>> thank you, anderson. i am chris cuomo and welcome to "prime time." the articles of impeachment are out and will be debated by the judiciary committee starting tomorrow. we're going to ask two key players about abuse of player and obstruction of congress. is this the best case? why no mueller report included? no mention of trying to bribe ukraine? is this safe or too safe? and we're going to get reaction from a trump defender about the impending impeachment. why won't they just admit the obvious? and on this day of all days, guess who trump rolled out the red carpet for? russia. he lets putin's puppet just lie to our faces about not interfering. what is worse, the perception or the reality? that's the question. what do you say? let's get after the answer. two counts, abuse of power, obstruction of congress.

now, the question is did president trump get off easy or is this the easier way to get all the needed democrats on board? the president decided to fight the fact that the charges aren't worse. >> you saw their so-called articles of impeachment today. people are saying they're not even a crime. what happened? all of these horrible things, remember, bribery and this and that. where are they? they send these two things. they're not even a crime. this is the lightest, weakest impeachment. this is impeachment light. >> he may be right, by the way. i think he got a really good deal on the way these articles of impeachment have been expressed thus far. now, by next week, as light as it may be, donald j. trump may have a permanent place in history as one of only three presidents to ever have impeachment attached to their

name forever. one of the names floating around is a possible house manager. manager is the term for one of the representatives who may argue the case for impeachment at the expected trial in the senate is judiciary member hakeem jeffries, the chairman of the house democratic caucus. he joins us now on this monumental night. good to have you on "prime time." thanks for being with us. >> great to be with you, chris. >> so, what's the news? are you going to be one of the managers. >> we're focused now on the markup, which will start tomorrow. we'll debate the articles of impeachment. this is a serious, solemn moment. we didn't come to congress to impeach this or any president, we came to get things done. we continue to do that, but we do have to confront the reality that we have a president who as abused husband power and

betrayed his oath of office and essentially tried to corrupt american elections and that's highly problematic. >> congressman, no, you're not going to deal with whether or not you're a manager right now or, no, you will not be a manager? >> well, that's premature for any of us to think through that. we continue to work through the issues that will be before us in terms of the judiciary committee. and then we'll see what happens from there. but i'm focused, one, on just getting things done on behalf of the american people. we made the announcement about the u.s./mexico/canada trade agreement today. that was incredibly important for the american worker. it was a victory for every day americans. we promised that we would try to get to yes and we have gotten to yes. so, there's a lot of things going on before we deal with a possible trial in the senate. >> it's also political important to show the american people you're doing something that arguably is a positive move by

this president, that reads well in the architecture of reality. these charges, you heard the president right now, where's the bribery, where's the mueller stuff? i got to tell you, he's right. why are the articles of impeachment as currently explained so light on all of the things that you guys have been arguing that he did wrong? >> well, the president pressured a foreign government to target an american citizen for political gain and at the same time withheld without justification $391 million in military aid from a vulnerable ukraine and solicited foreign interference in the 2020 election. that is as serious as it gets. the framers of the constitution were concerned with three primary things: a, abuse of power, b, betrayal of the constitution and the american people in part by soliciting foreign interference, and 3, corrupting our free and fair

elections. essentially what we've seen is the president's behavior has implicated all three concerns that alarm the framers of the constitution. he's undermined american national security and he's violated the principle that in america no one is above the law. that's why we're proceeding in the way that we're proceeding. >> do you think he tried to bribe ukraine's president? >> well, i think that he solicited foreign interference -- >> isn't that a bribe? >> for a thing of value. well, listen -- >> you went to nyu. i went to florida. we learned in law school that if you solicit a thing of value which seems to be the case here, it's a bribe. some of you have been saying it. now it's absent. why? >> here's what the president did. he abused his power. that is clear. we've got the evidence that is overwhelming in that regard, including the rough transcript of july 25th call where the president through his own words, "do us a favor, though." so we're going to lead with the evidence, we're going to follow the facts, we're going to

