Final day of the presentation of their case against paul manafort, the president s campaign chairman, simultaneously a woman named kristin davis, who is better known in tabloid circles as the manhattan madam will be testifying tomorrow before the grand jury in d. C. , convened by the special counsels office reportedly about her relationship with Trump Campaign associate roger stone. Expect that to be an incredible tabloid scrum, if nothing else. We wont necessarily know what that legally is going to amount to for quite some time, if ever. But those two things are going to happen. One in virginia and one in d. C. , both in Federal Court tomorrow. Enjoy your morning. That does it for us tonight. Now it is time for The Last Word with lawrence odonnell. You just made the day of every Hollywood Screen writer who is dreaming of some day getting the assignment for the miniseries of the robert
mueller investigation, that there will come a day when the manhattan madam has to walk on to the set in the drama as it unfolds. You just got my hopes up because you just suggested that it is possible that some day this will be Boil Downable into a mini series. I feel like it is an unabridged dvd. Maybe a 100 episode mini series. Thats what it feels like right now. Thank you, my friend. Thank you, rachel. Well, it wasnt always this way. Political parties in congress did not spend their every waking moment in lock step with the president of their own political party. There has always been significant dissent in congress within the party of the current president. Until now. And last night we heard how republicans speak privately about what they need to do to protect their president. Rachel maddow show obtained secret recordings of devin nunes, and they both made it very clear that they do not care what high crimes and misdemeanors Robert Mueller might discover the president committed, if any. They are going to protect the president No Matter What. They believe that is their only job in dealing with the investigation of this president. First of all, try to stop the investigation. Secondly, if they cannot stop the investigation, make sure nothing happens to the president as a result of that investigation. And in order to do that, they need to win the Congressional Elections in november and preserve their majority and here is the way devin nunes said that on that secretly recorded audio. So therein lies, so its like your classic catch22 situation where we were at a this puts
us in such a tough spot. If sessions wont unrekus and mueller wont clear the president , were the only ones. Which is really the danger. Thats why i keep and thank you for saying that, by the way. We have to keep on this. We have to keep the majority. If we do not keep the majority, all of this goes away. Were the only ones. The only ones who can save the president. The reason the Special Prosecutor was appointed to investigate President Bill Clinton was not that republicans demanded it or that some Newspaper Editorials and some columnist demanded it. Bill clinton and his attorney janet reno would have resisted those demands from republicans. A Special Prosecutor was appointed because democrats demanded it, enough democrats in the house and the senate, including Liberal Democrats and moderate democrats agreed that there should be a Special Prosecutor to investigate bill
and Hillary Clintons financial dealings while he was governor of arkansas. And eventually bill clinton agreed and president clinton asked his Attorney General, janet reno to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate him. That is how we got the last Special Prosecutor to investigate a democratic president. When Richard Nixon was being investigated by a Special Prosecutor and by congress, it was a special investigation in congress. While most republicans tried to look at the mounting evidence against president nixon as favorably as possible, none of them ever tried to say anything like this. Just remember what youre seeing and what youre reading is not whats happening. Republicans did not try to deny reality during the investigation of Richard Nixon and eventually it was a group of
republican senators who went to the white house to tell president nixon to his face that he should resign immediately because the House Of Representatives would definitely vote to impeach him based on the latest evidence and the United States senate would easily reach a twothirds Majority Vote to convict and remove president nixon from office in an impeachment trial. And so on this very day 44 years ago, president nixon climbed into the helicopter on the white house lawn and waved goodbye for the final team. Richard nixon was able to win the presidency in 1968 because the Democratic Party broke into open revolt in the United States senate and the House Of Representatives against their democratic president , lyndon johnson, who was so shocked and politically crippled when his reelection was challenged in democratic primaries, first by
