Transcripts For MSNBCW The 11th Hour With Brian Williams 201

Force one while on his way to florida. Times reporting is 12 work of Michael Schmidt and maggie hagerman. President trump told the white House Counsel in the explaining he wanted the Justice Department to investigate Hillary Clinton and james comey. The lawyer sewed while he could request an investigation, that, too, could prompt accusations of abuse of power. Mr. Mcgahn had white house lawyers write a memo for mr. Trump warning that if he asked Law Enforcement to investigate his rivals, he could face a range of consequences, including possible impeachment. Both the times and cnn report that trump replayedly pressed officials at the Justice Department including Matt Whitaker when he was chief of staff to Jeff Sessions about the status of clinton investigation es. Wh we go back to the second president ial debate in st. Louis. I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. Its awfully good that someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law in our country. Because youd be in jail. So there was that exchange. Former fbi director comey testified to congress about his conversations with trump after trump fired him. Its my judgment that i was fired because of the russia investigation. I was fired in some way to change or the endeavor was to change the way the russia investigation was being conducted. Both comey and don mcgahn who left the white House Counsel job are witnesses in the mueller investigation. While the white house declined to comment, mcgahns lawyer said he would not comment on his legal vice to the president. Like any client, the president is entitled to confidentiality. Mr. Mcgahn points out that the president never to his knowledge ordered that anyone prosecute Hillary Clinton or james comey. The times piece gives clues give stat status. He also repeatedly expressed disappointment in the fbi director. Also tonight, a new development in the mueller investigation. After months of negotiations, we can now report trumps legal team says it has submitted his written answers to the special counsels questions. All of it brings us to our leadoff panel on tuesday night including one of the reporters who broke the news. Phillip rutger, White House Bureau chief for the washington polls. Jeremy bash, former chief of staff at cia and the pentagon and joyce vance who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor. Welcome back to our program. I begin you, mike. Is it notable that the time line on your story this spring suggestion by the president puts us so deep into the trump administration, another way of saying, so deep into the russia investigation. Or so deep into the obstruction of justice investigation. The president , despite the fact that they were looking at his interactions with the justice kept, with the fbi, how he gave tried to impede the russia investigation was undeterred and wanted to talk to mcghan about this and wanted to figure out how he could put pressure on hilly and comey and use the Justice Department to do that. Its a remarkable thing or any president to do but especially one whos been looked another for obstruction of justice, especially one where all his aides are going in to bheet bob mueller about why he did what he did in twechbts, why he tried to fire the attorney general, why he was trying to put a loyalist in front of the russia investigation. When trump came to washington he was not going to change who he was. He was knots going to adapt to the sensibilities of washington, and this is sort of a product of it. Mcgahn says no, rebuffs the president. The president obviously still seething. Who is there to do the rebuffing now . Its sort of a point that we make in the story. He has an acting attorney general whos clearly a loyalist to him, someone that folks at the on of the Justice Department says doesnt deserve to be the attorney general, someone who wouldnt be confirmed but someone that the president feels comfortable with and feels will be loyal to. Mcgahn is no longer there. Hes been criticized but he was a guardrail and stopped the president from doing a lot of unethical or illegal things. Hes a witness in the special counsels investigation. He has given up an enormous amount on what the president was doing behind the scenes. Theyre gone. Theyre not there anymore. Sessions is not the attorney general. Mcgahn is not the white House Counsel. The president has lost some of these guardrails adds time goes on. Perhaps hes more isolated or perhaps hes more on his own. Joyce, what happens when there isnt a mcgahn to stop this sort of thing . I think thats exactly the right question. It could mean if the president continues down this path that he ends mines the rule of law. The most i think really shocking phrase in mikes story is when he talks about the president saying that he wanted to order the Justice Department to convene this investigation. Not investigation but prosecution. The president thought it was ok for him to say i want you to lock up my political opponents and this witness against me. A president who would do that would have so little insight in it and that he would place himself in that position is appalling. An acting attorney general has said hes 3r50e7d to the mueller file having been gotten months ago and its buried in the case file but well known in his office. If youre mueller reading about this. If youre mueller reading the New York Times story, you read it as evidence of what . You read it potentially as evidence of obstruction. Look, i assume that mueller has known about this for months, if not longer, that he knows far more about this situation than we do and that hes already assessed it. It could be evidence that the president just really fundamentally lacks an understanding of our legal system. It could also be something a little more nefarious. Its possible that depending on what evidence mueller has, it could be evidence that the president was trying to obstruct or intimidate witnessings, in this case, jim comey, says pockets. That full range of i suspect thats why don mcgahn wanted to put it in writing. You could be committing a federal crime or could be impeding the process in a way that could lead to your impeachment. In what light does this is put mr. Whitaker . He has to be a check against the president but he was put in there to not be a check. Really, the only checks left in our government are those in congress. Just to think, the president is redefining the american presidency before our eyes or hes avenue to. Hes avenue to redefine american democracy. In our system, in our madisonian system, the only ones who can stop the president are the jishy and the congress. Phil rutger, what drives the obsession in the president s head with comey and to a greater extent Hillary Clinton at long last he