from platforms like snapchat. parent logs say no, no, no no. too much screen time. too young. >> they worked with a lot of parent groups and pta's in forming this app. i have a 5-year-old. it feel the a little young to me. >> so tune in to the mommy and parent blogs today. thanks for joining us. >> see you tomorrow. "new day" starts now. >> the suggestion that he can't be charged with obstruction of justice is a laughable proposition. >> the president's decision to fire the director of the fbi cannot itself be an act of obstruction of justice. >> merging as a key actor. >> i feel badly for general flynn. flynn lied and they destroyed his life. >> the rnc is actually going

back to financially supporting roy moore. this is outrageous. >> voters don't want to be told from washington who to vote for. >> i do not know any of these women. >> i felt like this was the first thing that i've seen that i know personally for a fact to be a lie. >> this is "new day" with chris welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is new day. alisyn is off and i have a star beside me in the form of poppy harlow. >> it's a pleasure. >> we have a big starting lineup this morning. this could shake the trump presidency. did donald trump obstruct justice when he fired fbi director jim comey? the president's personal attorney now appears to be channeling richard nixon in defense of that proposition. mr. trump's lawyer is arguing

that the president is above the law as the nation's chief law enforcement officer. now, flynn's deputy, k.t. mcfarland is under scrutiny about whether she misled investigators. she told the senate panel she was not aware of any communications between flynn and russia's ambassador but newly unsealed court records appear to contradict her statements to congress. >> also overnight, republican national committee is now backing and funding embattled senate nominee roy moore after the president endorsed him out loud yesterday but not all republicans agree with the president's support of the accused child molester. his backing of moore comes one week before the special election in alabama and it also comes as a woman who said she dated roy moore as a teenager comes forward with evidence of their relationship. we have it all covered. let's begin with cnn's joe johns at the white house with our top

story this morning. good morning, joe. >> good morning, poppy. the significance of this is that it is reality sinking in when the president's lawyers, as well as the country at large try to come to grips with what happens and which rules as well as which facts apply when the president's top adviser, a key confidante, finds himself in the position of pleading guilty as well as cooperating with federal investigators in a complex case that could implicate not just the u.s. federal criminal code but also the u.s. constitution. white house lawyer ty cobb downplaying the justice defense put forward by president trump's personal lawyer, john dowd, telling "the washington post" while dowd's assertion that a president cannot obstruct swrus because he's the nation's top

law enforcement officer is an interesting legal issue, it is not mr. trump's official legal strategy. >> frankly the idea that our president is above the law, not only above the law but free to interfere with any investigation and act in ways that are obstruction of justice is nix nixonian and, i think, unacceptable. >> dowd floating his as to whether this could lead to a potential obstruction of justice case. the tweet, which he said he drafted which suggests that the president knew that his former national security adviser michael flynn lied to the president and the fbi before he allegedly urged former fbi director james comey to drop the investigation into flynn. he was told by don mcgamn in february that flynn misled the

administration about communications with russians. >> we told him we felt like the vice president and others were entitled to know that the information that they were conveying to the american people wasn't true. >> reporter: despite mcgann's recommendation the president kept flynn on the job for weeks with access to the nation's most classified information, trump caving eventually to public pressure, firing flynn but insisting he was a good man. the president now defending flynn, after he pled guilty friday to lying to the fbi. >> i feel badly for general flynn. hillary clinton lied many times to the fbi. nothing happened to her. flynn lied and they destroyed his life. i think it's a shame. >> flynn's deputy k.t. mcfarland also under scrutiny over apparent inconsistencies in her testimony about flynn. mcfarland told the senate foreign relations committee in july that she was not aware of any communications between flynn and former russian ambassador

sergey kislyak. unsealed documents show that flynn spoke to a senior transition official before meeting with kislyak. although mcfarland was not specifically mentioned, cnn has confirmed she was the referenced official. >> it appears that's a falsely misrepresentation to the senate. >> reporter: a big temporary win in the courts for the president and the administration, of course, allowing the president's travel ban to go forward while challenges to that policy make their way through the courts. chris and poppy? >> joe, appreciate it. let's bring in cnn political analyst david gregory and national security analyst ashar. let's start with this proposition, david gregory, politically, okay? we went from nobody is investigating the president. don't say that mueller is investigating the president.