present the truth to the american people, we're going to be guided by the constitution. and that's where we're at right now. >> that signal is signaling votes in congress. there's no alarm. the congressman is fine. obstruction of congress, not obstruction of justice meaning you're not including any of the things that mueller apparently left to your reckoning. i've been told there will be more oversight and what mueller laid out there will get attention from congress but not in an article of impeachment. why not? >> well, there was a set of troubling information that i think was contained in the mueller report that is problematic. as jerry nadler indicated earlier today, it is part of a pattern of obstructive behavior and part of a pattern of welcoming foreign interference into an american election. and so it will be incorporated in the debate and the discussion discussion i think that you'll see beginning tomorrow as we proceed with the articles of

impeachment. but in terms of the formal charges, the decision was made to keep the focus on the trump/ukraine scandal because that is an active crime scene. that's a matter of national urgency. and if we don't address it, if we don't hold the president accountable, he's already made clear that he's willing to try and do it again. >> right. yes, his doing this right after the mueller call, his saying he would ask china. he's definitely pushing your buttons and creating the perception that he thinks he's done nothing wrong. the reason i was pushing you on the manager issue isn't because i'm hunting for a deadline. so, you start debating this tomorrow. you'll have a party line vote at best. you'll have to see how many of your own members you lose on these two counts. my argument would be that's why you kept them narrow, to keep the consensus on your side. but then you're going to go to the senate and everything switches. your managers become really important because they're going

to run the rules and that a lot of information about beau biden, burisma, ukraine, not russia, maybe even rudy giuliani comes in. i think he's got some issues if he gets up there because he's going to have to explain his relationship to the president. but your managers will matter. how do you deal with all of that information coming in that you kept out on this level? >> well, we think that the president and his defenders are really bluffing. lindsey graham said we're going to have a hearing and bring rudy giuliani. what happened to that? rudolph giuliani is nowhere to be seen because he has no exculpatory information. he has nothing that can demonstrate innocence as it relates to the president. he'll just make the situation worse. >> here's their play i think. that's an interesting take. i haven't heard that before. but if they're running the rules and they bring in giuliani to say hunter biden -- i said beau before, may he rest in peace. obviously it's not beau. he represented the best of leadership in my generation, but

he's gone. hunter biden was dirty, his father was dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty. ukraine, it was them, not russia, russia, russia. if they put that on, how do you deal with it? >> i think it's pretty easy to deal with. you've got every single national security professional from the trump administration who has essentially made clear that it was russia who interfered in our elections and ukraine did not. and this entire thing is just a right wing conspiracy cooked up to try to excuse behavior as it relates to donald trump's wrong doing that is hiding in plain sight before the person people. it doesn't even appear that there are enough senators on the republican side who are willing to go along with a charade of a trial defense in terms of calling somebody like hunter biden. >> that is an interesting take. they need a simple majority to pass their procedures, what the rules are for how this senate trial will go assuming the

president gets impeached by the house. that will be really interesting to see if you're right about that. congressman, we'll be keeping tabs on it obviously and that's why the managers matter so much. hakeem jeffries, thank you so much on a historic night for being with us. >> thank you chris. >> be well. the gop has become the party of trump. why would i say that? look at the evidence. look at the strategy they've employed here. we've never seen them do anything like it. admit nothing. deny everything. blame everyone who says otherwise -- except russia. i want to bring on a trump defender from congress and ask if he has any regrets about not trying to make a deal to save the president from this fate. and why is this president nicer to russia than he is to many in our own country. next. [sneeze and sniffles]

are you ok? yah, it's just a cold. it's not just a cold if you have high blood pressure. most cold medicines may raise blood pressure. coricidin hbp is the... ...#1 brand that gives... powerful cold relief without raising your blood pressure. have you ever worked with dr. francis? oh yeah, he's ok. just ok? guess who just got reinstated! well, not officially.

nervous? yeah. yeah me too. don't worry about it, we'll figure it out. i'll see ya in there! just ok is not ok. at&t has america's best network, now with our best plans, at our best prices, starting at $35 a line for 4 lines. new from at&t. i am all about livi♪g joyfully. hello. the united explorer card hooks me up.

getting more for getting away. rewarded! going new places and tasting new flavors. rewarded! traveling lighter. rewarded. haha, boom! getting settled. rewarded. learn more at the explorer card dot com. and get... rewarded!