won. He beat Hillary Clinton. He fired jim comey. To speak to Hillary Clinton for a moment, he not only views her as his permanent enemy, political adversary, opponent but hes resentful that theres this investigation going on, the probe into the washington investigation, hes resentful that hes under the microscope and hillarys not. Shes not in power. She was not elected president. He defeated her. Shes a private citizen right now. So theyre just in very different circumstances. I think speaking to his concerns about Hillary Clinton and jim comey h and his obsession with it is this great detail in the times story that it apparently wasnt enough for don mcgahn or others to tell him that was an abuse of power. They had to write a memo explaining why it could be potentially cause for impeachment and that shows how serious the president took this desire to prosecute them. Id like to read you sally yates quote today on social media. In a single day, president of the United States turns a blind eye to the barbaric murder of journalist and we learn that hi tried to order doj to go after his political adversaries. Is there no depth to which he will not sink . We cant let him drag america down with him. Do you concur . What have we learned just today . Sally yates is a career prosecutor. She began her career under a republican administration. This is a bipartisan view that we hear time and time again from professionals, career Law Enforcement, intelligence, and military professionals, that the president is abusing his authority as commandser in chief. Abusing his authority under the constitution. To ignore intelligence assessments. To order the military to the border in a blatantly political way before an election and now to avoid political prosecution of his political adversaries. Weve never seen anything like it throughout history. There have been multiple occasions to reset today and think to ourselves, ok, thats not normal, thats not normal, thats not normal. The president heads off to maralago where the usual checks on his well, sometimes there are checks on his behavior and utterances at the white house. All bets have traditionally been off down in florida. What could go wrong. A lot. This was a pretty busy tuesday. Just a number of controversies, one hour after the next. Whether the president goats maralago eats a different environment. Hes surrounded by his friends, loyalists who are not in the government. His golf buddies. His friends in palm beach who come and have males with him. He has a sense of sort of a distorted view of whats right, whats wrong, whats popular, whats not, based on his environs there and he doesnt have the staff at maralago that he does in washington. I think hell feel free to say what he wants to do, to talk to whoever he wants to and to play as much golf as he wants. The president has talked to you about loyalty. He has complained that j. F. K. Had his r. F. K. And in his view of the world, obama had his attorney general there as running interference. Does he realize that there are rules in place . He said in effect, wheres my roy kohn. Royalty can only go so far when youre talking about the mechanics of the president and justice. Loyalty has been something hes been obsessed with the Justice Department since coming into office. July seven days into his administration he had a oneonone dinner with jim comey at the white house where he asked him for his loyalty. This unnerved comey and set them on their path in a place that ended up poorly for the president and, you know, comey obviously losing his job. The president sees the attorney general as being someone who should be loyal to him. Its more important to be loyal to him than to the rule of law or following the facts. Thats why he was so disappointed in Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the russia investigation. He obsessed about that issue up to the point that he fired sessions the day after the election when he held mcgahn responsible for not stopping sessions from recusing himself. Loyalty to the president is the most important thing. One of the major questions the entire trump story is is that donald trump is someone who simply wants loyalty because he grew up that way and thats important to him or does he need loyalty to protect himself. Some day well know the answer to that question but we dont right now. With that, our thanks to michael schmitt, phil rucker, jeremy barb and joyce bash for starting out our conversation. Coming up, Robert Muellers next step in his investigation, especially after all weve been talking about tonight. Two of muellers former colleagues are with us next to weigh in. And later, nearly 50 days after jamal ka squloigs death and dismemberment. The president is in defense of saudi arabia. The 11th hour just getting under way on a tuesday night. The 11th hour just getting under way on a tuesday night today is the day youre going to get motivated. Get stronger. Get closer. Start listening today to the Worlds Largest selection of audiobooks on audible. And now, get more. For just 14. 95 a month, youll get a credit a month good for any audiobook, plus two Audible Originals exclusive titles you cant find anywhere else. If you dont like a book, you can exchange it any time, no questions asked. Automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you dont use them. With the free audible app, you can listen anytime, and anywhere. Plus for the first time ever, youll get access to exclusive fitness programs a 95 value free with membership. Start a 30day trial today and your first audiobook is free. Cancel anytime and your books are yours to keep forever. Audible. The most inspiring minds. The most compelling stories. Text listen27 to 500500 to start your free trial today. Former white House Counsel don mcgahn had a stark warning for the president. A demand for an investigation into clinton and comey, you could get impeached as a result. That warning was spelled out in a memo. Mcgahn has spent dozens of hours talking to the special counsel. Theres a good chance mueller has seen or has the memo or both. So what now . Frank fagluzi and chuck rosenberg, former u. S. Attorney around a forumer senior fbi official. Chuck, Home Field Advantage here in new york, well begin with you. Safe to assume Robert Mueller has this memo, has had this memo, has had knowledge of this incident for a good long while. Absolutely, brian. If he doesnt have the memo, hell have it now. And frankly, what he really needs are the recollections of the people who wrote the memo or were there for the conversation. All right. The memo is krcorroborative but thats really important are the people who spoke to the president , got his direction, understood what he intended to do and wrote that stuff down. Thats the real evidence. We know mcgahn, for instance, has been