home tonight. this is it for "special report," fair, balanced, unafraid. "the story" hosted by martha maccallum who likes to build snowmen with santa. >> martha: he is extremely busy at this time of year, that was the real deal. thank you very much. all right, good to see you tonight. good evening, everybody. >> members are advised that there will be no more votes in the house until january 7th. >> martha: woohoo all around. going with this with the quite old the president had on senator graham, wanted. a senator graham on "special report" with bret said that the president is mad as hell and once his day in court. nancy pelosi in her side doubling down prey to trying to force john bolton and mick mulvaney, and others perhaps to testify in the senate

trial. we have a big show tonight. attorney general bill barr is our exclusive guest. he speaks out. responding to the james comey interview. also, i asked him about the durum investigation. rudy giuliani's ukraine investigation, and responding to criticism from a former fbi director. if tomorrow evening you will see the work that the attorney general is doing to carry out the president's plan for a new surge of law enforcement. in the seven most dangerous cities in america to come back prime and also very importantly to rebuild respect for our police officers across the country. that is the picture of a big dinner that the attorney general through for hundreds of those officers in new york city. treating them to all of that. so first tonight, as the chess pieces of impeachment continue to move around, we kick off the show with republican congressman dan crenshaw. good to have you with us this evening. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me.

>> martha: first your reaction when sandy hoyer said, okay, we are done paired businesses close there are no more votes. >> i cannot say i had a negative reaction to that. i'm looking forward -- >> martha: everybody likes to go home. but it means that you will not have the movement of what was decided in the house move over to the senate and get that moving on a fast course. >> that is very true, and the reason that will not, the reason is because it is an official weak case. and nancy pelosi realize that today by demanding whatever she means by a fair trial. let's not forget, what do we give the senate last night? we gave them the weakest impeachment case in history. two articles. one, abuse of power. pretty vague. it relies on the false notion that the president can't ask about the biden-burisma issue, which everybody knows is corrupt. and the second thing we gave them was the notion of an obstruction of congress, which

basically lies on the premise that the president and the executive branch was supposed to participate in their own investigation for impeachment, which really isn't the case when you look at the coequal branches of government, and separation of powers. so all of that went over to the senate where nancy pelosi realizes that she never had a case to begin with, and she wants the senate to help her build the case, which is not how it works. they hold a trial and the evidence that we gave them. >> martha: it is not how it works, because it was surprising there was a moment where speaker nancy pelosi could have pushed, waited for this to go through the court. it is not unusual that the president claims executive privilege over the conversations that he has with those individuals. they could have absolutely kept it open on the house side and pushed. as senator mcconnell pointed out, their responsibility is to try the case. and then the judges happen on the senate side. look at "the washington post" abc poll about whether or not

these to the president should testify in the senate trial. 71 percent of those asked said that they should. 64 percent of those were republicans. a 72 percent were independents. there is i think desire out there to sort of hear what these folks have to say. >> yes, exactly. pelosi could have waited. but she didn't. when you issue a subpoena from the executive branch, and the executive branch refuses to come, well, that comes to the courts. so it goes to the courts to decide whether that subpoena should be complied with. pelosi did not want to let that happen. i'm not sure what political reasoning she had for that. but just like all of it, there was clearly political reasoning behind it, just like there was political motivation behind the impeachment investigation to begin with. she cannot come back after the fact and say oh, no, no, we want some of the elves to comply. meaning the senate. if the senate does not comply, than they are rushing this through. it is like, no, no, did you not

rush it through the house? >> martha: it makes me wonder, is this a long-term play? would this not come back after new years that they are going to keep dragging this out? that they want more information to come in? they want to see if they can get one or two, even one of these people if they can really compel them to testify, it could reopen the game? >> it is part of a long-term strategy by the democrats to discredit the president, and to spin the narrative. before the election even began, right, we know now that there were 17 problems with the fisa warrants that they appealed for. we know after that that two years of those mueller investigation which turned for nothing. you saw what the democrats did with justice kavanaugh. you see what they do with the impeachment inquiry, they are spinning narratives against the president. they can't rely on facts or policy.