this melting pot of impacted species. everywhere is going to get touched by climate change. when we were looking he wanted someone super quiet. yeah, and he wanted someone to help out with chores. so, we got jean-pierre. but one thing we could both agree on was getting geico to help with renters insurance. ♪ yeah, geico did make it easy to switch and save. ♪

oh no. there's a wall there now. that's too bad. visit geico.com and see how easy saving on renters insurance can be. all right. so trump asked ukraine's president to announce an investigation into the bidens and to help show that russia was not to blame for interference in 2016, that ukraine was. the gop is now forced to say all that, it's okay. and you want to ignore congressional subpoenas, that's okay, too. that's a tough spot. republican mark wayne mullen is in that spot, and that's one of the reasons i welcome him on the show to make the case. congressman, as always, thank you for being with us. >> thanks for having me on, chris. >> so articles of impeachment are as expected. i would argue more mild than i expected. do you agree and what does it mean to you? >> absolutely they're more mild because there's nothing

impeachable. i still ask the question, what was the impeachable offense? they started with quid pro quo, moved to bribery and when the articles of impeachment came out, they say it's high crimes and misdemeanors. and here's the thing about this chris, from day one they've been in search of a crime. they've been trying to explain to the american people why they're impeaching a duly elected president, president donald j. trump. underneath the past impeachments it was very clear. clinton committed perjury. andrew johnson, he removed the secretary of war illegally and nixon broke into the dnc. those are impeachable offenses. i ask the question -- >> that's not what impeachment was about, you know. and i have to tell you, you weren't there, mark wayne, anybody can tell by looking at the color of your hair, you are not responsible for what the republicans did during clinton. >> true. >> but the idea that you start off with an investigation into screwy real estate deals and you wind up with an extra marital affair and that's what you

impeach on, can you imagine what would happen if they caught this president -- >> they committed a crime. clinton committed a crime. >> not all crimes are impeachable and not all impeachable things must be a crime. that's what the founders said in the -- >> yes, but when it says treason, bribery, high crime or misdemeanor, committing perjury is a crime. >> they are examples of corruption. >> president trump hasn't committed a crime. >> i disagree. let me tell you something. clinton's in the past. >> sure. >> if we wanted to punish that kind of behavior this way, it was a political decision. but i'll tell you what, your brothers and sisters on that side of the party were arguing very differently back then about what was a crime and what was needed to impeach and what wasn't. your champions, lindsey graham, even bill barr said why are they giving starr such a hard time for going far afield from where he started? now they say the opposite.

>> i still ask the question, what has the president done that's impeachable. >> this is what he's done according to the democrats and the facts as we understand them. he used his power to put his own political advantage first. he said to them you will not get the congressionally appointed aid, you will not get access to this office like i gave russia today and i've given them before even though they interfered in our election -- >> none of that was said. >> it was said. do us a favor. the ukraine stuff and the bidens. >> he said look into it, it's important to the people. that's what he said. and it is important to us. it was corruption. ukraine is no -- that doesn't mean it's impeachable. >> first of all it's impeachable if what it is is an abuse of his power -- >> he didn't ask for anything. >> of course he did. he said do me a favor, look into the bidens, look into what happened with ukraine. he then had his -- >> that's conversation. >> congressman, if you want an answer, let me offer it.

>> if i were to ask you to do something, if i say do me a favor, it's just a conversation piece. >> your choice of language isn't only irrelevant, it's also immaterial and here's why. if you were going to ask me in an official capacity, you wouldn't ask me for a favor. a favor intrinsically, inherently suggests you're doing something for me because if it's clean up your house, that's not a favor. that's what you're supposed to do to have my trust as an ally. but do me a favor, congressman, is exactly what it sounds like. something for me. >> you are trying to interpret a conversation between president trump and the president of ukraine, who both have came out publicly and said that there was no pressure, that there was no quid pro quo, there was no bribery. and that is why they have moved from quid pro quo to bribery to now misdemeanors and high crimes. >> of course the president said it. but i am sorry to say. i tell you what, i pray about this all the time, maybe more than anything else other than my