meeting with special counsel for many, many hours. Thats what matters. Frank, this is another instance of don mcgahn as one of the human guardrails around the president. Does this article also kind of out mr. Whitaker as a potential witness . Youve got the president coming to the chief of staff at the Justice Department under sessions, saying in effect, hey, how we doing on that investigation of hillary . Yeah. Theres no question now in my mind that at some point mr. Whitakers going to find himself either testifying before congress, as to what transpired, who asked what when, what was the tone, what was the intention that he inferred or, and or hes going to find himself being interviewed, if he hasnt already, by a member of the special counsel team. He has essentially made himself a fact witness by even engaming in these types of discussions. If the reportings accurate, brian, that essentially the president went around the attorney general of the United States to his chief of staff and made inquiries about investigating political enemies, then, look, weve got even clearer evidence that the president is not intending to use proper channels but rather to use political allies to go after his enemies. Chuck, how much does it worry you and your longestablished love of the federal bureau of investigation to learn that the president is sideways right now with the director of the fbi, despite the fact that directors are hired for tenyear terms . Its not a good thing but its not an unusual thing. Directors have gotten sideways with the white house because their job being the rule of law, pursuing evidence and facts, sometimes doesnt mesh with the political imperatives to the president of the United States. So does it worry me . Not that much. Is it a good thing . Its part of the normal and natural tension that you might expect. What worries me, though, is that we have a president who is particularly opposed to the rule of law, who is marley savage in his remarks about the men and women of the fbi, of Law Enforcement, of the military, of the intelligence community. Thats what worries me. Thats whats abnormal here. The president have used them as all in service to him, he thinks . Seems to me. I need to talk to really smart historians to find out the long view. In my memory and my time at the department of justice, my time at the fbi, yes. Frank, were going to try at some point this week to allow our viewers to step away and perhaps do something as shocking as enjoy thanksgiving with their families. As we contemplate that, what have you been looking for . Weve been promised more documents in the manafort manner. Are you still on a hair trigger this close to the thanksgiving holiday that we could get something at any moment . I think thats quite possible. Now that weve seen the president turn in his written answers were getting closer to the end. Its still a mystery as to where that end lies. Ill say this, though, brian. As we continue to get new reporting of whats trangz pierd and the president s own conduct, its ironic that as much as he wants this to end fast, his own conduct could be keeping this going. Mueller could be exploring further evidence of obstruction. The whole issue of obstruction is kind of a gray area right now in most of our minds about whats being pursued and whats not. Short answer . Were closer to the end. Could we see further indictments as soon as this week . Yes, indeed. But that necessarily wont be the end. I think were much closer the than weve been. We need to stay tuned to whats happening. It wouldnt surprise me if we see something slimmed in on a friday after thanksgiving because muellers Team Continues to work at it. Boy, thats what i was fearing youd say. Proof that we cant look away from this thing for no more than ten minutes at a time. Gentlemen, thank you both for joining us tonight. Happy thanksgiving to you both. Coming up, did the president just take another countrys side following the death of a u. S. Resident. The latest reaction to that when we continue. To that when we continue. President trump released an unusual, shall we say, exclamation point filled Statement Today disputing cia findings that the Michael Schmidt<\/a> and maggie hagerman. President trump told the white House Counsel<\/a> in the explaining he wanted the Justice Department<\/a> to investigate Hillary Clinton<\/a> and james comey. The lawyer sewed while he could request an investigation, that, too, could prompt accusations of abuse of power. Mr. Mcgahn had white house lawyers write a memo for mr. Trump warning that if he asked Law Enforcement<\/a> to investigate his rivals, he could face a range of consequences, including possible impeachment. Both the times and cnn report that trump replayedly pressed officials at the Justice Department<\/a> including Matt Whitaker<\/a> when he was chief of staff to Jeff Sessions<\/a> about the status of clinton investigation es. Wh we go back to the second president ial debate in st. Louis. I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. Its awfully good that someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law in our country. Because youd be in jail. So there was that exchange. Former fbi director comey testified to congress about his conversations with trump after trump fired him. Its my judgment that i was fired because of the russia investigation. I was fired in some way to change or the endeavor was to change the way the russia investigation was being conducted. Both comey and don mcgahn who left the white House Counsel<\/a> job are witnesses in the mueller investigation. While the white house declined to comment, mcgahns lawyer said he would not comment on his legal vice to the president. Like any client, the president is entitled to confidentiality. Mr. Mcgahn points out that the president never to his knowledge ordered that anyone prosecute Hillary Clinton<\/a> or james comey. The times piece gives clues give stat status. He also repeatedly expressed disappointment in the fbi director. Also tonight, a new development in the mueller investigation. After months of negotiations, we can now report trumps legal team says it has submitted his written answers to the special counsels questions. All of it brings us to our leadoff panel on tuesday night including one of the reporters who broke the news. Phillip rutger, White House Bureau<\/a> chief for the washington polls. Jeremy bash, former chief of staff at cia and the pentagon and joyce vance who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor. Welcome back to our program. I begin you, mike. Is it notable that the time line on your story this spring suggestion by the president puts us so deep into the trump administration, another way of saying, so deep into the russia investigation. Or so deep into the obstruction of justice investigation. The