comey said he isn't. two, even if this was obje obstruction of justice, you can't charge a sitting president with that because of the nixon rule and what we learned during that and that he is the chief executive in terms of administration of justice. so, you can't charge him with obstruction of justice when he has sole authority over justice. >> well, i mean, it's a dizzying turn of events in the last couple of days. at the very least beyond the incredibly sloppy lawyering because somebody's not telling the truth about all of this. if the president knew that his national security adviser had lied to the fbi and to his vice president about contacts with the russians and then later on turns into fire the fbi director because he doesn't like the investigation after, according to the fbi director he says, hey, go easy on this guy, then you've got a real grounds for obstruction of justice. that's just the bottom line. you have the president coming

out. this is the president of the united states, accusing hillary clinton of lying to the fbi, based on what evidence? >> right. >> the president of the united states, no evidence making that claim. the fbi feels differently. there's a president trying to undermine the federal bureau of investigation that has certainly been criticized for some of its decision making. but it certainly had its integrity still upheld for all the agents working to defend the country. the president is trashing them. this is an extraordinary turn of events, bringing more and more attention on the president and perhaps the biggest area of investigation by the special counsel that would relate directly to the president's conduct, brought on by himself. there would be no independent prosecutor, were it not for the president taking the extraordinary step of firing the man who is leading the investigation into this whole issue. >> david gregory, i'm so glad you brought up that point.

comey testified in july under oath that there is no evidence that hillary clinton lied to the fbi and the president said the contrary with the lack of any evidence. i'm old enough to remember when, back in 1999 then senator jeff sessions and mitch mcconnell and 40 republican lawmakers were going after the president and using the terms obstructing justice, then president clinton, saying he obstructed justice in the monica lewinsky affair investigation. now you have the argument, as chris just laid out, that the white house is saying that the president cannot obstruct justice. >> right. so, obstruction of justice was in the articles of impeachment for both nixon and for clinton. >> yeah. >> and, listen, this is a legal strategy. that's what we need to understand. you argue that your client can't obstruct justice when, on the facts, you cannot argue that he

didn't. so, as the evidence mounts this is what the lawyers are going to do. this can be litigated. the vast majority of scholars reject this idea and what's being described as the unitary executive. it basically says the president can essentially do whatever he wants in this area. and this has been tested in other areas, george w. bush and the war on terror with military courts. so, it can go to a court and have that decided. i think that it's an uphill battle for dowd. the weight of history and the fundamental principles of our founding fathers in the declaration of independence charged king george with obstructing justice. >> there you go. >> so -- >> let's also remember our friend and colleague, jeff toobin in his "new yorker" piece makes this point. question of obstruction as it relates to impeachment is

fundamentally a political process and it was for nixon and, by the way, it was for andrew johnson, to go way old school, who was lincoln's vice president, who was ultimately impeached. and there was a fury at the time that's detailed in this new biography of ulysses s. grant as to whether it was pure politics for his dismissal of a federal official. what president ford described obstruction is whatever congress thinks it is as it's weighing an impeachment charge. >> that's true. i know this sounds a little bit in the weeds here. alisyn calls it broccoli all the time. >> i like that. >> there's different standards. mueller can charge you with a time versus the politicians in congress can try to impeach you for a high crime or misdemeanor which means nothing. high crimes and misdemeanors