own sins -- >> you and i both. >> i'm sorry to say i don't believe this president just because he says it. and zelensky suffers from a huge inequity of power. and he just said the other day, hey, if you are our strategic partner, then you can't go blocking anything for us. i think that's just about fairness. he said that, too. because he didn't like it then, his people didn't like it and they were worried about it and so many people involved were worried about it because it was an abuse of power. it was a solicitation of a thing of value, also known as a bribe, and he did it to help himself, not the american agenda. >> the entire articles of impeachment is all trying to justify their actions because there has been no misdemeanor, no high crime, no -- >> if he hadn't had the call with ukraine, they'd have nothing. if he hadn't had his people trying to run around to get hooked up with wikileaks and say that russia was trying to help them, they would have had nothing. it's his mouth. >> it's all about them in search

of impeaching the president for two and a half years. it was nancy pelosi just said yesterday this is 2 1/2 years in the making. >> it all stems from the concerns -- >> doesn't mean the last four months. >> but mark wayne mullen, you're ignoring what is obvious. this all stems from concerns about russian interference. >> it's russian interference? i thought it was about ukraine. now we've moved to russia? >> it's foreign interference. we were worried about foreign interference says the fbi. the ig said they had a lawful basis. then the day after mueller testifies, he asks ukraine of this. it's foreign interference, exactly what the founders were worried about. >> i thought it was about the phone call and the whistleblower. i thought that's what this started about was ukraine with a whistleblower and a phone call. now we're switching to russia and trying to tie the two together? >> what difference does the source of the information matter if the information is true? >> because once again, the democrat party is in search -- >> i know you keep saying it but

that would have been fair to say back in '98 when you started with a land deal and wound up with a tryst. >> hey, we didn't lie to a grand jury. >> but here you started with foreign interference and ended with foreign interference. he shouldn't have lied to the grand jury. >> well, that's a misdemeanor and a high crime. >> but it is not necessarily an impeachable offense unless the politicians vote that same way. >> in the constitution it is and there is nothing that the president has done -- >> there is no description in the constitution of what is and is not. now, in the federalist papers there is. when you look at the legislative history of what happened at the constitutional convention and why they did this, the more homework you do, the weaker your resistance becomes. but i think -- >> and the weaker the advancement of the democrats' opinion of how they're trying to impeach the president is also weakened if you read the federalist papers. >> if you ask a foreign power for help in your election, you

are abusing your power. >> you are adding a lot to that, chris, by saying it helped in an election. >> what did it do going after biden? >> it was going after biden's son's relationship with burisma, who was under investigation at the time. >> he was going after biden. he said biden by name. he gave money to ukraine twice before, he never mentioned corruption. when you had a corrupt president in place, he just gave them money. now you have a new guy and you mention corruption. >> it was lieutenant colonel vindman who even testified that the conversation between the president of ukraine and president trump was ak sat. so, if it was accurate, you can't add to it. you've got to read it word for word on what was said. >> i am. that's all you need is the transcript. >> the intent is for the two people that the conversation was between. >> no way. >> there were other people on the call -- >> you know that's not true. you don't get to judge what your

words mean -- >> you're judging what president trump and the president of ukraine's words means. what's the difference? >> i am judging the words for what they mean on their face as has been evinced at the testimony level -- >> me, too. there was no bribery and no high crime in that conversation. >> let me give you one piece of caution. >> okay. >> do not ask a foreign power to go after anybody you're running against. will you please do that favor so i don't lose you as a member of the show? >> that was put to a stop by then vice president -- >> that's not true and you know it. >> it is absolutely true. >> that is demonstrably false. joe biden did nothing to stop the investigation. >> he even admitted to it. >> no, he admitted to getting rid of the prosecutor, which ukraine wanted and so did a lot of western institutions and you know it. >> that was investigated at the time. isn't that convenient. >> i'm out of time -- >> if president trump did it, it would have been all over -- >> it may have been convenient, it may have even been wrong and if you thought it was go to the

doj, go to your pals in the senate, have them investigate it. >> you and i both agree that was wrong. >> listen, then there was a way to go about it and that's not what this president did. i'm out of time. >> there's a way to go after this, too, with the president but dragging at american people through an impeachment process that they know will go nowhere in the senate is absolutely a waste of time and does nothing but divide the country. >> i appreciate your argument. all i'll end it with is if they didn't do it, what press den shl value is it that this president can't do it again. you're always welcome here. be well until then. >> appreciate it. one thing's for sure, as you see with congressman mullin, the president is getting a lot of help. every gop member of the house is all about his fate. they're not about oversight right now, they're about overseeing his fate. that's their choice. he even has an attorney general doing whatever he can to keep his boss out of hot water. here hype has to lose out to the facts. we will test what the ag wants you to believe about his boss next.