president , despite the fact that they were looking at his interactions with the justice kept, with the fbi, how he gave tried to impede the russia investigation was undeterred and wanted to talk to mcghan about this and wanted to figure out how he could put pressure on hilly and comey and use the Justice Department<\/a> to do that. Its a remarkable thing or any president to do but especially one whos been looked another for obstruction of justice, especially one where all his aides are going in to bheet bob mueller about why he did what he did in twechbts, why he tried to fire the attorney general, why he was trying to put a loyalist in front of the russia investigation. When trump came to washington he was not going to change who he was. He was knots going to adapt to the sensibilities of washington, and this is sort of a product of it. Mcgahn says no, rebuffs the president. The president obviously still seething. Who is there to do the rebuffing now . Its sort of a point that we make in the story. He has an acting attorney general whos clearly a loyalist to him, someone that folks at the on of the Justice Department<\/a> says doesnt deserve to be the attorney general, someone who wouldnt be confirmed but someone that the president feels comfortable with and feels will be loyal to. Mcgahn is no longer there. Hes been criticized but he was a guardrail and stopped the president from doing a lot of unethical or illegal things. Hes a witness in the special counsels investigation. He has given up an enormous amount on what the president was doing behind the scenes. Theyre gone. Theyre not there anymore. Sessions is not the attorney general. Mcgahn is not the white House Counsel<\/a>. The president has lost some of these guardrails adds time goes on. Perhaps hes more isolated or perhaps hes more on his own. Joyce, what happens when there isnt a mcgahn to stop this sort of thing . I think thats exactly the right question. It could mean if the president continues down this path that he ends mines the rule of law. The most i think really shocking phrase in mikes story is when he talks about the president saying that he wanted to order the Justice Department<\/a> to convene this investigation. Not investigation but prosecution. The president thought it was ok for him to say i want you to lock up my political opponents and this witness against me. A president who would do that would have so little insight in it and that he would place himself in that position is appalling. An acting attorney general has said hes 3r50e7d to the mueller file having been gotten months ago and its buried in the case file but well known in his office. If youre mueller reading about this. If youre mueller reading the New York Times<\/a> story, you read it as evidence of what . You read it potentially as evidence of obstruction. Look, i assume that mueller has known about this for months, if not longer, that he knows far more about this situation than we do and that hes already assessed it. It could be evidence that the president just really fundamentally lacks an understanding of our legal system. It could also be something a little more nefarious. Its possible that depending on what evidence mueller has, it could be evidence that the president was trying to obstruct or intimidate witnessings, in this case, jim comey, says pockets. That full range of i suspect thats why don mcgahn wanted to put it in writing. You could be committing a federal crime or could be impeding the process in a way that could lead to your impeachment. In what light does this is put mr. Whitaker . He has to be a check against the president but he was put in there to not be a check. Really, the only checks left in our government are those in congress. Just to think, the president is redefining the american presidency before our eyes or hes avenue to. Hes avenue to redefine american democracy. In our system, in our madisonian system, the only ones who can stop the president are the jishy and the congress. Phil rutger, what drives the obsession in the president s head with comey and to a greater extent Hillary Clinton<\/a> at long last he won. He beat Hillary Clinton<\/a>. He fired jim comey. To speak to Hillary Clinton<\/a> for a moment, he not only views her as his permanent enemy, political adversary, opponent but hes resentful that theres this investigation going on, the probe into the washington investigation, hes resentful that hes under the microscope and hillarys not. Shes not in power. She was not elected president. He defeated her. Shes a private citizen right now. So theyre just in very different circumstances. I think speaking to his concerns about Hillary Clinton<\/a> and jim comey h and his obsession with it is this great detail in the times story that it apparently wasnt enough for don mcgahn or others to tell him that was an abuse of power. They had to write a memo explaining why it could be potentially cause for impeachment and that shows how serious the president took this desire to prosecute them. Id like to read you sally yates quote today on social media. In a single day, president of the United States<\/a> turns a blind eye to the barbaric murder of journalist and we learn that hi tried to order doj to go after his political adversaries. Is there no depth to which he will not sink . We cant let him drag america down with him. Do you concur . What have we learned just today . Sally yates is a career prosecutor. She began her career under a republican administration. This is a bipartisan view that we hear time and time again from professionals, career Law Enforcement<\/a>, intelligence, and military professionals, that the president is abusing his authority as commandser in chief. Abusing his authority under the constitution. To ignore intelligence assessments. To order the military to the border in a blatantly political way before an election and now to avoid political prosecution of his political adversaries. Weve never seen anything like it throughout history. There have been multiple occasions to reset today and think to ourselves, ok, thats not normal, thats not normal, thats not normal. The president heads off to maralago where the usual checks on his well, sometimes there are checks on his behavior and utterances at the white house. All bets have traditionally been off down in florida. What could go wrong. A lot. This was a pretty busy tuesday. Just a number of controversies, one hour after the next. Whether the president goats maralago eats a different environment. Hes surrounded by his friends, loyalists who are not in the government. His golf buddies. His friends in palm beach who come and have males with him. He has a sense of sort of a distorted view of whats right, whats wrong, whats popular, whats not, based on his environs there and he doesnt have the staff at maralago