doesn't mean high crimes or misdemeanors. madison came up with the phrase to give some substance to it. it's just about politics. so parallel paths and obstruction of justice would have very different standards on each. let's look at how people are reacting to this today. "the new york times," let's put up the op-ed, the language from it and discuss it. it was bad enough for the president to attempt to interfere in any way with law enforcement investigation of one of his top aides but with saturday's tweet mr. trump admitted that he knew mr. flynn had committed a federal crime at the time he fired mr. comey for refusing to stop investigating him. to most people with a functioning prefrontal cortex, it sure sounds like mr. trump is admitting to interfering or endeavoring to interfere with the conduct of investigations. he can impede and interfere with

investigations. he can stop and start investigations. >> that's right. >> he can remove the head of the fbi. it's why. alan dershowitz does support this proposition, you can't look at why he does it. he either has the power to remove people or he doesn't. the alternative legal theory is what? >> well, i would disagree with dershowitz. >> i know you will. >> the president can't remove someone on the basis of race or religion. that would still be illegal. he cannot simply act on whatever motives he wants. there are going to be limits and they're going to look at what his motives r actually, this is part of what was motivating the travel ban litigation. the president has brought authority to determine who comes in and out of this country. what they were looking at was, was it being motivated by an anti-muslim animous?

the president does have a wide latitude but even in u.s. v. nixon they looked at executive privilege. >> what got all this started yesterday morning sounds a whole lot like former president nixon's defense in 1977. let's listen to that for a moment. >> saying that there are certain situation situations, the houston panel, that was one of them, where the president can decide it's in the best interest of the nation or something and do something illegal. >> when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal. >> and the beginning of "the new york times" editorial board that chris read is you know you have a problem when you've been pres president for less than 11 months and are already relying on richard nixon's legal defense.

david, your thoughts. >> couple of things. what professor dershowitz will argue, in part, is what you're hearing out of the legal circle for president trump. his decision to fire the fbi director was actually related to his handling, if you can believe this -- which strains credulity -- his handling of the e-mail situation of hillary clinton and that was his reason for dismissing him. we know based on what the president has said that he was so angry about how he was handling this russia investigation that he wanted it to stop. that's the bigger point here. we have the president of the united states, cutting and thrashing his way through institutions in washington, bad mouthing the fbi. by the way, we have to put into this conversation maybe he's going to try to fire mueller. we haven't said that in a few weeks. why would you assume he wouldn't? >> he can't the same way.

he could directly remove comey. there's steps with mueller. >> rosenstein would resign before that, and on and on. why don't we presume that the president would try to make that kind of move? it becomes a political process at the outset. >> at the end of the day -- asha's eyebrows went up when david was saying it. why they would want to offer up evidence as to why he removed comey. as soon as it becomes relevant to the discussion, he is exposed to analysis for obstruction of justice. and that's the thickett that they're in right now. rangappa, david gregory, thank you. the name sounds italian to me. that's the only reason i get it right. it's good. >> joining president trump in support of roy moore. is this just putting party over

morality for a senate vote? is it as simple as that? does that make it okay? next. ow, the wrapping paper doesn't make the holidays. it's what's inside that counts. it's a phone for mom. okay, well, it's also what's inside the phone that counts, too. circuits? no, the network. so the network is inside the phone? well, no, the network's around the phone. and verizon is the most awarded network ever. that's why more people count on it. here you go. (announcer) a gift is only as good as the network it's on. so give a pixel 2 and get up to $300 off with no trade-in required.

