kate? >> great to see you. thanks so much. >> thank you so much for joining me at this hour. inside politics with john king starts right now. >> the president lashes out at the special counsel and made clear his family business is now under the microscope. plus, help wanted. the president needs a chief of staff and they said no thanks. they rush to send signals they are not that interested in. the democrats need a washington outsider on top of the 2020 ticket. >> on a scale of 1 to 10, 10

being you're running, how close are you? >> i would say we are past 50-50. probably 6.4, 6.5. >> to begin the hour with the current president, the details on what he is looking for as he looks for his next chief of staff as many wonder who would want the job in the first place. the leader was nick ayers serving as the vice president's chief of staff. they said ayers and the president could not agree on the position's terms. trump wanted him to commit for two years and ayers declined. kaitlyn is live at the white house. the president and nick ayers, their deal fell apart, but they have a task the president gave the man we thought would take the job before he said no, thank

you. >> the president had given him instructions for what had he wanted it to look like. one thing thing and he wanted a thorough review of how it operates. president trump wants it to be more politically focused. come january when the newly empowered democrats have the power that they will force his secretaries to testify. they have controversial policy decisions and president trump wanted to make sure the west wing is ready for that and they are focused moving forward. that was one of the biggest complains is that he did not feel the retired general was shrewd enough to handle that. he didn't know what it would look like. nick ayers would not take the

job since he wanted to do it on an interim basis. we are talking to sources who say this is something president trump is going to want and whoever his next chief of staff is. when president trump hired johnicle, he wanted to instill a sense of order that many people saw as chaotic. he was handling that aspect rather than being focussed on legislation earning the things they would typically focus o. several names are being floated. who exactly could be the next chief of staff. >> only sharing their insight and reporting.

cnn's manu raju. interesting reporting. makes perfect sense of they are heading into reelection and you want to have the white house. this is just one piece of this. they are not properly staffed at every level. not just the top people, but the deputies. where does the president go now? and clear reporting he is not that interested. now some of this could be fake, but he is not interested. lighthizer has come up. he's not interested. david bossy's name has come up and mark meadows and republican congressman said absolutely not.

there is a certain amount of people saying no, no, i don't want the job. in order that they don't stick their heads up too high because it's a bad thing to do to get too much media coverage in the trump administration. i think several people would do the job out of duty and wanting the job, but will this president empower his next chief of staff to run the white house and give them power to hire and fire people and make them the ultimate authority. we already know the answer to that. i think that explains the red t reluctance. >> you will be mocked on twitter and spend monolegal fees. they will start with legal power. the timing here would make anybody, even a highly qualified candidate, would give you pause.

>> he wanted to stay a shorter period of time than donald trump wanted him to stay. there are other factors here including would he be empowered to hire and fire. that's always in question. would he have the running room to make should have these decision that is the president seems to be saying he wants the chief of staff to make, but that have not been a part of how they work. it's fascinating to hear that the president is thinking about having a chief of staff. it's not as though they have focused so heavily on policy and legislation, this has been different than other white houses. this is the steve of staff who at least tried to impose some sort of process that doesn't work that way. whether it's policy or politics or anything else.

the case for ayers in that transitional role was a recognition that after those mid-term elections and cake over in the house was different. in the case to be made, you want a chief of staff who understands basically dogs are coming and that understands how to play defense and how to play an offensive game and recognition and that was done with that and it was messaging and how to bolster the white house counsel's office and how to turn democrats against one another. the strategic goals of the next two years are different than the first two even if politics is the umbrella. >> the rest of the party is in a

panic. they know nick aiers and they figured he reaches out to his mentors including those that said you want to take this job at this time? they hear mick mulvaney and they say okay. whether you are the republican leadership or the interest groups around town. the medration of business. you hear those names and you panic. that's right, even though they perform and they didn't really have much control of this president. they did what they wanted. the republican leaders believe they can speak to them and reach out when they wanted to vent to them. maybe there would be influence in how the white house moved forward. they realized there was not a lot that two men could do. i would be surprised.