>> martha: it is definitely there m oh, and no matter what happen with a phone call and whether you think it was a valid for them to bring it up, there s a lot of elation on the part of some members of the house and also some members of the media, here is a couple of quick examples. here's jennifer rubin posting that she is a "washington post" writer. making december 18th a holiday, impeachment day where we honor the heroes and read in every public square of the articles of impeachment. i bring that up, because i know that you had a strong response to that. >> yeah, i think it is utterly pathological to equate the idea of flag day, which is a symbol that unites us, with this other day, which was inherently divisive and partisan. actually, there was bipartisan support against impeachment. let's not forget that. but it goes to show that the left-wing media is not well. to be giddy about such a really terribly momentous occasion.

at the third time in history we have impeached a president, and to be happy and celebrating it because you think you got your guy. this was politically motivated. it is sad. it is a sad day for the political divisiveness in the state of political device. >> martha: before i let you go, look into your crystal ball. how long does this go on? >> as long as president trump is in office. i don't think these democrats are going to stop. i really don't. spin representative dan crenshaw. we wish you merry christmas, happy new year. all of that. we are glad like everybody that you are wrapping up your business now. and we will tune in when you are back. good to see you, sir. thank you for being here this evening. coming up next, the impeachment for president trump, taking the gloves off to take down front runner joe biden, how is joe biden preparing for a head-to-head with president trump? we go live to the site of tonight's debate. plus my exclusive interview with attorney general william barr.

♪ >> you have been criticized through the whole process of being partisan. eric holder said that you were nakedly partisan paired what you say to those people who say those things? >> i don't lose sleep over what eric holder has to say about being a nonpartisan attorney general. but i think that those are, those comments that have been made are long on rhetoric, short on facts. ♪ otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with... ...an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines

and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you.

a peaceful night sleep without only imagine... frequent heartburn waking him up. now that dream is a reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn?

♪ >> martha: the democratic candidates, these are the folks that you will see on the stage this evening. a seven democrats trying to beat president trump in 2020 are squaring off in the sixth democratic debate. former vice president joe biden remains the front runner. he is the man to beat. last night president trump threw some punches at his possible

opponent. >> i watched these guys come in like biden. he has a big rally, and they get 93 people to show up. [laughter] no, it is true. i don't understand it. did you see the new poles from "usa today" rush to mark they came out, i am killing everybody. so biden has the rally, they have 200 seats, but only a small number of people, so you know what they do? they set up a roundtable. >> martha: peter doocy is alive at the sight of tonight's debate in los angeles. we expected the biden campaign to join us this evening, they were not able to at last minute. we hope that they will be able to in the future. peter doocy has been able to cover the candidate on the trail. covering tonight. tell us how it looks to come together there tonight, peter. >> martha, to the president's point, joe biden does have smaller crowds at these events in early states then some of his rivals like bernie sanders and elizabeth warren, and

pete buttigieg, even. but he will be at center stage, because of his strength in these national democratic primary polls. and when you look at what has happened over the last couple of the debates, the candidates who have tried to challenge him on issues like his civil rights record or the obama-era deportation policy, or even his age like kamala harris, and cory booker, they have all fallen off the stage. and his poll numbers have remained steady at the top of the pack, even though he is the only candidate who is explicitly named in the impeachment articles, and even though he has shown that somebody who can trip up joe biden consistently on the debate stage is joe biden. he has confused afghanistan and iraq, he talks about using record players as a way to devep children's vocabularies. and he also claims to have the support, the endorsement of the only black u.s. senator in u.s.

history, while he was standing next to another one. so you take all of that, and he is still in first place. and the biden campaign had a background briefing with reporters in los angeles ahead of this evening's debate could where they said that they don't think that anything really is going to stop him at this point, because he is the only candidate with a coalition that includes the overwhelming support of african-american primary voters. which could make all the difference in the democratic primary. martha. >> martha: indeed that is true. let's look at the "usa today" poll that the president mentioned that came out. it is one of only a couple that we have seen so far in the early stages of this campaign. and it does show the president ahead of joe biden. 44-41. also ahead of the other major candidates as well. you are the president kind of poking some fun at joe biden on the campaign trail. what can you tell us, peter, having followed him of this about what the energy and