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after the accusations of sexual abuse of a teenage girl. cnn's kaylee hartung. >> reporter: the explicit endorsement of the president of the united states and the official backing of the rnc. in this deeply conservative state, republicans remain split. the republican national committee restoring its support for embattled candidate roy moore, despite allegations of sexual assaults and pursuing relationships with teenage girls. president trump endorsed moore, tweeting that the gop needs moore's vote to advance the political aswrenda. >> the rnc following mr. trump's

lead, transferring money to the alabama gop. the committee that works to elect republicans to the senate refusing to follow suit. committee's chair maintaining his commitment to staying out of the race after saying last month that moore is, quote, unfit to serve. if he refuses to withdraw and wins, the senate should vote for expel him. senator mitch mcconnell initially towing the same line. >> he is not fit to be in the united states senate and have looked at all options to prevent that from happening. >> reporter: over the weekend he, too, reversed that decision. >> do you believe he should be in the senate? >> i'm going to let alabama people make that call. >> reporter: a stain on the gop and on the nation. no vote, no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity as debbie weson-gibson, who

claims that she dated moore when she was 17 and he was 34 comes forward with more evidence. >> it was a high school graduation greeting card from roy moore. happy graduation, debbie. i wanted to give you this card myself. i know that you'll be a success in anything you do, roy. >> reporter: moore initially said he knew gibson but did not remember dating her before backtracking. >> i do not know any of these women, did not date any of these women and did not engage in any sexual misconduct with anyone. >> we kissed with my consent and i'm very sad to say that he doesn't know me. this is the first thing i've seen that i know personal lly aa fact to be a lie from his mouth. >> accused of sexually assaulting her when she was 16, allegations moore denies.

>> in response to the new evidence debbie wesson-gibson has shared of that relationship she alleges she had with roy moore, we obtained this statement, quote, the washington post is reaching. roy moore also said he knew debbie wesson and her family but did not recall any formal dates. furthermore when he stated he did not know any women he was referring to those who accused him of sexual assault. debbie wesson-gibson says that moore pursued her as a teenager. there are four other women who says that moore abused or assaulted them sexually. >> we are one week away from that special election in alabama. let's bring back david gregory and our reporter at large, chris cillizza with the point. that's the last thing i read last night, chris, before i went to bed. >> oh, good. >> and your point was so on, i wrote it down. let's have you go through it. when you see the president come

out yesterday morning and back roy moore, you know, explicitly in his tweet, you say it all comes down to his world view on one thing. how does this affect me. >> yeah. >> is that really it? >> i think it does. donald trump is not unique in that. most people, myself included probably think i wonder what this would mean for me when something happens but he does so to a huge extent and more so than we've seen from people in the past in that role. he has seen in roy moore a kindred spirit, believes that roy moore has been wrongly accused, the way that he has been wrongly accused, by women of sexual conduct around them. he sees roy moore stuck it to the establishment, the same way he stuck it to the establishment. so, in a lot of ways it makes

perfect sense he's endorsing roy moore even though i suspect if you had george w. bush, george h.w. bush as president, mitt romney as president -- pick a republican not named donald trump. i don't imagine you would see an endorsement. >> but also let's be quick to look at the president through the right lens. i see him as a symptom of the disease because, david fwregry, to cillizza's point you saw a lot of tail turning and quickly that seems to make a very simple point. when it suits them you're hearing republicans in power say let's leave it to the voters in alabama. they want the seat. they're putting party and the numbers and the math ahead of the morality in this situation. not to falsely convict mr.

moore. he has the right to attack accusations. not all accusations are equal. but this is the political play, is it not? >> absolutely. they made a moral play. we keep talking about how they don't have much spine when it comes to certain things that president trump says or does. in this case, you had all the congressional leaders come out and say this guy should step aside, talking about roy moore, that he's not fit to be a senator. how many senators were on this program saying, look, if he's voted in, he will be expeled. he will not be seated. they stated it as a fact. they overreached because the bottom line is they were looking for all kinds of ways to derail him and he would not be shamed out of the race. president trump held back. now he decided that, hey, if he's going to fight this thing in the same way that he, donald trump, fought accusations against him in the campaign, maybe he will ride it out and maybe he'll win. the net effect of this is that