they are not interested in going that route. he did end up taking that position and the job he has that will be the minority. much more visible than a job working underneath this president. normally if you were a republican congressman who spent just two years and you get to be the chief of staff, you march right down. the president said jump and you say how high. how trump diminished the job. if that's the issue, i'm sorry, any republican congressman would be saying mr. approximate presidenapproximate -- mr. president, why? >> what we have seen in reince priebus and john kelly said this

was something unquestionable questions. he went on to be the mayor of chicago. leon panetta went on to be the secretary. people started to ask questions. is it going to help me or hurt me? that's a question that would not have been asked. the 36-year-old ambitious republican operative and nobody doubts his political skill who said no, thanks. i think this might hurt my repetition more than it will help it. that says something about how the president treated his chiefs of staff and they emerged as diminished figures. that's more of a statement on the president than them. >> mark meadows may be chairman if he stays and the republicans take back the house. who knows what you will be doing in two more years. >> the president set them up and

considered them obstacles or competitors. he shot holes in them. >> never the boss's responsibility. it's striking. up next for us, an overabundance of bread crumbs and the latest revelations and what they mean for the president. a quick update on another case. this is the case of the accused russian spy. she reached a plea deal with prosecutors. she is accused of trying to infiltrate the campaign to advance russian interests. her attorneys filed a request for a change of plea hearing. we will give you the details when we know more. we'll be right back. is not always easy. it's a long-distance journey, and you have the determination to keep going. humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for over 10 years. humira works inside the body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. most adults taking humira

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the president clearly feeling deeply unsettled from the russia investigation and the southern district of new york. the new documents detailing allegations of members of his

inner circle and accusing the president himself of violating campaign finance laws, giving democrats reasons to eagerly speculate on the president's fate, suggesting his future could include impeachment, indictment, some say prison time. >> i think the more important point is trump knows he is facing pretty strong criminal liability when he leaves office, one way or another. even if his sitting president can't be indicted, his future looks like it's behind bars unless he cuts a sort of deal with the prosecutors. >> president the president continues to defend his johnson. the president saying a new pair of tweets here. democrats can't find a smocking gun. we will assume he means smoking gun. he said smocking gun. he said it twice. no collusion. and finishes with a classic

trump closer, witch hunt. there is not a legal term, smocking gun? >> very eso terric term. >> when you read the specificity, what is unusual is in which the southern district of new york said the president is a candidate who committed felony violations. they said he did. behind bars s. that a stretch that even if the president were guilty of the finances, you don't go to jail for this. could you? >> you certainly could. there are many violations that are more and something like this where you are engaging in fraught and preerpetrate fraud

people. the question really is to my mind, but how much more trouble will trump create for himself at this point? more is revealed by mueller and if he gets himself in hot water with inconsistent statements. then i think they might want to pursue him after his office is over. otherwise if there is an impeachment, i don't think they will pursue it. >> jerry natler is in line to be the chairman. the democrats will be in charge. he is reading the campaign finance violations and because he is one of the democrats, he is one to say let mueller keep going. if they have several months more of work, let them finish. let's go. even what he has seen so far, it

does meet the definition of impeachment. >> they would be impeachable offenses. whether or not they are important or not,u even though they were committed before the president became president, they were committed in fraudulently obtaining the office. that would be an impeachable offense. >> this is why this is so important to the democrats. in the sense that you have a specific clear allegation laid out by a u.s. attorney's office appointed by donald trump and now, what's the push back with oversight here. we are going to have our own investigations. they will look into the charges

themselves. it's important he made the legal question or the congressional question of whether they are impeachable and the political question of whether his committee and the democrats want to pursue impeachment. it may come sooner rather than later because of these charges that those two will be harder to make. if you have democrats who want to go swiftly towards impeachment and democrats who want to hang back, both agree that they are impeachable, how do you make the case to their base that we are not going to do that. >> ironically if this were year seven of the trump administration heading into year seven rather than year three, it would be an easier case to unify around. impeachment is a remedy for something that could be happening in the court system to an individual who was not an

office holder. elections are political and the president is running for reelection. your overarching goal is to win the white house next time. how do you balance the two goals? impeachment would not succeed in the end because of control of the senate. are you hurting or helping your case? >> that's still always with the consideration as now. >> the reasonable argument is look, these guys are putting court filings in a couple of times a week. keep them going. if these are republican-led investigations, bob mueller in the southern district of new york, let them keep going. one of the fascinating parts is near silence. they have to answer the question about the question, a federal prosecutor said the president of the united states committed this.