Analysis and discussion of the days top stories and compelling issues from Lawrence ODonnell. Constitution. 44 years ago today Richard Nixon left the white house for the last time because there was no devin nunes in the House Of Representatives telling all the other republicans were the only ones who can save their president. It wasnt always this way. If the republicans who served in the House Of Representatives and in the United States senate when Richard Nixon was president were still serving today, we would not have to fear that we are living with a congress that refuses to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Leading off our discussion now, joyce vance, former federal prosecutor, professor at the university of Alabama School of law. They are both msnbc contributors. I want to get your reaction to what we heard on those secretly
any real preparation that it was suddenly happening. My right hand was raised and it was instantly an emotional moment. You never forget. New nbc news Wall Street Journal poll. More likely 48 . Less likely 23 . That is just an enormous gap in favor of what obviously is the democrats in the way that question is asked. Right. That gets to what i was saying, i guess preemptively about Cathy Mcmorris rodgers. Shes not providing a check on the president. And, so, she barely made the top spot. In Washington State they had the socalled jungle primaries. The top two vote getters go on to november. Shes the number four person in the republican conference. So now she might not be there. If that holds out, if that poll
number holds out to be true, she could be out. You know, back during watergate, back during the clinton era when congress viewed itself as an equal to the executive, an equal to the president. The president was one branch, they, the members of congress, viewed themselves as someone who was supposed to, no matter the party, keep the executive in check because the framers of the constitution set this government up so that the people, through their representatives, could ensure that the executive would not run over the people and over the constitution. And the republicans have shown time and time again, particularly when it comes to donald trump, that they couldnt care less about their oath of office. That oath, i have never had to take that oath, lawrence, but i have friends who have. And the thing that makes it so emotional for you and for joyce and for my friends who have taken that oath is that they suddenly realize that they are
making an oath to something that is much bigger than themselves. They are taking an oath to protect, not just the constitution, but their country, but their families and the fact that you have a whole branch of government that has just seeded that authority, that moral authority to a president who has shown time and again that he couldnt care less about the rule of law, its galling. Through that number that you just showed, 48 of the American People think its galling as well. Jonathan, joyce, thank you for starting us off tonight. Thank you. Thanks, lawrence. And now that republican congressman Chris Collins and his son have been charged with federal crimes, which one of them might get a plea deal to escape prison time in exchange for testifying against the other . And what sis it like for donald trump and donald trump jr. Watching the collins and son being dragged into Federal Court yesterday . And New York Times columnist
tom freedman who can be very persuasive will try to change my mind about Televising Trump rallies from start to finish. Ninetysix hundred roads named park in the u. S. Its americas most popular street name. But Allstate Agents know thats where the similarity stops. If youre on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the Washoe Zephyr could damage your siding. And thats very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. But No Matter What park you live on, one of 10,000 local Allstate Agents knows yours. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . It was always our singular focus. To do whatever it takes, use every possible resource. To fight cancer. And never lose sight of the patients were fighting for. Our Cancer Treatment specialists share the same vision. Experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care. And these are the specialists were proud to call our own. Expert medicine works here. Learn more at cancercenter. Com Appointments Available now. Criticism. But now im not so sure. And once again it is New York Times columnist Thomas Freedman who has got me to think about maybe changing my mind. I say once again because thomas is one of the modern masters of counter intuitive thought that can actually shake my firmly held opinions. In his latest column he says that televising Donald Trumps rallies is the right thing for the news media to do professionally and, quote, it is the right thing to do politically if you want to see a check on Donald Trumps power. It appears that its the toxic lying, bullying and unpresident ial behaviors that trump exhibits most in his rallies and tweets which we in the media cover that is turning off the very moderate best educated republicans and suburban women that trump will need to hold the gop majority in