enthusiasm is like at these events? >> the energy and enthusiasm really comes from people having one-on-one interactions with him, which is obviously something that nobody at a rally like the president's last night ever gets to have, for a variety of reasons, most of them involving security. but a poll like that could undermine something that biden likes to say at every single event he hosts, which is that he thinks president trump is scared of him, because he things that president trump knows that biden would beat him like a drum. his words, martha. it's going all right, peter, thank you very much. good to have you with us tonight. we will watch your coverage throughout the evening as the democratic debate unfolds this evening. coming up next, part 1 of my exclusive interview with attorney general william barr. >> you know, the president had the burden of probably the greatest conspiracy theories, baseless conspiracy theories in the american political history.

where he is called -- accused of treason and so forth. and i think he is intent that this not happen any other president in the future. ♪ as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchemel... cut. liberty mu... line? cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. cut. liberty m... am i allowed to riff? what if i come out of the water? liberty biberty... cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

choose the longest lasting thiaa battery...son (music) energizer ultimate lithium backed by science. matched by no one.

we don't see who you're against, through or for,rs, whether tomorrow will be light or dark, all we see in you, is a spark we see your spark in each nod, each smile,

we see sparks in every aisle. we see you find a hidden gem, and buying diapers at 3am. we see your kindness and humanity. the strength of each community. we've seen more sparks than we can say. about 20 million just yesterday. the more we look the more we find, the sparks that make america shine. ♪

>> martha: attorney general bill barr recently made headlines saying some members of the fbi may have been more than just sloppy as james comey said. bill barr said it may have been more than that. he said he wanted to know if they had active "bad faith" when they went into investigation on the trump campaign. he does not seem to mind the barrage from the left. i traveled with the attorney general to fight a crime-fighting effort in the city. and i asked him about those attacks on the president who just was hours away at the time from impeachment. here's part 1 of our conversation. attorney general barr, thank you for sitting down with me today. >> thank you for having me appear >> martha: by the time this airs this evening, it is expected that the president will be impeached by the house of representatives of the united states. what do you think about that? >> as i said it is a constitutional political process that is underway right now.

the department of justice is not part of that. it is premature for me to comment on impeachment at this point. >> martha: when you listen to the call, do you think that it was perfect as the president says? >> i'm not going to get into, if issues come up later, and i have to deal with them. i don't want to be discussing the facts. >> martha: with regard to ukraine, which is at the center of the impeachment push, rudy giuliani just got back from ukraine again. still investigating on behalf of the president there. who may have been trying to get at him in 2016, do you think that is a good idea that to rudy giuliani is investigating that in ukraine? >> i am responsible for the department of justice, and obviously i will rely on investigations conducted by the department. i think that is generally the best way to go. >> martha: do you think that he is stepping on your turf? >> uh, i would not say that. but as i say.

it is in everyone's interest to allow the department of justice to do its work and the other u.s. intelligence agencies. >> martha: he said in an interview that he needed to get marie yovanovitch out of the way. she would make investigations difficult for everybody. and he firmly believes that there was a ukraine conspiracy with the dnc against president trump. do you have any indication that there was one? >> as i have said, i have not looked at all into whatever the ukrainian aspects are of the 2016 election, i have not gotten into them at all. and i don't know whether john durham has gotten into them. so because that is a matter that is potentially going to be covered by the investigation, i don't want to speculate. >> martha: are you interested in seeing evidence that rudy giuliani has been gathering in ukraine? >> the department of justice is ready to see all evidence that may be relevant. >> martha: do they have any plans to investigate biden, the

crowd server, or burisma. are any of those on your radar? >> again, i don't want to speculate about what durham may or may not get into. i don't know what he is -- >> martha: but none of those issues are under investigation? >> i cannot say one way or the other. you should not read anything into that. >> martha: jim comey came out after your last interview. he responded t to the eiji horowitz report and spoke out about that. and he spoke with chris wallace, and he said that the 17 mistakes and omissions that were uncovered in the fisa process were contributed to sloppiness, largely. what you say to that? >> i think there are some of them that are hard to square with the idea that these were just mistakes and sloppiness. i have said that a number of these episodes leave open the possibility of inferring bad faith or improper motive, but i hasten to add that as i have said all along, i have reached