this is marco rubio and added a lot of ifs. let's wait. it's an accusation and allegation. even he is starting to get to this. >> if someone violated the law, it should apply to them like any other citizen. if you are in a great authority like the president, that would be the case. >> if, if, if. this is getting harder for republicans. >> i think that's right. >> the concern among republican who is see the trump white house buroughing in on itself, "the washington post" used the bunker mentality. there is not going to be a recognition in the white house of how much trouble they are in and how to respond. as far as the democrats are concerned, the question is because impeachment is potentially something that can backfire on them in the 2020 election and while they might succeed in the house, would it backfire on them and would they

lose the election and would it be a self-defeating act? >> of all that talk, the real new really is this development last week. tremendously important. >> how it affects hiring a new chief of staff. it affects everything they do. the president knows the trump organization is now under investigation. the president knows everybody in the campaign who might have possibly known about the payment is under investigation. the president knows he is under investigation. they are telling us what they have to tell us. they are leaving out a lot. i want to bring this into the investigation. i made fun of the president who said smocking gun twice. smocking is a type of embroidery made of many small folds sewn into place. he either misspells things or to

the indictment question, we were having a little fun. the president has typos, but it's not a funny issue. to the indictment question, if you read some of the languages, the statute of limitations, can they file a sealed indictment or would those things disappear. >> i don't think they would follow seal. there is an argument that the statute is fuzzy things. there is a continuing violation that would get you out. >> we won't see bumper stickers. >> i don't think so. >> up next, hold on to your wallet. trouble causing turmoil on wall street today. are you a veteran, own a home, and need cash? you should know about the newday va home loan for veterans.

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♪ welcome back. the dow falling to start the week. this as investors start new fears about brexit. teresa may said she is postponing a vote on her deal with the government of england that they struck with the eu. she acknowledged widespread concern about parts of the agreement and said she will press the eu about changes and plan for the possibility that no

agreement will be reached. we go to the market. christina, brexit and trade wars is a lot to ponder. >> a few things are spooking investors. trade is one of them. today a chinese court essentially banned apple from importing and selling iphone into china. that is seen largely as retaliation against the united states and the trade war between the u.s. and china is unresolved. investors don't like that. that was bad news. more bad news with brexit and whether or not the uk will be able to divorce from the eu in an orderly fashion. why do investors care about an orderly exit? they don't want to see any disruption in economic growth anywhere in the world and if you have an orderly exit divorcing

the eu, especially, that may cause ripple effects at a time when they are starting to use the r word. recession. you hear it from investors and economists and look at the market and say okay, does this mean anything? do the volatile days and the downturn in the market mean we have a fundamental problem in economic growth. and potentially a problem in domestic growth. that is the big question mark that investors are pondering at the end of the yearment we don't see the high volatility days in december. they are trying to figure it out. >> rocky day after a rocky week. up next, the white house braces for a flood of democratic investigations. where does the new white house counsel start?

welcome back. another new face in an important white house job. today is the first day on the job for the white house counsel. it has been nearly two months since don mcgahn resign and weeks before democrats take control of the house with a long list of oversight investigations. while the primary responsibility is to protect the office of the presidency and not the president himself, he wants to advise the trump team and also served as a justice department official. emmet flood served on an interim basis and he will return as

special counsel to the president dealing largely with the mueller investigation. americans don't tend to know the game of t name, but it's an incredibly measure-packed job at the white house. how will this be different? they thought don mcgahn was a problem. will this work? >> they will probably know the name of donald trump's white house counsel. he was an incredibly important player and going to be an important player and his team as well are going to be amongst of the most important behind the scenes players. in his office, though they aren't involved in responding to the russia investigation, they will leave the charge in defending the president from democrats on capitol hill.