that he does in washington. I think hell feel free to say what he wants to do, to talk to whoever he wants to and to play as much golf as he wants. The president has talked to you about loyalty. He has complained that j. F. K. Had his r. F. K. And in his view of the world, obama had his attorney general there as running interference. Does he realize that there are rules in place . He said in effect, wheres my roy kohn. Royalty can only go so far when youre talking about the mechanics of the president and justice. Loyalty has been something hes been obsessed with the Justice Department<\/a> since coming into office. July seven days into his administration he had a oneonone dinner with jim comey at the white house where he asked him for his loyalty. This unnerved comey and set them on their path in a place that ended up poorly for the president and, you know, comey obviously losing his job. The president sees the attorney general as being someone who should be loyal to him. Its more important to be loyal to him than to the rule of law or following the facts. Thats why he was so disappointed in Jeff Sessions<\/a> for recusing himself from the russia investigation. He obsessed about that issue up to the point that he fired sessions the day after the election when he held mcgahn responsible for not stopping sessions from recusing himself. Loyalty to the president is the most important thing. One of the major questions the entire trump story is is that donald trump is someone who simply wants loyalty because he grew up that way and thats important to him or does he need loyalty to protect himself. Some day well know the answer to that question but we dont right now. With that, our thanks to michael schmitt, phil rucker, jeremy barb and joyce bash for starting out our conversation. Coming up, Robert Muellers<\/a> next step in his investigation, especially after all weve been talking about tonight. Two of muellers former colleagues are with us next to weigh in. And later, nearly 50 days after jamal ka squloigs death and dismemberment. The president is in defense of saudi arabia. The 11th hour just getting under way on a tuesday night. The 11th hour just getting under way on a tuesday night today is the day youre going to get motivated. Get stronger. Get closer. Start listening today to the Worlds Largest<\/a> selection of audiobooks on audible. And now, get more. For just 14. 95 a month, youll get a credit a month good for any audiobook, plus two Audible Originals<\/a> exclusive titles you cant find anywhere else. If you dont like a book, you can exchange it any time, no questions asked. Automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you dont use them. With the free audible app, you can listen anytime, and anywhere. Plus for the first time ever, youll get access to exclusive fitness programs a 95 value free with membership. Start a 30day trial today and your first audiobook is free. Cancel anytime and your books are yours to keep forever. Audible. The most inspiring minds. The most compelling stories. Text listen27 to 500500 to start your free trial today. Former white House Counsel<\/a> don mcgahn had a stark warning for the president. A demand for an investigation into clinton and comey, you could get impeached as a result. That warning was spelled out in a memo. Mcgahn has spent dozens of hours talking to the special counsel. Theres a good chance mueller has seen or has the memo or both. So what now . Frank fagluzi and chuck rosenberg, former u. S. Attorney around a forumer senior fbi official. Chuck, Home Field Advantage<\/a> here in new york, well begin with you. Safe to assume Robert Mueller<\/a> has this memo, has had this memo, has had knowledge of this incident for a good long while. Absolutely, brian. If he doesnt have the memo, hell have it now. And frankly, what he really needs are the recollections of the people who wrote the memo or were there for the conversation. All right. The memo is krcorroborative but thats really important are the people who spoke to the president , got his direction, understood what he intended to do and wrote that stuff down. Thats the real evidence. We know mcgahn, for instance, has been meeting with special counsel for many, many hours. Thats what matters. Frank, this is another instance of don mcgahn as one of the human guardrails around the president. Does this article also kind of out mr. Whitaker as a potential witness . Youve got the president coming to the chief of staff at the Justice Department<\/a> under sessions, saying in effect, hey, how we doing on that investigation of hillary . Yeah. Theres no question now in my mind that at some point mr. Whitakers going to find himself either testifying before congress, as to what transpired, who asked what when, what was the tone, what was the intention that he inferred or, and or hes going to find himself being interviewed, if he hasnt already, by a member of the special counsel team. He has essentially made himself a fact witness by even engaming in these types of discussions. If the reportings accurate, brian, that essentially the president went around the attorney general of the United States<\/a> to his chief of staff and made inquiries about investigating political enemies, then, look, weve got even clearer evidence that the president is not intending to use proper channels but rather to use political allies to go after his enemies. Chuck, how much does it worry you and your longestablished love of the federal bureau of investigation to learn that the president is sideways right now with the director of the fbi, despite the fact that directors are hired for tenyear terms . Its not a good thing but its not an unusual thing. Directors have gotten sideways with the white house because their job being the rule of law, pursuing evidence and facts, sometimes doesnt mesh with the political imperatives to the president of the United States<\/a>. So does it worry me . Not that much. Is it a good thing . Its part of the normal and natural tension that you might expect. What worries me, though, is that we have a president who is particularly opposed to the rule of law, who is marley savage in his remarks about the men and women of the fbi, of Law Enforcement<\/a>, of the military, of the intelligence community. Thats what worries me. Thats whats abnormal here. The president have used them as all in service to him, he thinks . Seems to me. I need to talk to really smart historians to find out the long view. In my memory and my time at the department of justice, my time at the fbi, yes. Frank, were going to try at some point this week to allow our viewers to step away and perhaps do something as shocking as enjoy thanksgiving with their families. As we contemplate that, what have you been looking for . Weve been promised more documents in the manafort manner. Are