no determination on that, or do i think a final determination on that is appropriate until all of the evidence is in. horowitz himself, and his testimony summed it up. which is that this could be on the one hand at the very least go some confidence. on the other hand it could also be improper motive. and he was not in the position to make that call. that's why we have u.s. attorney john durham looking into this. >> martha: i want to ask you more about that in a moment. are you surprised that james comey is so convinced himself that all of this was completely aboveboard? he came out and said there was no treason. there was no spying at all on the president. >> i think the ig report in the recent letter from the fisa court pulls the rug out from under that analysis. there were some serious misconduct as the court itself has said. and one of the things that i

object to is the tact being taken by comey, which is to suggest that people who are not criticizing or trying to get to the bottom of the misconduct are somehow attacking the fbi. i think that is nonsense. we are criticizing and talking about misconduct by a few actors at the top of the fbi. and they should be criticized if they engaged in serious misconduct. that does not mean we are criticizing the fbi. and i think the tact of trying to wrap yourself in the institution and saying, gee, people who are criticizing the decisions i make are attacking the institution. i notice people don't do that as far as i am concerned. people feel free to criticize me and i don't say, gee, you are attacking the honest men and women of the department of justice. i think leaders have to own their decisions, and are fair game if they make bad decisions.

>> martha: i want you to listen to the piece of his interview with chris wallace and get your reaction. >> he does not have a factual basis as the attorney general of the united states to be speculating that agents acted in bad faith. the facts are not there. that does not make it any less consequential or important, but that is an irresponsible statement. >> martha: he said that you made an irresponsible statement about the fbi individuals. >> as i said, i made the same statement effectively and subsequently as the inspector general, which is that there are unexplained misconduct that just cannot be easily explained as to what was going on there. and as he said, it could involve bad motive. he was not in a position given the limited scope he has of making that final determination. so, it is not speculation. but i think there are episodes that simply cannot be squared within a single mistake. and people have to come to terms with that.

>> martha: were you surprised that he seemed to give himself such distance from the entire operation? >> as a director sitting on top of an organization of 38,000 people, you cannot run an investigation seven layers be low you. you have to leave it to the professionals to do? >> martha: do you believe that? >> no. one of the problems that happened was precisely that they pulled the investigation up to the executive floors, and it was run. and it was bird-dog by a very small group of high-level officials. and the idea that this was seven layers below him is simply not true. >> martha: he also said that you told the president three times that he was not a target of the investigation. do you believe based on what we know now that the president was not to the target of crossfire hurricane? or was not one of them? >> i think effectively the president was being investigated. we were investigating the trump

campaign and trump associates. but again, as i have said, what happened after the election to me is very questionable. and i think that there has to be a lot of focus as to what happened after the campaign. and they learned that their whole case had collapsed, and they really had no basis to take it further. so we are looking into that. >> martha: do you think that we need to reform the fisa court system. some people are calling for it to be removed, because the person representing the evidence does not have another side making a reason why for surveillance not to be done? >> i don't think we need to do anything that radical. i think that both chris wray and i take this problem and the misconduct in the past very seriously. and chris has been particularly proactive in developing a number of reforms that are designed to address that. i am evaluating those and considering some additional steps. we can deal with it without

throwing the baby with the bathwater. fisa is a critical tool for protecting the country. >> martha: the former fbi director was also cia director william webster who also spoke out in the last day or so. he wrote an editorial and then did an interview. in the i editorial, he was very tough about the president, but he also said that you, your charges of bias in the fbi made without providing any evidence and indirect dispute of the findings of the nonpartisan inspector general inspector general risk inflicting during damage on the critically important instituti institution. he is a friend of yours, long time friend. what do you think of that? >> webster was brought in as the fbi director, under similar circumstances to clean up previous problems prayed he was very tough and doing it. and that judge webster i know is focused on getting to the bottom of things so that they can be