maybe roy moore becomes a senator. it's a tight race in which republicans perhaps have a reliable vote on aspects of this aswrenda. what is certain is that to whatever extent that the republican party and donald trump will be nationalized in the midterm race, roy moore is a big part of that because the opposition is going to play all of the sound that you've heard from congressional leaders and say hey, this is the republican party of today. you know, they're going to raise your taxes if you're in the middle class eventually. they're going to benefit the rich and they've got guys like roy moore as the party. that's what the campaign is going to be. >> if you listen to mitt romney, he's saying there are certain things that are not worth have the majority, in his words on twitter, a stain on the gop and on the nation. leigh corfman and others are courageous heroes. no vote, no majority is worth

losing our honor, our integrity. is mitt romney on an island? >> no, i don't think so. mitch mcconnell said the guy shouldn't serve. corey gardner said we will expel him, or we should, if he's in. i think this is just sort of rubber meets road pragmatism at this point. they tried the moral shaming route. didn't work. roy moore not to be shamed. staying in the race. and now mcconnell and others are doing what politicians do, trying to make the best of a very bad situation. i think they now recognize there's at least a 50/50 shot. i tend to think it's better. and, as i think i said on this show, the idea that they would expel him a week after the people of alabama voted him in, knowing full well what the allegations against roy moore are never really held water. i would be stunned if that happen. >> i agree. >> that's why we see people like

orrin hatch saying these allegations were years ago. i still think there's real danger here. i think mitt romney is right. winning at all costs comes with a price. maybe not a price you realize on december 13th, but a year or twos time, you do. what do you stand for? that, to me, is the longer term danger. >> if you strip away all these accusations they still have that problem with roy moore. this man is getting a great benefit of analysis by just this set of accusations. not that they should be taken seriously but there are plenty of reasons. this man has been removed twice from office as the type judge for just ignoring the secular nature of this country. gentlemen, thank you very much. to be continued for sure. in just hours, embattled congressman john conyers, democrat, will make an

announcement on his political future in a radio interview. "new york times" reports that conyers will not seek re-election amidst accusations that he committed sexual misconduct. he settled one case using taxpayer dollars. >> forcing thousands to evacuate. we have the late-breaking details next. that's good. lica misses you. i'm over it though. (laughter) that's fine. i miss her more than you anyway. ♪ ♪ hey, my window is closing. yeah that's okay. alright miles. i love you. (phone hangs up) ♪ ♪ yeah i love you too. ♪ ♪

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a fast-moving wildfire forced thousands to evacuate. powerful santa ana winds keep pushing this blaze east. estimated 25,000 acres have burned so far. more than 260,000 customers now without power. the great lakes and the midwest are about to get a taste of winter. cnn meteorologist chad myers has the forecast. what's coming, my friend? >> record highs yesterday and morning lows down to around 10 in minneapolis. it was 72 degrees in kansas city yesterday. today, nowhere near it. this weather is brought to you by purina. your pet, our passion. the first true cold front of the year. cold hooint behind it. warm still ahead of it. 58 grow in new york, almost 60 in d.c. today before this rain arrive tomorrow. there will be rain rush hour tonight in the big cities but

the heavy rain is overnight. from 57 to 38 to 29, new york city, high on thursday only 45. more impressive are the morning lows. chicago, on thursday, will be 20. that's the end of growing season no matter where you are, even if you cover up the plants, you can't survive that. here comes the cold air. >> here comes the cold air. it was balmy when i was home in minnesota last week, 50 degrees. glad i'm back here. ahead for us, billy bush opening up about that lewd access hollywood tape, responding to president trump, questioning whether it's actually his voice. >> i said okay, you're reopening wounds on them, too. enough is enough. stop playing around with people's lives. >> all right. we'll discuss it with the experts. billy bush opens up next. [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ]