that will be important to the president. he took the interesting move of hiring a deputy whose charge is going to be leading the charges. for that reason, you will see increased prominence and increased prominence for the rest of his team. >> every time a subpoena is issued, any of the committee that is the democrats have on the house side when they try to get information involving the president or something he personally did as president or something the administration did, family separation and we had this whole question about security clearances and did they play fast, there is this question about the president's tax returns and should they have access to those? every time they issue a subpoena, there is going to be a team of lawyers at white house that has to figure out thou respond. what are they going to give or withhold and whether to exercise privilege in certain cases or

not. they will have to coordinate with the agencies and some of the things that come out through the investigations and we are not talking about impeachment, but investigating what the president has done as president and potentially what his tax returns may show. all of that will have to go through his office and his team. >> environmental and business regulati regulations. you mentioned immigration. this is the clean air and the water. buffer jump in, this is jerry nadler, the key of one committee. there will be dozens of committees. maybe it's a subpoena. this is the world we are about to get into. >> do you have to look at the russian interference or what did the president know about that? if he did cooperate, we have to look at his business dealings and if he is lying on about that and we have to look at the fact

that he surrounded himself with crooks and we have to get to the bottom of this and find out all the facts. and then make decisions. >> natler sent a letter saying all these requests the last two years, they want a response to those requests. talking to republicans on the hill, they are advising the white house to not comply with the requests to fight a lot of these requests and people will be held in contempt. also protecting the white house staff will be crucial. jarrett kushner will be focusing on the foreign affairs committee and will be interested in looking at saudi arabia and potentially jared kushner's ties to the crown prince. over the weekend it showed that he weathered the storms and the aftermath of the jamal khashoggi

murder. those will come by the counsel's office and how they respond to that inquiry. >> the president himself has these wins. often seen on twitter. marco rubio saying please don't. if you look at manafort filings, the special counsel is kept in contact with the white house. that was part of an effort to say here, i will tell you everything i know about the investigation and maybe you will pardon me. >> the job that they are charged with doing. one is protecting or maximizing executive power and privilege. those worlds. t the other is balancing the job to represent the white house with the political pressure or impaerative to represent the president. in an ideal world, they would have the same interests. in this case they may not. the president has his own legal

team. what is the role going to be. it's a different job than out of white house counsel. the glimpse of what he saw over the last few days, the idea that the president would often ask him for things and say you can't do that under the law. that's part of the job to say this is your goal. these are the limitations on how you achieve that. >> we have a constitution or a treaty or a law. he is going to hire a lot of lawyers. a lot of jobs if you are a young lawyer. >> it's the season for a government shut down and a fight over the wall. can the president cut a deal with chuck and nancy? are you a veteran, own a home,

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congress is back to work with a short calendar with a

long list of things to get done before the shut down. the must do list includes funding a quarter of the government and reaching an agreement and overhauling the flood insurance program and providing disaster relief and extending a law against domestic violence. the greatest obstacle is the president's demand for border wall funding. chuck schumer and nancy pelosi set to meet with the president to talk things over. lindsey graham offers this advice for the president. >> if i were the president, i would dig in and not give in on additional wall funding. i would want the whole $5 billion. the caravan is a game changer. i want two years of wall funding and i will give legal status to the daca recipients. that's a good deal for the country. let's see what happens. the president is in a good spot here. he needs to dig in and not give in when it comes to wall funding. put daca on the table.

