording device, a wire, when theyre around the president to secretly record the president and that mccabe also or, rather, that rosenstein also suggested invoking the 25th amendment which lays out a process for removing a president while in office. The Justice Department pushes back against that saying this, the Deputy Attorney general never authorized any recording that mr. Mccabe references. And as the deputy has previously said, based on his personal dealings with the president , there was no basis to invoke the 25th amendment nor was the d. A. G. , Deputy Attorney general, in the position to consider invoking the 25th amendment. Let me show you what mccabe says. According to the excerpts that were in the atlantic, mccabe says that he and rosenstein talked together about whether a special counsel should be appointed. Heres what the Justice Departments statement says about that. The Deputy Attorney general never spoke to mr. Comey about appointing a special counsel. The Deputy Attorney general, in fact, appointed special counsel mueller and directed that mr. Mccabe be removed from any participation in that the russia investigation. Now, that last thing, we believe this is the first time that thats ever been said. Theres always been a question whether when mueller took over the investigation, whether that effectively took mccabe out of the role of supervising the investigation. Thats always been our assumption. But heres the Justice Department saying on the record that, in fact, mccabe was removed from any participation in the russia investigation when mueller was appointed. Pete, lets go back here for a moment to this this comment about being on the box. If the president were on the box at quantico, he would break the machine. What do we make of that . Well, as you said, when hes saying on the box, hes talking about a lie detector. This is a consistent theme from the excerpts weve seen where he says the president doesnt tell the truth. Clint mccabe fired for what the Justice Department calls a lack of candor, lying, basically, on four separate occasions. Three of those occasions under oath. Do you consider Andrew Mccabe trustworthy . I do. I think in terms of the circumstances and the way we see essentially every person that might challenge the administration, in public, through tweets, through firings, going after anyone tied to the investigation, i believe mccabes account from the details that i know right now. What i do find interesting is the debates between rosenstein it sounds like between rosenstein and mccabe about what to do next. I cant trust people inside this building. Rosenstein ive always felt just from the outside he must have gotten set up to be the fall guy for the comey firing. How do you negotiate through this. There were other remarkable points in this. The president calling Andrew Mccabe on an unsecure phone. I mean, this, to me, you know, from counterintelligence perspective is like alarm bells. How many phone calls has the president made on unsecured lines that could have been intercepted from abroad . As far as the deliberations, i wonder about the 25th amendment discussion has been popping up and down. Based on the rules, it doesnt seem like thats a likely way to go to remove the president , but what is it that keeps prompting them to think they need to go to maybe someone should wear a wire . Maybe the 25th amendment should be invoked. We need a special counsel. Is there something so serious that we just dont know about here in the public that created such alarm between these gentlemen that when they find ways to move forward they went to extreme measures. Mccabe goes on the record for the first time talking about whether rosenstein was joking when he suggested wearing a wire. This is how scott pelley at cbs, this is how scott characterizes mccabes comments. It was also said at a previous time that the Deputy Attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, offered to wear a wire into the white house to record potentially incriminating conversations with the president. A statement was released after that that was never serious. It was sarcastic, et cetera. Mccabe in our interview says, no, it came up more than once and it was so serious that he took it to the lawyers at the fbi to discuss it. Sources have previously told nbc news that rosenstein was joking when he mentioned wearing a wire. Whom do you believe, glenn . Well, i believe Pete Williams reporting because what he just did is he told us what the president of justice official party line is in that press release. What did they say . They said Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein never authorized anyone to wear a recording device. What can we infer from that . That it was a topic that was debated probably long, hard and seriously, but it was never authorized. I think thats actually an important tell in the way the department of justice chose to word that president release. And, you know, the president has been shown over and over again to be prone to lying, so i was one of the people who wasnt at all surprised when we first began to learn that Rod Rosenstein and others in the department and the bureau were debating whether they should wear a wire to protect themselves when they were in Oneonone Communications with the president because we know that the president s lawyers, the way they characterized the president s conversation with comey, sometimes they say the president told comey to lay off flynn, sometimes they say the president didnt tell comey to lay off flynn. Why wouldnt somebody want to protect themselves under those circumstances if they were going into a conversation with the president . Clint, what do mccabes comments mean for an obstruction of justice inquiry . Yeah. Its fascinating. Mccabe, i think that doj statement that mccabe was essentially removed from the investigation points to the obstruction of justice angle, because they want him hes essentially a witness in the obstruction of justice case. Theyre trying to move him out of that and they basically confirmed that, as pete said. Im fascinated by what the incoming attorney general will do when he sees all of this evidence put forward. Weve seen the attorney general incoming attorney general barr essentially say this isnt authorized, you cant have obstruction of justice. The president can do what he wants. But hes not seeing any of the evidence that has come forward to this case. What you see here is a consistent pattern from the president , whether its comey, mccabe, struck, paige, anyone that could be a challenge being either targeted or removed from that investigation or pursued in some way. Im fascinating by how this sort of plays out on obstruction of justice. The collusion angle, which we saw with manafort yesterday is playing out, but weve heard very little in terms of how this will go. I think it will be decided between special counsel mueller and the new incoming attorney general. Jake, one of the one of the items from the exsempt hacet continues to get a fair amount of attention, mccabes comments on justice officials talking about the 25th amendment, basically a way to remove President