properly addressed. and that's what we are trying to do. we are trying to figure out what were the problems and address a going forward. the op-ed piece does make a few references to things that i allegedly said, which i did not say. i don't mind being criticized for things that i actually say. but i don't like being criticized for things that i did not say. so i have not charged the fbi with political bias. i have said that looking at the conduct of the people who ran this investigation at the very top of the bureau, it is possible that there was improper motivation. but we have to wait for all the facts to get in. >> martha: so the answers to that question are expected to come in john durham's investigation. can you update us on that in terms of how that is going or what the time frame is? when we can expect to see the report? >> well, you know, he is moving very diligently. i'm not involved in the

day-to-day work of that. i know just a general sense what they are looking at, and otherwise it is his investigation. he runs it as he sees fit. i have not given him any timeline. and we have not discussed the timeline as to when he thought it would be complete. but just my general -- there were people who expected it to come a week or two after horowitz's report. just based on my general knowledge of the things that he is looking at or has to look at in the future, i would not think that he would be in a position for quite a few months. >> martha: it is a criminal investigation? there are criminal investigation elements to it? >> yes. >> martha: do you know if he has spoken to john brennan, james clapper, andrew mccabe? are they included in the investigation? >> i am actually not following it closely to know who he is talking to. >> martha: would you expect

that they would be included based on the leadership issues that you have brightened up about to the intelligence agencies? >> i don't want to speculate on how he will take the investigation. >> martha: we learned a lot about the fisa abuse situation. do you believe that durham's investigation is broader scope in terms of the intelligence agency better being looked at? >> oh, yes. he is not just looking at the fbi. he is looking at other agencies and also private and departments, and also private actors. so it is a much broader investigation. and also, he is not just looking at the fisa aspect of it. he is looking at all the conduct, both before and after the election. >> martha: with that include the cia? nsa? >> it would include agencies that could have been involved in this. but we are getting a lot of cooperation from those agencies. you have to remember on something like this, you know,

part of the reason you do something like this is to deal with some of the various theories that have been thrown out and show one way or another whether they are valid or not. so the fact that you are looking into certain allegations does not necessarily mean you give him credence. and the media understood that when bob mueller was doing his work, and they should bear that in mind when they are watching durham. >> martha: just as we are watching this, there is a report that is coming out to that says that john durham has asked the cia for john brennan's communications record, and wants to compare his private discussions with public comments on the steele dossier and the intel assessment on russian interference. that is me reporting this evening from "the new york times," we will continue to look at that. up next, more of my interview with attorney general william barr. ♪ ♪

(children playing) (dog barking) ♪ (music building) experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. why fingerstick when you can scan? with the freestyle libre 14 day system just scan the sensor with your reader, iphone or android and manage your diabetes.

with the freestyle libre 14 day system, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose levels any time, without fingersticks. ask your doctor to write a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. you can do it without fingersticks. learn more at freestylelibre.us

♪

>> martha: back with my interview with attorney general william barr, looking at how the russia probe began. with regard to george papadopoulos, or carter page, who were reached out to prior to the official beginning of this investigation, you know, do you believe that there is reason to think that their theories are accurate? that intelligence individuals who were connected internationally, you went overseas to talk to some of them about this, that they were dangling these agents in front of them and dangling information about hillary clinton in order to get an in in the trump campaign? >> i don't want to say anything that would suggest that i agree or have concluded that there was any dangling or reach out to don before july. but we are, or we. durham as far as i understand it is looking forward to the prejuly period to determine whether or not the narrative got

started, the collusion narrative got started before that. and, there are two questions about the issue of predication. one is -- was in fact the comment by papadopoulos the real predication? or was it a pretext for a pre-existing desire to take a look at the trump campaign? he is looking at all o all of te issues. >> martha: you suggested that the conversation that they had come to that george papadopoulos had in the bar, the prediction r hillary clinton's emails coming out, was something simultaneously discussed in so many different venues at that time. publicly and privately. that it was really a very thin thread to go on, right? >> right. right. at the time of the comment made by papadopoulos that the russians might have something that they would drop in the public that was adverse to