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former nbc host billy bush speaking out for the first time since being fired because of that "access hollywood" tape with president trump. making it clear, clear to everybody with ears. >> everybody. >> it is donald trump's voice on that tape as mr. trump is trying to change the facts. >> last week for some reason came out with that's not my voice on the tape. like i said, you can't say that. that is your voice i was there. you were there. that's your voice on the tape. 20 women don't get together and say, hey, do you know what would be really fun? let's take down a powerful guy

together. no, they don't. and i said okay, you're reopening wounds on them, too. enough enough. stop playing around with people's lives. >> joining us now, cnn media correspondent and analyst bill carter. how does this play for bush? >> attempt at a comeback, obviously. he has a lot to offer. he's positioning himself as anti-trump, as the better man who actually learned a lesson after this embarrassing incident. trump does not steeple to have learned a lesson from either the tape release or from the allegations that came forward against him, including the woman that was here on this program yesterday. billy bush is claiming he has learned a lesson. he'll need to prove that. it won't just be one interview that will help him get back to his former national tv presence but seems like he's on the right path. doesn't it? >> what about the impact of this?

people who watch stephen colbert, talk about the reach of the impact and how it may be much more narrow than billy bush hopes. >> yes. people he's speaking to are people who will spobd the way he wants them to respond and jumping on the whole issue, which is in the news. everybody knows we're talking about sexual harassment things. it's a national discussion. it's smart for billy bush to say this is my rehabilitation mode. i'm going to jump in and say i support these women. i think it's sincere, but it's very smart. >> "new york times" gave him an excuse, by reporting that trump was privately casting doubt on the tape it gave bush a reason to enter the national conversation. he said i would have loved to claim the tape was fake, that it wasn't my voice but you can't do that. >> trump is trying to deny it, there's also a witness. besides his voice on the tape there's a witness. >> no need to substantiate the

voracity of the tape. >> not at all. >> the problem for the president on this, when you lie and you do it poorly -- that's an important thing to note -- it becomes a reflection of what you say on other things that will matter a hell of a lot more than this tape and he has now made it clear he is willing to fabricate what is fact if it serves his interest. billy bush also serves as a mirror on our current state of play. confusing aspect of this is the chronology. if billy bush had happened now, this tape had happened now, it would be wait a minute, wait a minute. what's the point of our reporting? what are we trying to do with these exposes? do we want change, do we want things better for women in the workplace and men in the workplace or are we in a gotcha game? billy bush smacks of a gotcha game. the man was not accused of doing a single damn thing that was on his tape but lost his job because of the sensitivities at

the time, that he seemed to be enabling. what did they call it, a willing bystander? >> right. >> that that was his crime. what do you think of that now? >> obviously it's in a different category. he wasn't a participant in the sense of what trump was accused of. but he was sort of going along with it. and there are people who say he was sort of laughing about it himself before this -- and he even said -- the tape came out three days after he was aware of it. he missed an opportunity. should he have been fired is really kind of the question. you could have said this is over the top. let's suspend the guy. he was like cut off at the knees right away. that was before the climate now. the climate is more sensitive now. i think he would be in more trouble in a way now. look at the sam cedar episode, a tweet years ago that was out of context, a joke and he lost his job. the sensitivities are even more

heightened now. >> it's easy for a corporation to fire somebody. it is hard for them to change their culture and their structure. what is the goal of the reporting? if it's to see that happen we've got a lot more work to do. gentlemen, thank you very much. this was an interesting conversation. here is an interesting question for some. can a sitting president obstruct justice? you're all saying maybe of course, of course. nobody is above the law. that's not what president trump's top lawyer says. top white house lawyer downplays that as a defense. what's the confusion here? we'll ask the former head of the cia and nsa, michael hayden with his take next. [vo] quickbooks introduces rodney.