the house, let alone get reelected. So bring on the coverage. Tom makes the point that even with a strong economy, Donald Trumps approval has not increased since he was elected. He has not converted any of the voters that did not vote for him. Tom freedman writes, the very applause writes in abusive and divisive behaviors that appeal to his base turn off more moderate and educated suburban republicans and do nothing to attract independents or conservative democrats. Toms conclusion for the news media is, quote, i want wall to wall coverage of trumps every speech, rally, tweet and utterance because they most reveal his character and trumps character is the sealing on trumps presidency. Joining us now is tom freedman. And, tom, i believe you began this segment with this audience with approximate lly zero agreement to your position. Pu maybe some of what i quoted is pulling people in your way. Your column really moved me. You make a very strong case. Well, i appreciate it, lawrence. It was a surprise to me. Because i watched the Senate Election in alabama where the democrat won coming out of nowhere. You watch the election in pennsylvania. You watch the one in ohio. And the one in ohio was most striking because this was a strict that had not sent a democrat to congress in over three decades. It is a district that trump won by 11 Percentage Points and the republican candidate seems to be winning by at the most one. So something clearly is going on
here that has eroded trumps base. I often start, lawrence, by interviewing myself and what do i feel. What i feel is when i watch these rallies, when i see these tweets, i feel appalled. I feel appalled as an american by the toxicity. I feel ashamed to see a president attacking such a high quality american sport star as lebron james after hes opened a school for 400 impoverished kids. It turns out, lawrence, that there are moderate republicans out there. There are independents and suburban women that are deeply turned off by this. They voted with their feet. They voted by pulling levers, showing up in the polls. They kept the lid on trumps support. If we deny them this access to the president , the full trump, i think were not doing our jobs professional but someone who
believes that it is essential that there be a check on trumps power for the last two years of his presidency. At a minimum democratic control of the house. I think it would be a mistake politically. You make the point in your column something that i have heard mike murphy say last week i think possibly in a tweet that the way to cover the rally is to just set up one camera for all the networks to get the feed for that one camera. Do not send reporters into that pen, that cage that the Trump Campaign and now the Trump Presidency sets up, a cage for reporters where theyre not allowed to even talk to any of the members of the audience. So there is no Reporting Function for them to do there. Set up the camera. We all get the video. My version of that is set up the camera. We all get the video, and i will show you if the president says Anything Worth showing to you, which might be something grotesque or it might be something newsworthy. Your argument is, no, let it
run. Let people see every bit of it. I think trump is a disturbed person. I think there is something deeply disturbing about these rallies. I find it appalling, people showing up in a tshirt saying i prefer russians over democrats. These are deeply abhorrent behaviors. I think there are many thinking republicans who are telling us by how they voted. I interviewed in that column stanley greenberg, the veteran pollster who has been Running Focus Groups with republicans. This is exactly what hes found that moderate republicans are turned off by it. Some more die hard ones about half of them are and even evangelicals, it all reminds them of the bargain they made in supporting donald trump. While they are not abandoning him, this is not resounding to his favor. You know, there is the sasha bar remember cohens new show that he opens with these clips
of former president s of the United States saying some of their most famous lines. Then he includes this moment, which i will show now, of donald trump mimicking steve. This is Donald Trumps entry in that line of president ials comment. I dont know what i said. I dont remember. And, tom, it is absolutely repulsive every time. It is shocking when it comes up at the end of the flow that includes jfk and fdr. Your point is the more the public sees of that the worse it is for donald trump. Im a big believer that the biggest lid on President Donald Trump is the character of donald trump. We have talked about this a little before, lawrence. You have to remember with trump, too, we havent had a crisis yet. There has been no, thank god, 2011. But crises can come. When a crisis comes, he blames others. He doesnt take responsibility. And, so, all of this is part of the mans character. I think we have been exposed to it now in isolation from hillary clinton. You know, in the election two years ago people said, well, i am going to plug my nose and vote for the guy with bad character because i cant vote for hillary clinton. But now we have had two years of the full trump. And i think a lot of people understand that this is a personality and this is a person who needs to be checked. I dont know if it will be enough. It depends on the democratic candidate in every district in every state. You cant be something with nothing. And that will have to come down the road. But i think character matters. And this is another thing i believe. And maybe it is just the minnesota nice midwest earn boy in me, but i think americans really want to be pulled
together. I dont think they like being divided. And im not saying all of them. But i think there is a constituency there. When you think about how narrowly trump won some of these states, it doesnt take a lot of republicans to stay home. Just to stay home, let alone vote for a demo