you still on a hair trigger this close to the thanksgiving holiday that we could get something at any moment . I think thats quite possible. Now that weve seen the president turn in his written answers were getting closer to the end. Its still a mystery as to where that end lies. Ill say this, though, brian. As we continue to get new reporting of whats trangz pierd and the president s own conduct, its ironic that as much as he wants this to end fast, his own conduct could be keeping this going. Mueller could be exploring further evidence of obstruction. The whole issue of obstruction is kind of a gray area right now in most of our minds about whats being pursued and whats not. Short answer . Were closer to the end. Could we see further indictments as soon as this week . Yes, indeed. But that necessarily wont be the end. I think were much closer the than weve been. We need to stay tuned to whats happening. It wouldnt surprise me if we see something slimmed in on a friday after thanksgiving because muellers Team Continues<\/a> to work at it. Boy, thats what i was fearing youd say. Proof that we cant look away from this thing for no more than ten minutes at a time. Gentlemen, thank you both for joining us tonight. Happy thanksgiving to you both. Coming up, did the president just take another countrys side following the death of a u. S. Resident. The latest reaction to that when we continue. To that when we continue. President trump released an unusual, shall we say, exclamation point filled Statement Today<\/a> disputing cia findings that the Saudi Crown Prince<\/a> ordered the killing of journalist jamal khashoggi. The u. S. Stands with saudi arabia he said saying king salman and crown prince muhammad bin salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution. But it could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event maybe he did and maybe he didnt. That being said, we may never know all the facts surrounding the murder of mr. Jamal khashoggi. Saudi arabia has been a great ally. The United States<\/a> intends to remain a steadfast partner of stau saudi arabia. The statement contains at least a half dozen exclamation points and he uses language that weve heard him use in the past 24 hours. Of course, its believed he dictated a large portion of it starting with the headline America First<\/a> theres something else. He also has repeated his claim today that american jobs are at risk here. We quote again the kingdom agreed to spending and invest 450 billion in the us. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Of the 450 million, 110 billion will be spent on the purchase of military equipment. Fact checkers were busy today. They wrote the pentagon said last month that saudi arabia has signed letters of offer and acceptance and confirmed tuesday that nothing further has reached that stage. The state department estimated that if the full price is fulfilled it could end up potentially supporting tens of thousands of jobs in the United States<\/a>. This is a far cry to the 500 to 600,000 jobs that trump has said the arms deal is worth. There has been no verification from either country that the kingdom agreed to spend and invest 450 billion in the United States<\/a>. Here to talk about it. For and diplomat correspondent, washington columnist for the boston globe. An executive editor with the Pulitzer Center<\/a> on crisis reporting. Also jeremy bash is still with us. The president s lead sentence in the press release today was the sworld a very dangerous place. If f. D. R. Had started his fireside chats with that kind of language, it would have been shocking and unsettling. The president s role is as protector or so we think. Thats just the beginning of how unusual this was. Sure. That statement steamed justify that there is violence and malfeasance around the world. What does the u. S. Stand for if its not for human rights and universal values . Weve always stood up as a beacon around the world. Among other things, press freedom. Were the only country that has a First Amendment<\/a> protecting press freedom. One of the things that was striking about the statement was the level to which President Trump<\/a> was really transparent about how transactionly he sees foreign policy. I spoke this week to Career State Department<\/a> diplomats and former senior cia officials who were shoblgd. The cia has we know, its been reported, has come out with a finding that they believe the 33yearold crown prince did have knowledge of and direct this murder of jamal khashoggi. Its really shocking. When he says he may have done it, he may not have, we may never know. He might know more if he were willing to listen to the tape that the turks willingly provided. He said i dont warchlt to listen to the tape of his murder. On the whole hes saying we should go with a good occur. This defense business is in danger of getting picked off by the russians or the chinese. They have no comparison to the f35. They have no comparison to a loft of weapon systems. The saudis already have american weapon systems. Thats what theyve learned on and trained on. That business is not going to china. I think thats right. The saudi f15s by boeing and the entire infrastructure is based on an american model. It is true that at the cornerstone of the u. S. 15udy relationship is a bargain. Basically theyll help advance our interests and well be protector of the house of assad. That doesnt mean we should abandon our idea of make america what it is. Its a far cry from reagans shining city on a hill. We stand for freedom, the rights of sfreegs, for the rights of dissidents. And the idea that the only way to get things done in a mean and nasty world is for journalists to be lierd in and murdered. I heard Nicole Wallace<\/a> say this afternoon on her show that today for some reason to her felt like the biggest violation of norms. Only because our president faced with the death and dismemberment of a legal u. S. Resident said, no, im going to side with the other guys. In one part hes also siding with his soninlaw, jared kushner, who picked salman as his guy. Jared curb her early on during the transition really showed his own backing from the United States<\/a>, in the trump administration. Theyre putting all their eggs in that basket. They think its not only about oil sales and keeping prices steady. They hope hes going to stand with them against iran. This is a statement supposed to be about saudi arabia but the first sentence blamed the war on yemen on iran when we know that disdiscriminate bombing has caused tens of thousands of american casualties and has prompted a famine. Its a famine that they helped create. We can still work with the saudis to advance peace in the region and advance our influence in counter iran. We dont have to give away our power and say were going to abandon our ideals. I think were on a collision course with the president and the fbi. Did intelligence assessment will be for all the world to see because they have to testify in public. Theyll be asked point blank what say you about the assessment of mb ss culpability. I heard it said dont call them allies, they are Security Partner<\/a>s. Do you prefer that term . The saudis are undoubtedly an important Security Partner<\/a> as are other gulf countries in the region. Our great thanks to our friends for coming by and talking with us on this tuesday night. Coming up for us, is a russian about to be elected to run interpol and what that might mean froerts of us when we come back. Might mean froerts of us when we come back get stronger. Get closer. Start listening today to the Worlds Largest<\/a> selection of audiobooks on audible. And now, get more. For just 14. 