>> is the president in a good position? is that deal even possible in this environment? >> nancy pelosi said it's not. donald trump himself suggested it's not in interviews in the last couple of weeks. i think what lindsey graham is trying to do here is what a lot of people around president trump like to do in a room with skmuk nancy. to caution him against cutting a deal they said would be a bad deal. he would say i don't want to do that deal. i feel like i got played and lead to a bigger crack up. we are racing against the clock. he has given no indication he is willing to drop his $5 billion. chuck schumer and nancy pelosi have given no indication they are willing to come up to that. it's not clear what deal there is yet to be made. neither side has really shown willingness to get to the

middle. what the president is able to sell to himself in a win. i don't think there is a way that democrats is accept $5 billion. >> there is mistrust against the democrats. he doesn't trust chuck schumer. this is a new york city conspiracy. he is on the verge of giving trump his third down payment on the wall. it is meaningless unless we can assure we bring others along for the ride. you might as well call this the schumer-trump wall. >> it's interesting for that. that's one of the charpest critics on the floor. he believes her position and trusts her in the hard line position for the wall. schumer has gotten a lot of flack saying he is open to more

border security money. $1.6 billion with democrats and republicans on the senate side. democrats in the house believe that is too much money. this is not wall money. it's for fencing and other things. the white house believes it's a down payment to the wall funding. some say they believe it's i it's a down payment. how they navigate that is uncerta uncertain. >> in the middle of all that, they try to do the farm bill and flood insurance. the stuff that people get flacked for when they go home. is there any possibility and the other things people say here's the last chance this year. bob mueller protection bill and gemmen resolution. congress finally adopting

stronger rules about how it handles issues within the congress. all of these things and some of which there is bipartisan consensus on. going to fall away? >> many of them are likely to fall away, particularly because we are running up against christmas which means a lot of these lawmakers want to get out of town. i think they will be happy to set aside the initiatives. that may leave them. >> they don't need a lot of cooperation to get things through in the senate. the resolution is one to watch out for. that is used to bring that up. that would be a rebuke to the president. he pulls back involvement in yemen that they fiercely oppose. other than that. >> there is space for that one. on the immigration front, one of the challenges is whether they

trust president trump to do right by the daca pieces. there is no amount of border security you will commit to. >> they think they have more leverage. i would not be an optimist, but hopefully i will be wrong. >> negative campaign ads make him want to take a shower. can you run a positive campaign in 2020. is that your future president? g. when you buy one of the latest sumsung phones you get a free 50" samsung 4k tv. seriously, no! [announcer]seriously! t-mobile is giving you a free 50" tv. you gotta be kidding me. this deal won't last long. so get your free samsung tv at t-mobile store today. woooo!! pop pop pop!!

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today's democrats 2020 update. no announcement from the democratic governor, but he launched a pack to start organizing and raising cash. his party is pushing to elect more women and minorities. it's a goal for the future, but he said his timing could not be better. >> as a white guy, are you trying to calculate whether or not this is the right time for you? >> well, this is the time that worked out. i finished my term as governor. i finished in one month and i'm an enterprise and a problem solver and bringing people together that have been antagonistic. that's someone that could bring the constituencies back

together. >> yes, no, maybe so? >> why not? everybody is running. everybody in the democratic party. why not run for a peperle state governor of the important state in 2020? why not? this is wide open. i was talking to somebody considering it himself and told me that there is an opportunity for anyone to rub. >> he's an outsider. a two-term governor and oversaw marijuana legalization and passed gun control legislation and geology and he brews beer. >> there is one thing. let's not gloss over that. if there is one truth we have, when you have the primary, whatever -- it's a different

dynamic. you can defy all the rules. can a person who emerges were to bring people together? he would be crazy to take himself out television. it's a sign of the times that in 2007, 2002008, can an african-american man win as the president? the question is can a white guy become -- >> and a geologist. >> sometimes we make the mistake sitting in washington. senator this or senator that or someone who came through, it might be a good time to be an outside guy from the west states that are changing. the new map emerging. saying don't forget about us. >> there is disincentive for getting in. the other thing that is fascinating is you can tell from what he is saying that he is sketched out over the last

several years, he is someone who can work in a bipartisan way. is that what the electorate will want after donald trump. everything is so polarized. does the candidate have to be someone from the far left and not someone who is coming in? >> it's going to be a lot of fun. brianna keilar starts right now. >> i'm brianna keilar live from the washington headquarters. under way right now, a presidency in peril as we herein more about the mueller investigation. the walls are closing in on president trump and his inner circle. the president could face possible jail time. it's one of the most prestigious positions. she is accused of being a russian spy. infiltrating republican circles in