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president trump's personal lawyer invoking a defense that was kind of used by richard nixon. the defense is this.

the president cannot commit obstruction of justice because he is the nation's chief law enforcement officer. but white house attorney is downplaying that defense. let's discuss with cnn national security analyst michael hayden, former director of the cia and nsa. sir, thank you. always a pleasure to have you. >> good morning. >> we have the can and we have the should. let's start with the can. do you believe a sitting president can be charged with obstruction of justice criminally? >> wonderful question. and i think the most telling point is here we are this morning on national tv and this has become so all-consuming that you're asking the former head of the central intelligence agency for a legal opinion. and what this tells me is my lawyers at nsa and cia used to remind me that when you own the facts, you argue the facts. when you don't own the facts,

you argue the law. and what we've seen since mike flynn's guilty plea last friday is now the administration is trying to argue the law rather than argue the facts. to me, that's very revealing as to what's happening behind the screen there. >> i'll make three quick points. one, that was a good duck of my question, by the way, by way of story, which is always good. you wrapped me into it. two, you're right, it does show how far we've come. the initial pushback is the president is not under investigation. comey said it. we don't care what mueller is doing. and we have seen some creep in that as the circumstances have changed. we also have to make the distinction between criminal conduct and what would be the subject matter for impeachment. they're different standards. if politicians take this up, it's different. they may say obstruction of swrus but high crimes and misdemeanors doesn't mean anything under the law other than what it can invoke in a

number of votes. people have to keep that separate in their mind. let's leave the legality of the possibility aside and go to the practicality of it. on what you've seen with this new key understanding, if the president of the united states knew that michael flynn lied to the fbi when he went to swrjim comey and said i hope you can see your way clear of letting him go, does that smell like obstruction of justice to you? >> of course it does in the english meaning of those words. you point out that the key matter here. this is going to be decided at the political level. i mean, does this constitution high crimes and misdemeanors? and so if i'm now a station chief here in washington for a foreign power and my government is asking me what is going on here, the answer i have to give is that despite whatever facts may be out there, i would doubt

seriously whether a republican-controlled house of representatives would ever draw up a build impeachment. that's quite different from the circumstances in the 1970s when a republican house did exactly that. >> what mueller does with his criminal purview is a different standard and that would be more acute concern for the president at this stage apparently. another issue. the president was attacking the legitimacy, the reputation of the fbi. it is assumed that is because of what happened with flynn and that the president attacks that which he feels threatened by. they will offer a different understanding, the people around him. it's oh, no, no, no, it's not about flynn. it's about the fbi agent dismissed from the mueller team because he showed an obvious buy as against the president of the united states. this is the same man who helped with the language for jim comey, to reduce the standard on

hillary clinton, from gross negligence, which would have triggered legal application under a statute, to extreme carelessness, which was more benign. this is the guy, this is the proof that the fbi was dirty when it came to helping clinton and hurting trump. your take? >> back to that cable. i just imagine myself writing from washington back to my national capital, trying to explain the big picture of what's going on here. the big picture is the sound you've been hearing out of washington or american institutions pushing back against a lot of the actions of the trump administration. and now what we are seeing is the administration, i think as a matter of strategy, is trying to discredit those institutions. for the fbi it's strock and witch hunt. for intelligence when it presents things the president doesn't want to hear, they're being led by political hacks and for you guys it's fake news. and that's the fundamental

struggle that's going on now. by the way, if i'm the head of one of those institutions, i'm going to my guys every morning and telling them, folks, the standard here now is we've got to be perfect. zero defects. if we're not, the administration is going to exploit our weakness, our misstep to discredit us wholly. >> you know the old expression. when you've got one finger pointing at somebody else you've got a bunch of them pointing back at you. general, always a pleasure. appreciate your perspective, sir. rnc overnight opening up the financial lifeline and spigot after president trump endorsed him. what impact will this have? sn't, it may be time for a change.

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you cannot charge a president of the united states with obstruction of justice. >> he is not above the law. >> trying to place this in clear violation of the court's instruction, i think he's dead in the water. >> what he's demonstrating here is sheer contempt for the judicial process. >> the rnc, throwing their support behind roy moore after president trump's endorsement. >> the president wants to make sure that his agenda is accomplished in washington. >> we'll have a tough enough time