up here at the dewar's distillery, all our whiskies are aged, blended and aged again. it's the reason our whisky is so extraordinarily smooth. dewar's. double aged for extra smoothness. but since they bought their new house... which menu am i looking at here? start with "ta-paz." -oh, it's tapas. -tapas. get out of town. it's like eating dinner with your parents. sandra, are you in school? yes, i'm in art school. oh, wow. so have you thought about how you're gonna make money? at least we're learning some new things. we bundled our home and auto with progressive, saved a bunch. oh, we got a wobbler. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. that's what the extra menu's for. when you bundle with us. i'm finding it hard to stay on a faster laptop could help.

plus, tech support to stay worry free. worry free...boom boom! get free next business day shipping or ...1 hour in-store pick up shopping season solved at office depot officemax or officedepot.com. life isn't a straight line. things happen. and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but at fidelity, we help you prepare for the unexpected with retirement planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. a partner who makes sure every step is clear, ♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun

♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ the wait is over. t-mobile is lighting up 5g nationwide. while some 5g signals go only blocks, t-mobile 5g goes miles... beyond the big cities to the small towns... to the people. now, millions of americans can have access to 5g on t-mobile. and this is just the beginning. t-mobile, the first and only nationwide 5g network.

wthat's why xfinity hasu made taking your internetself. and tv with you a breeze. really? yup. you can transfer your service online in about a minute. you can do that? yeah. and with two-hour service appointment windows, it's all on your schedule. awesome. so while moving may still come with its share of headaches... no kidding. we're doing all we can to make moving simple, easy, awesome. go to xfinity.com/moving to get started. no disrespect but i call the

ag bill no holds barr because he seems to be willing to do and say anything to protect this president. that's not his job. and he knew that when he was trying to sell you on getting the job. >> i feel that i'm in a position in life where i can do the right thing and not really care about the consequences. >> the right thing like discredit your agency, even your own inspector general? a man who barr described as a superb investigator who

conducted this investigation in the most professional way, he'll be a credit to the department. really? yet barr, the same man who thought ken starr was being unfairly fussed about when he overreached in bill clinton. he thought that was okay that starr did that. he now thinks mueller's efforts and the fbi's were a sham. >> i think our nation was turned on its head for three years, i think, based on a completely bonus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by an irresponsible press. >> bogus narrative. can it be that the ag actually doesn't think russia should be singled out? the answer? yup. keep in mind, of the four people investigated by the fbi, pop p papadopoulos, carter page, paul manafort, michael flynn, three now convicted fellens.

the ag seems to argue that foreign money is just fine, the new normal. >> and in today's world, presidential campaigns are frequently in contact with foreign persons. and indeed in most campaigns there are signs of illegal foreign money coming in. >> first of all, if it's illegal, it's wrong, it's not okay. and then his agency successfully prosecuted paul manafort for his foreign money. right now they're actively investigating rudy giuliani for his potential contact with wrong foreign money and connection to the trump campaign in the same way. this idea that foreign influence is just fine sounds a lot like trump's special guest today, the russian foreign minister. however, it's the exact opposite of what the people protecting your elections say. >> my view is that if any public official or member of any campaign is contacted by any nation state or anybody acting on behalf of a nation state about influencing or interfering with our election, then that's something that the fbi would want to know about.

>> but more important for mr. barr apparently is to show that investigating this president and his pals for exactly that should be seen as bad. and he hand-picked a prosecutor to investigate just that, and he calls the russia probe thin justification. trump is the victim. all right. that was what was promised from this ig's report, 476 pages, no trump as victim. trump even says that that's what this says. it doesn't. he's lying to you about the report. please do yourself the favor, do the homework. he's lying to you. you can discover it if you want. just like there was no proof of him being a victim in the 468-page report that the ig put out, even though they told you it would. it wasn't in the 412 carter page fisa application. there were mistakes but he was no victim. the 83 pages that examined james comey's behavior, the 39 page

report that examined andrew mccabe. this president and his attorney general are distorting fact and playing with the system. but the truth is just not that complicated. people around this president have been up to no good from the start. the institutions that are designed to catch that worked. the only question is what should be the consequence? now, the smears never stop. the president is still peddling lies tonight now about the fbi. just a little. >> they spied on our campaign, okay. lives have been destroyed by scum, okay, by scum. >> he calls the fbi scum. i never imagined a president and he just keeps disappointing. there is no proof of spying, zero, and we'll take you through it with an fbi vet who is owed an apology by our president next. we're reporters from the new york times.