95 a month, youll get a credit a month good for any audiobook, plus two Audible Originals<\/a> exclusive titles you cant find anywhere else. If you dont like a book, you can exchange it any time, no questions asked. Automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you dont use them. With the free audible app, you can listen anytime, and anywhere. Plus for the first time ever, youll get access to exclusive fitness programs a 95 value free with membership. Start a 30day trial today and your first audiobook is free. Cancel anytime and your books are yours to keep forever. Audible. The most inspiring minds. The most compelling stories. Text listen27 to 500500 to start your free trial today. The medicare enrollment deadline is only days away. Choosing the right medicare plan is no laughing matter, pick the wrong one and you might end up with a doctor youre not so comfortable with. Im not so comfortable. Or even worse, be forced to pay thousands in medical expenses due to coverage limitations. Thatll be how much . Understanding all the options, lets face it, it can be downright confusing. And thats why i love healthmarkets, your insurance marketplace. They search thousands of plans from leading Insurance Companies<\/a> to find a plan thats right for you. Plans that have Prescription Drug<\/a> coverage, dental and vision care, and that offer extra benefits you may not even know were available. 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With access to thousands of plans nationwide, its easy to find the medicare plan that saves you money, so you can enjoy more of the things you love. Your insurance marketplace healthmarkets call now before the deadline to take advantage of this free service. Call the number on your screen. Only days left. Find out now how easily you can save. Call healthmarkets at this number now. A 194Member Nation<\/a>s of interpol, the International Police<\/a> organization are choosing a new president tomorrow in dubai. The previous interpol president this is important is under arrest in china on corruption charges. And now a russian general and close ally of russian president Vladimir Putin<\/a> may take his place. Well repeat, a russian may be the next leader of interpol. Just saying that sends chills through most members of the u. S. Military, intention, and Law Enforcement<\/a> communities. During tomorrows vote, each Member Nation<\/a>, though it looks like an episode of the voice, each Member Nation<\/a> has an equal vote. So while all of the socalled major nations could around likely will vote against the russian smaller nations, some with populations the size of some medium u. S. Cities are free to cut deals in russia inturn for their votes, to put it blunt by. One man is here. Clint watts is a graduate of west point, an army veteran, a former b fbi special agent as well as an msnbc consultant. He wrote the book on the subject called messing with the enemy. Welcome. Other than a great ipdy band in the late 90s in new york, what is interpol . Do they have police cars, badges and guns . Whats the organization . The interpol of movies is not the interpol of reality. Its really an association of all Law Enforcement<\/a> that comes together to essentially help in terms of information sharing, intelligence sharing primarily and in terms of different notices. The most common we hear about is the red notice which is the closest thing to an arrest warrant, essentially putting a detention hold on somebody who may be wanted for a crime in another country. It helps share information to go after international criminals. Arms traffickers, hackers is a big thing right now. Organized crime. This is how you go after these games. Its through the sharing, through the relationships which help countries investigate a case. Trust is the backbone of this system. If you dont have trust that the best will of the participants. Russia has been an abuser of this. Bill brouwer is the famous person who writes about how the kremlin can use this to go after their opponents around the world. How can you have from this country lead this. Symbolically its more devastating than operationally. Theyll still do information sharing. There are protocols for how this is done. The entire thought of having the head of this organization being someone who is maybe under the control or influence of the kremlin doesnt make sense. What practically could happen if this guy gets a job. It struck a lot of us like wait a minute. Theres supposed to be white hats and black hats. The h interpol exists for good guys around the world to come together. You would see countries leaving the association and the more and pulling their data with them . Pulling theyre data or not wanting to share any additional data. Its about 80 funded bid western democracies. Much like the u. N. , the western democracies prop this organization up. They can filter out this Law Enforcement<\/a> information and bring justice around the world. If that if those countries dont want to participate and share, theyre not going to want to fund. This is the same dilemma were having with the nouszunited nations and global systems. Havent you watched this with putin. Wasnt putins goal tear nato apart, have the nato allies tear themselves up from the inside. Isnt this like a ballgame for putin . This is the destruction of liberal democracies and all their unions around the world. Intersuper bowl a small portion of that. If you look, whether its nato, the european union, the united nations, interpol, all of these unions if they can be dissolved, discredited or weakened as institutions is what were looking at in the post trump world. We saw with the khashoggi murder and the president s statements there. Wow. Its the breakdown of trust. Weve seen intelligence get floated out there. Probably didnt need to be shared. This is really what i call oligarchyled governance around the world, which is about strong men, whos rich and powerful, whos broke