hillary, that was rampant during a period of rampant speculation in the media and political circles. it relates to the fact that a lot of people thought that the russians had probably hacked into hillary's home booth server as they call it. and may have had all of her emails, and therefore be in a position to drop them. that statement by itself had very little probative value. and to lead to the continue that it showed knowledge of a later hack into dnc was a pretty aggressive conclusion. i just think that by the present time the president entered office around that time, it was becoming clear that there was no basis to these allegations. not just the dossier falling apart, but the information that they were relying on this two page to papadopoulos. and so the whole thing was, you know, collapse. >> martha: just to put a bow

the durham investigation. if you are a part of the fbi, and these concerns were brought to you about papadopoulos, and page. maybe they were concerned that he was working on the russian side of the equation, how would you handle it? what would you put in motion differently? >> as i read the horowitz report, the three reactions from attorney general loretta lynch, aunt sally yates, and president obama have been, shouldn't we give him a defensive briefing? and i think that that would be the natural impulse for anybody who is interested in getting to the bottom of things quickly, and was skeptical of any notion that the president's before his campaign was in cahoots with the russians. and also was concerned about protecting the election. if you are interested in protecting the election, you gave a briefing. >> martha: why do you think he did not do that? >> we will see.

>> martha: that is part of the durham investigation. if john durham were to come back with a report that he does not think that there was anything untoward in the intel agencies, and you don't find the things they too have suggested could be there, is at the end of it? will you let it live? >> i certainly will rely on john. let me just say that i did not know john durham when i appointed him to the position. i think i met him in passing when i was saying hello to a whole group of new u.s. attorneys, or at least the time that i'm at the u.s. attorneys. but i only knew him by reputation as legendary within the department. for his fairness, and his, you s a prosecutor, and he was widely supported bipartisan. he had done work for a number of democratic u.s. attorneys general, and he was supported by the democratic senators. so, sterling reputation is the neck as a fair-minded prosecutor.

i did not know him. but based on his reputation, that's the kind of person i went to running this. i will accept what his conclusions are pretty spilling coming up next, more on the breaking news print john durham reportedly requesting records from former cia director john brennan in terms of his communication. we'll go into this a little bit more with mollie hemingway who joins us with her reaction to the barr interview, and this breaking news tonight when we come back. ♪ man: sneezes 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!

♪ >> he also found things that we were never accused of. which is real sloppiness. that is concerned. there were real sloppiness. seven he that should've been in the documents or at least discussed and characterized

differently. >> martha: former fbi director james comey on the errors in the investigation and the phis application when he was interviewed by chris wallace on "fox news sunday." the president tweeted that fbi director ray will never be able to fix the fbi. so i asked director ray if he agreed with the former fbi chief on sloppiness. the former fbi director james comey dismissed the findings as of sloppiness on the part of fbi agents. he sort of suggested it was a was low-level agents. do you agree with that? in hindsight now a couple of days into it, do you think it was more than that? >> well, as i said when the report first came out, the report in my view describes behavior and performance that i consider unacceptable. and also unrepresentative of who we are as an institution. and that is why i put in place and ordered the 40 plus reforms, which are serious steps that go

above and beyond what the inspector general recommended. >> martha: so it was clear that the attorney general has a lot of confidence in christopher wray as the fbi director. and in his ability to turn things around. mollie hemingway, senior editor at "the fellow risk," great to be with you tonight. your thoughts on that, because the president to go after christopher wray in a tweet on that, and some of the things that bill barr had to say tonight. >> christopher wray's problem is that he does not seem like he is that upset about what happened. he has some words he is saying. he is very upset with all that happen in the abuses and civil liberties pretty is so calm about it. saying, well, i've instituted some reforms, so that should take care of it, people are looking for someone who is extremely serious about this and understands the significance and takes it like this serious thing that it is. he does not quite give that impression. attorney general william barr seems to have confidence in him. and that is saying something,

because william barr does not seem like somebody who has confidence -- >> martha: it will ultimately be the actions and what takes place in terms of reform and phis and all of that, so that remains to be seen regardless of demeanor, the actions will be the most important thing. we will see. with regards to the new story tonight, mollie, what do you think about "the new york times" piece that says that durham, and of course, bill barr could not say specifically what john durham is looking into the u.s. attorney. "the new york times" is reporting that they want all of his communications and what he said about the dossier in public and in private. >> yes, this is a very interesting week. the leaks in general have been interesting. probably not coming from durham's office. they come from the agency or people implicated. they might be trying to get out ahead of something that suggest that they have reason to believe that john brennan, who has a history of having trouble telling the truth sometimes might have said things publicly that were at odds with the information that he had.