Trump. Again, this is how scott pelley who interviewed mccabe, this is how he characterized those comments. There were meetings at the Justice Department in which it was discussed whether the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th amendment. There was a discussion under way about removing the president of the United States. They were counting noses. They were not asking cabinet members whether they would vote for or against removing the president , but they were speculating this person would be with us, that person would not be and they were counting noses in that effort. Thats wild, jake sherman. What are trumps defenders on the hill likely to do with that kind of information . Well, first of all, its, of course, noteworthy that senior Justice Department officials were discussing removing the president. Theres no doubt about that. It is a bit of fan fiction, though. I mean, there is virtually no chance that a majority of the president s cabinet would vote would be in favor of removing him from office under the current circumstances. So, yes, newsworthy. No, not realistic. Number two, two things are going to happen i think in the coming days and weeks. I think youll have republicans like Lindsey Graham who just came out and said, i might call mccabe in front of the Judiciary Committee and theres almost no doubt in my mind and John Dingells funeral is ongoing in washington so things are paused at the moment. Theres no doubt in my mind, democrats will call him in front of committees, get him under oath, on television. Youll see republicans on the senate side try to discredit in many ways mccabe and ask him about various complaints the Trump Administration has about him. In my estimation, that will be what happened. On this side, the house side of chamber where democrats are in control, theres almost no doubt theyll drag him in front under oath and talk about all of these things. Why did you think the president was unfit for office . Talk about the russia investigation. Why did you feel it was necessary to have a paper trail . Again, this is just part of the drum beat that happens when the democrats since the democrats have taken the majority will be wiretowire up until the 2020 election, investigations, hearings, under oath on Live Television and thats the dynamic in washington that the president will have to contend with. By the way, once the shutdown is more or the government funding fight is over, theres more oxygen for things like that. So, thats the reality that the the political reality and the legislative reality the president will have to contend with. And the released excerpts, glenn, mccabe also talks about the president s attacks on his wife. Again, according to the excerpts of the memoir released, quote, the president brought up the subject of my wife. Jill had run unsuccessfully for the Virginia State senate back in 2015. He said, President Trump, hows your wife . I said, shes fine. He said, yeah, that must have been really tough. To lose. To be a loser. Mccabe said that he took notes that very day so that he could have an accurate record of the conversations he had with the president. Why would someone like Andrew Mccabe do that, glenn . To try to preserve in real time as best he could precisely what was said by the president because we have all seen it in his tweets and public statements. There seems to be no level to which this president will not stoop. When you start to make comments like that, you know, at best theyre smart alecy, at worst they begin to smell like the things that organized crime coconspirators say, thats a lovely wife you have there. It would be a shame if something happened to her. I dont know how we have endured this for so long and it doesnt surprise me at all that thoughtful, career, department of justice and fbi officials were debating how they deal with somebody who may be a compromised president and the 25th amendment came up. That doesnt surprise me at all. Given what weve come to learn. Glenn, thank you. Jake, thank you on the hill. And clint, thank you. Andrew mccabe will, on the today show Tuesday Morning to talk about that book. Right now we want to take you to a solemn event. Jake just mentioned it. This is the Memorial Service for former congressman john dingell in washington, d. C. Ist happening right now. Theres democratic leader steny hoyer speaking. Some of the biggest names ever to serve in politics are there. Bill clinton is there, hillary clinton, john boehner also there at that service, current congressional leaders. Icon, congressman john lewis in attendance, a few minutes ago lewis called the famously tall dingell a giant of congress and lauded him for his support of the 1964 civil rights bill. John did not run from his decision or try to explain away his vote. He stood on the courage of his conviction and won that primary by 5,000 votes. People respect him when you stand up for what you believe. John dingell holds the record as the longest serving congressman. He took office in 1955 when Dwight Eisenhower was president. He represented michigan until 2015. He spent 59 years in the lower chamber. Pardon me, a judge just delivering a big win for Robert Muellers team in its case against Paul Manafort. But could he have a pardon on his mind rather than a win in court . Well look at that. Plus, trump zeroing in. How the Trump Campaign plans to take on three democrats it sees as the top contenders in the 2020 primary. And power play . A new report that details accusations of emotional and psychological abuse from a big wig in the music industry. Singer songwriter ryan adams. Singer songwriter ryan adams health and fitness is a big part of my life. For 14 years, i played professional football and i thought my health was perfect. Then i had a screening and doctors discovered i had a serious medical issue. Unfortunately, it was the end of my football career, but if i hadnt been tested it could have been the end of my life. I believe in preventive testing, it saved me. Many Health Issues like mine have little or no symptoms. Life line screening goes beyond your anual checkup to tell you what your body isnt. Call and schedule an appointment. Call right now and save over 50 . Just 149 for 5 painless screenings including an ultrasound test that actually looks inside your arteries for plaque that builds up as you age, increasing your risk for stroke and heart disease. After all, 4 out of 5 people that have a stroke, have no symptoms. If youre over 40, take control of your health today and call life line screening. Life line screening. The power of prevention. Call to learn more. The power of prevention. [ ding ] show me just add magic. Hey toothless. [ ding ] [ gurgling ] [ ding ] show me cartoons on netflix. [ ding ] [ cooing ] [ door closes ] [ cooing ] [ ding ] show me fish on youtube. Say it and see it with the x1voice remote. From netflix, prime video,youtube and even movie tickets. Just say get dragon tickets. To jail for a very, very long time. The ranking democrat on the Senate Intelligent Committee talked about manafort bad day in court wednesday. They say manaforts lies about connections with russia are no