this melting pot of impacted species. everywhere is going to get touched by climate change. have you ever worked with dr. francis? oh yeah, he's ok. just ok? guess who just got reinstated! well, not officially. nervous?

yeah. yeah me too. don't worry about it, we'll figure it out. i'll see ya in there! just ok is not ok. at&t has america's best network, now with our best plans, at our best prices, starting at $35 a line for 4 lines. new from at&t. they can save you these. in fact, if you had a dollar for every time they said it, you'd have a lot of dollars. which makes it hard to believe, especially coming from a talking lizard. pip, pip, cheerio! look, all i, dennis quaid, know is that esurance is built to save you dollars without skimping on service. and when they save, you save. the only way to know how much is to get a quote. chances are you'll save time, paperwork, and yes, dollars. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless. male anchor: ...an update on the cat who captured our hearts. female anchor: how often should you clean your fridge? stay tuned to find out. male anchor: beats the odds at the box office to become a rare non-franchise hit. you can give help and hope to those in need.

it gives me no pleasure to say this, but our president wanted this inspector general's report to make him look like a victim. it didn't so now he's lying to you so now he's lying to you and saying it does that anyway. as the story comes out that he's

not telling you the truth, he's slamming everybody who opposes him, the media, even the fbi. listen to what he said. >> folks, they spied on our campaign, okay? they spied. when the fbi uncovered evidence showing that we did absolutely nothing wrong, which was right at the beginning, they hid that exonerating, you know that. they hid it. they hid it so nobody could see it. they've destroyed the lives of people that were great people, that are still great people. their lives from been destroyed by scum, okay? >> all right. andrew mccabe is here. it's good to see you as always. let's put the descriptive adjective to the side because the president, he doesn't care about the institution. he doesn't care about now necessary or acceptable something is. if it's getting a bad result where he has an interest, it's going to be treated this way. that's who he is. put the adjective to the side.

you guys hid exonerating -- big word. i'm not making fun of the president. that means you had proof of innocence on this president and you hid it. i don't see that in the ig report. >> that's because it's not there. that's not what the ig report concludes. the ig report found numerous and significant mistakes with the fisa, with the initiation and the three renewals that came behind it. the sort of mistakes that were made were representing a certain fact, later finding out through investigation that fact might not be true and failing to point that out to the court. so things that went to the balance between derogatory information about the subject of the application and information that tended to -- tends to show the person might not be an agent of a foreign power. you have to remember the question we're asking the court is to say do we believe this person is an agent of a foreign power? the court does not do its own

investigation. it relies entirely on the information that we give them to make its determination, so it's important that the fbi present all of the information, not just an argument on one side but all the information we have about the person. >> when he's saying spying, he can only be talking about this because the ig talks about no other meaningful surveillance. i know you guys don't like the word spying. and it's weird that the attorney general uses it because you see it as assuming nefarious conduct, which you wouldn't do to an american. it's insulting. i get it. but i don't get the carter page rational because you guys started looking at him before trump ran. then you got an application on him while he was with the trump campaign but they say he was a nobody. the president said he didn't even know him. so, if you wanted to get access into the trump campaign, why did you pick this guy who was on the outside? >> it is undeny able that we never made any attempt to get someone in the trump campaign. if you actually read the report which i'm quite certain the president has not, you will see

that those opportunities came to us through other sources, people who offered us information. and we consistently said that's not what we're doing here. we are not investigating like that. we are investigating this individual, carter page, and we will use confidential sources to get close to him to collect information about him, completely consistently with our guidelines and our policies. that's of course what the ig found. and we went to the fisa court to get electronic surveillance authority on him. we did not spy, get electronic surveillance authority on the campaign. >> it's not unusual for an i.g. to do a report and come back with finding problems. e it is very rare that they find nothing. >> that's right. >> the idea that these 17 things, when you look at this list, does that list impress you in terms of, holy cow, we messed up here more than we normally should. >> it does and here's why i say that. the department of justice runs every year, runs a rigorous