these institutions and who can maneuver around them. Thats what were looking at as the world order going forward. Americans dont understand many of the comforts has come from these unions. When they start to fall apart, the way weve traveled and the world. The way you go about doing business may change over the next five to ten years with these unions. My goodness. Youre the scariest man we asked to come on this broadcast but we do it for an important reason. Appreciate it. Coming up for us, would you believe we are still counting votes and calling races from the Midterm Election<\/a>s . That can only mean run thing. Steve kor naki, big board after this. R naki, big board after this super emma just about sleeps in her cape. But when we realized she was battling sensitive skin. We switched to tide pods free gentle. Its gentle on her skin and out cleans the other free and clear detergent. Dermatologist recommended. Its got to be tide. Guess who is bulking up your meaty breakfast burritos . This guy. Get my meat lovers with bacon, sausage, and ham. Or grande sausage with creamy sriracha. Because at jack in the box, whoops, were all about bulking up breakfast. Meaty, baby try my meaty breakfast burritos. With ham, grilled sausage,th my and hickorysmoked bacon. Rrito or my grande sausage breakfast burrito with creamy sriracha and crispy hash browns. Im all about bulking up breakfast [grunt] try my meaty breakfast burritos. Part of the breakfast burrito family. On his way to maralago President Trump<\/a> took the time to celebrate some bright spots for the republicans from the mid terms. Two weeks after the Midterm Election<\/a> day, the blue wave that swept the democrats into the majority in the house has continued to grow. Its enough to warrant, you guessed it, another appearance by our National Political<\/a> correspondent steve kor dmaky at the big board where were still calling races, steve. Gee lex day became election week and now election month. Its almost over. Its so close to being over that peck start to put into perspective what happened. The blue here are all seats that democrats have flipped. The red, there were three democratic seats that republicans managed to flip. So far what that means is you add all these together, the net gain for democrats on the house side sits at 36 seats. We said if the democrats can break in they get back theous. Theyll get the house, we predicted. Now you can see a little further looping with a lot of the vote now, a lot more counted. Its 38. Let me show you what could still happen with whats left to come. 38. Look at this race in utah. You know the name mia love. That race has not yet been called by nbc news but it is on the cusp of it. Ben mcadams leading. Number one, that margin the democrat has over love the republican is a little higher than the threshold, than the cutoff that would trigger a recount. Hes above that right now. So much so that the Associated Press<\/a> a few hours called this race for ben mcadams, the democrats. Certainly, the possibility that well do the same thing and this would officially become another democratic pickup. That will give them 39. One other race you see is uncalled. The 7th district of georgia. Rob wood all leading this by a little over 400 votes, 419, going a recount. Obviously, unlikely the democrat would overtake him in the recount. You never 234know. That would leave democrats with 39. Let me show you one other piece of drama. Its this. Its a race we already called and its a race we might be looking at again. The 21st district of california. Look at the lead and what it has shrunk to. Inside of a thousand votes. There are votes coming in most every night. This is the Central Valley<\/a> of california. We have votes coming in from fresno and kern county, t. J. Cox county. The possibility exists that when all the votes are tallied, democrats could actually get another pickup there. It might end up staring at a net gain of 40 seats. By the way, in california we said at the start there were seven districts republicans controlled that had voted for Hillary Clinton<\/a>. If that 21st deekt continues, democrats will have gone 77 and will control you can see almost the entire Pacific Coast<\/a> with blue with one exception in washington state. The possibility not out of the question. What have we learned about the number of americans who came out when there was no president on the ballot. Compare the 2014 midterm, still being counted in 2008. Th h 2018. 2010, the Big Tea Party<\/a> revolution, 87 million. Youre getting closer. 136 million voted in the president alelection. Thats going to go up. Were getting close to the realm of a president ial election. Steve kornacki, such a treat to have you always. Thanks. Coming up, a thought for those who will not be able to spend thanksgiving with their families this year because theyre serving the greater good. Se theyre serving the greater good. Last thing before we go. Countless thanksgiving dinner tables millions of americans will pause for a thought or a prayer or perhaps raise a glass to give thanks for our military and especially to remember all our men and women in uniform deployed all over this world. They would no doubt love to be home with their own families but they are deployed. When a Family Member<\/a> serves, the whole family sefrs. The tempo of deployments certainly has reflected it. We have about 6,000 active duty military at the southern border. This was the president s response to that migrant caravan. They gave it a name operation faithful patriot. The names been dropped. All the troops are starting to come home from the border. They will all likely be out of there by kri78s but thousands will still be there for thanksgivingle. The president was asked today if he had a thanksgiving message for the troops. Oh, dont worry about the thanksgiving these are tough people. They know what theyre doing and theyre great. Youre so worried about the thanksgiving day holiday for them. They are so proud to be representing our country on the border. In the an accepts then of a thanksgiving message to the troops, wont you keep please the men and women in uniform and all of their families in your thoughts and at your table this thanksgiving and always. That is our broadcast for this tuesday evening. Thank you so very much for being here tonight on all in. Its just awfully good that someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law in our country. Because youd be in jail. Breaking news from the New York Times<\/a>, donald trump wanted to order the prosecutions of james comey and Hillary Clinton<\/a>. Lock her up is right. What we know about why the president was stopped, the new implications for the mueller probe, as the president submits answers to the special counsel. 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