this is really interesting. it shows why the inspector general report, which is a fairly limited thing. just fisa abuse is very different than what durham is doing, getting compliance from different agencies. the russia collusion narrative related damage to the country, both domestically and internationally. and it involved multiple agencies. yes, the fbi was one of the bad actors, but so were other agencies. a lot of people when they left office have spent a lot of time -- when they left their positions spent a lot of time going after president trump suggesting that they have extreme bias against them, they were perpetuating what we know is a completely false narrative of treasonous collusion with russia to steal the election. there are a lot of interesting things to figure out whether john brennan knew when he was suggesting otherwise that the russia collusion narrative was false, whether it was politically motivated by his friends in the clinton campaign and democratic national committee, what exactly. >> martha: it is interesting,

back in october, john brennan said on msnbc when john durham was appointed that he had some concerns about where this would head, because he thought that it showed that it would be political. but he did say that he was concerned about that. then i go back to catherine heritage reporting on this back a little bit further, and she reported that the cia director john brennan had insisted that the dossier be included in the intelligence community assessment of this. so he obviously at that point so the net stood by this thing, which was obviously a leaky vote. >> not just that, but it is also true that there was a attempt to create an narrative of russian interference in the election. russia does interfere in the election. they have a long history of doing so. but there was a hand picking up people who put that report together that a lot of evidence was left out. they presented it as if it was a

broad agreement from 17 intelligence agencies, it was not. it was a small group of people handpicked. it is a good reminder that a lot of these people who have been again, leaking, or talking in the media, talking about how the ig report was no big deal, they are not out of the woods. you're starting to hear the tunes really change. there are people of interest in a criminal investigation. and they are probably not feeling so good about that. >> martha: mollie hemingway, great to have you here. thank you very much. coming up tomorrow night, you'll see more of the attorney general bill barr interview, and the admission that brought him to detroit. president trump has taxed him with a new police surge in the country to combat violence in america's seven most crime-ridden cities. ♪ we made usaa insurance for members like kate. a former army medic, made of the flexibility to handle whatever monday has in store and tackle four things at once. so when her car got hit, she didn't worry. she simply filed a claim on her usaa app and said...

i got this. usaa insurance is made the way kate needs it - easy. she can even pick her payment plan so it's easy on her budget and her life. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa

creais back at red lobster.ast with new creations to choose from; like rich, butter-poached maine lobster and crispy crab-stuffed shrimp rangoon. how will you pick just 4 of 10? it won't be easy. better hurry in. most people think as a reliable phone company. but to businesses, we're a reliable partner. we keep companies ready for what's next. (man) we weave security into their business. (second man) virtualize their operations. (woman) and build ai customer experiences. (second woman) we also keep them ready for the next big opportunity. like 5g. almost all of the fortune 500 partner with us. (woman) when it comes to digital transformation... verizon keeps business ready.

[sneezing] ♪ you don't want to cancel your plans. [sneezing] cancel your cold. the 1-pill power of advil multi-symptom cold & flu knocks out your worst symptoms. cancel your cold, not your plans. advil multi-symptom cold & flu.

>> martha: that is "the story" of december 19th, 2019. the story goes on. we'll see you tomorrow night at 7:00 with my conclusion of my

interview with attorney general william barr. tucker carlson up next in washington, d.c. ♪ ♪ >> tucker: good evening, and welcome to "tucker carlson tonight." you know the feeling you have after some momentous life-changing event? the birth of a child, funeral, or unexpected medical diagnosis. those are the moments that define your life, of course. you wake up the next morning and realize nothing will ever be the same. well, deafly not the feeling you probably had this morning. they impeach the president last night and, if we are being honest, didn't make any difference. despite loud and urgent noises amplified by the mouth breeders on cable