oversight program on the fisa program. they send teams of lawyers out to everybody fbi field office. they walk in the door, you don't know when they're coming. they tell you to pull fisas at random and they tell you to check to see that every package is verified. they occasionally find something to pick. i have never seen one with this number of mistakes in it. so this is -- this was notable to me. it's clearly errors that should not have occurred and i am confident that chris wray and his team will address those. >> the ig says it didn't affect the outcome, but 17 errors is something worth looking at. and we welcome the fbi director, currently chris ray to figure out what he's going to do. i say currently because the president seems to have gone bad on him but that's for another night. the a.g. says here's how this happened. the russians were hacking into the dnc on july 23rd, wikileaks

dumped the emails. what do you think of the a.g.'s comments? >> patently false. he has no understanding of what we did or he is deliberately misrepresenting the work we did or the way the ig did his report. the facts are very briefly we had been watching russian malign cyber activity from the fall of 2014. he knew the russians were coming after us, not just one intelligence agency from russia but two. we saw that activity directed at political institutions, government institutions, think tanks. into the beginning of 2016, we saw them probing the dnc. we see that information leaked on the eve of the democratic national convention for the purpose of impacting then candidate clinton. >> so it wasn't one guy in a bar? >> no. we don't find out about the guy in the bar until after the information is released, and

then we learn that the guy in the bar, george papadopoulos, made that statement months before. so he knew long before we did that the russians had made some sort of offer to the campaign to help by releasing derogatory information about clinton. that is undeniable predication. >> thank you very much. appreciate you setting the record straight. always good to have you on the show. >> great to be here. >> all right. of all countries, on the day you're getting impeached from the white house, who do you not invite to the white house. i give you a choice. russia. yet that's who the president picked. why? i think i know and i'm going to argue to it next. ♪ stop dancing around the pain that keeps you up again, and again. advil pm silences pain, and you sleep the whole night. advil pm

i looitaly!avel. yaaaaass. with the united explorer card, i get rewarded wherever i go. going out for a bite. rewarded! going new places. rewarded! anytime. rewarded! getting more for getting away. rewarded! learn more at the explorer card dot com. and get... rewarded!

skip to the good part with alka-seltzer plus. now with 25% more concentrated power. nothing works faster for powerful cold relief. oh, what a relief it is! so fast! first a correction. even when jim baker, the former counsel of the fbi is not on the show, he's still watching it. there was no open case on carter page until -- and no fisa application -- until after he left the campaign just to keep

the time now, politics. my argument. politics, sometimes perception is reality. you got to be careful about that to keep fact and fugazi separate like today. as articles of impeachment come down as a result of this president's penchant for doing the wrong thing with foreign powers, guess whom he chooses to meet with. russia's top envoy, sergey lavrov. if there were any doubt whether this president is all about the me over the we, the russian pulled a trump and just lied to your face. >> translator: we have highlighted once again that all speculation about our alleged interference in domestic processes in the u.s. are baseless. there are no facts that would support that. >> this ain't russia. we have all the facts. the u.s. intel report. we assess russian president vladimir putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the u.s. presidential election. listen to mueller.

>> there were multiple systematic efforts to interfere in our election, and that allegation deserves the attention of every american. >> now, he knows that, lavrov. but remember, it's not about fact for him. it's about the painting of reality as a farcical perception of the same. deep? not really. here are some of the broad strokes of this broad side of reality. listen to our secretary of state's response. >> on the question of interference in our domestic affairs, i was clear. it's unacceptable. >> he's a lot tougher when he's talking about us than when he's talking about russia. not only was his tone less than severe, but if it's so unacceptable then why does lying lavrov get the red carpet treatment? did you see this? the guy tries to sabotage your election, and he gets this. oh, yeah, great to see you. great to have you. you know why trump allows this kind of chummy thing to go on? forget about his foreign interest. we have no proof that he's a

foreign agent. it's his domestic interest. he would rather cultivate russian lies than face the truth that they tried to help him no matter who or what he must throw under the bus to do so. >> i have president putin. he just said it's not russia. i will say this. i don't see any reason why it would be. >> you don't know why our biggest enemy would want to mess with us. on the world stage, he'd rather embarrass us than admit putin's preference even though it doesn't take away from his win. it's just more proof that this president is not about you. he's not about your interests if they compromise his own. remember the last time lavrov stopped by the white house? may 2017. it was the day after comey was fired. remember how they yukked it up about that? remember how trump reportedly revealed code word classified information to him, reportedly said he was unconcerned about moscow's interference in 2016? so here is putin's reality now

thanks to our president. >> translator: do you know, for example, that in ukraine following the elections, some people -- and these were public officials -- sent congratulatory telegrams to hillary clinton even though trump had won. look, what do we have to do with it? >> so he was spreading that mess, and now the president and his people are following up on it. i think you're going to hear about it in the senate trial. the next month after that meeting with that first lavrov thing, june of 2017, that's when giuliani met with ukrainian leaders. the month after that, that's when the president tweeted about ukrainian efforts to sabotage his campaign. trump may not be doing russia's bidding per se to help russia. he's doing it because it helps what he cares about most -- himself. and while russia is getting all this love, ukraine, our ally, who is at war with russia, has gotten none. i guess the deal was real. no bidens, no meeting. this president allows russia to come here and lie and rewards

them with access. he lies to you about the inspector general report because he assumes you won't read it. and he attacks our institutions, the very things that keep us together, because he thinks it's good for him. the worst part of this is not what he does. it's why he does it. and the answer is because he can. because that's how he uses power, to do what is good for him. you know, i wonder if our president knows the oath that he took. i would love to make a wager about whether or not he could recite it because he has such a funny way of keeping it. that's the argument. now here's the tease. heavy day, but there is something uplifting that just happened in washington, and we must remember there can be better than what we've seen. bolo, next. life isn't a straight line.

things happen. and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but at fidelity, we help you prepare for the unexpected with retirement planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. a partner who makes sure every step is clear, ♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ i feelbusiness cards...new logo...outdoor sign.

you always get me. get free next business day shipping or ...1 hour in-store pick up. shopping season solved at office depot officemax ...or officedepot.com. same time next week. yes! up here at the dewar's distillery, all our whiskies are aged, blended and aged again. it's the reason our whisky is so extraordinarily smooth. dewar's. double aged for extra smoothness. this melting pot of impacted species. everywhere is going to get touched by climate change. the wait is over. t-mobile is lighting up 5g nationwide.

while some 5g signals go only blocks, t-mobile 5g goes miles... beyond the big cities to the small towns... to the people. now, millions of americans can have access to 5g on t-mobile. and this is just the beginning. t-mobile, the first and only nationwide 5g network.

[ dramatic music ]ing ] ahhhh! -ahhhh! elliott. you came back!

criticism, yes. cynicism, no. so the bolo, be on the lookout, is for compromise. even in the most partisan times. within the span of one hour today, house democrats unveiled articles of impeachment against president trump and gave him his biggest legislative win of the year, a deal on the u.s./mexico/canada trade agreement. strange times when both speaker pelosi and president trump can claim victory. >> we're declaring victory for the american worker in what is in this agreement. >> they approved today the usmca, and i call that the silver lining to impeachment. >> i don't know that it has anything to do with impeachment, but it does have to do with progress and bipartisanship, something that we need much more of. let's bring in d. lemon.

you okay? >> i was getting ready. i wasn't ready yet. >> no, you look good. your looks are not your problem. >> my shirt's too big. i'm losing a little weight. >> yeah? maybe you bought a bigger shirt. >> it's an old shirt. so i'm good now. yeah, look, i wouldn't get my hopes up on that. >> well, you are just a rain cloud on humanity. >> it's true. >> you have to take progress where you find it. they keep saying they can walk and chew gum at the same time. >> if i see him do it on a couple things. >> what have you got, a bag of fritos or something? >> i'm fixing my pocket square. i was reading. i was in makeup. there was a backup on aisle 4 in makeup. i got here just a couple seconds before -- so now i'm ready. >> they keep saying they can walk and chew gum. they should be doing more. >> they are, but listen. listen, the house has actually passed a lot of stuff. a lot of it is sitting on mitch mcconnell's desk. >> he won't even have debate on a lot of things. but i must say, you know, i took a little time a few months ago