tv MSNBC Live MSNBC June 17, 2017 5:00am-6:01am PDT
5:00 am
thank you so much. thank you! so we're doing it. yes! start saying yes to your company's best ideas. let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open. good morning. i'm ayman mohyeldin at msnbc world headquarters in new york. it is 8:00 a.m. least. day 149 of the trump administration. the battle over the russia investigation. trump hires at lawyer and fallout from the latest tweet. including whether the deputy attorney general will have to recuse himself and will robert mueller get fired? and the battle for the georgia house seat. a poll suggests it will be down to the wire. could democrats steal oe reliable republican seat? still deliberating after 52 hours, the jury in the bill cosby case.
5:01 am
who is the hold up? this as the judge could make an important ruling at 9:00 a.m. we begin with breaking news. near the coast of japan. search for seven sailors unaccounted for after "uss fitzgerald" collided with another ship. we have hans nichols with the latest. >> reporter: ayman, the coalition happened in the dark. the cause is unknown and the damage appears extensive. the heavily damaged "uss fitzgerald" back in port after a dangerous collision at sea. in the pre-dawn hours, a philippine registered merchant vessel slammed into the smaller navy destroyer with routine operations off the coast of japan. the ship bridge limited communication with crew members on board.
5:02 am
three crew members were air lifted off the ship to nearby hospitals. including the commanding officer. bryce benson. other sailors missing amid fears they could have been thrown overboard or trapped inside damaged sections of the destroyer. this collision happened when many were asleep. the japanese coast guard is assisting in the search. they are focused on two things. safety of the ship and well being of the sailors. it is not just the length of the ships. navy vessel is 500 feet. the merchant vesselas laden with cargo. that is why y see extensive damage. ayman. >> hans for us in washington, d.c. let's switch to politiciiticpol. the special counsel russia investigation expands. john dowd represented senator john mccain and investigated pete rose for major league
5:03 am
baseball. the new hire coming hours after president trump appeared to lash out at deputy attorney general rod rosenstein on twitter. also new, we are learning more about president trump's business empire and disclosure form showed he made $594 million and owes $315 million out of which $130 million to the deutche bank alone. this uncovers a period from january of 2016 through april 15th of this year. president trump is calling for unity in the wake of the shooting that left republican congress member steve scalise fighting for his life and four others with injuries. here is part of the weekly address this morning. >> we have our differences. what yunites us is stronger. love of country and devotion to its people. now more than ever, these values must guide us and bring us closer together.
5:04 am
>> and we are learning more about the suspect in the shooting, including which other lawmakers he may have targeted. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more. >> reporter: a deepening mystery around the gunman of the congressional baseball shooting. officials say james t. hodgkinson carried a handwritten list with the names of house republicans. including alabama mo brooks and arizona's trent franks and jeff dunc duncan. congress member duncan said he spoke to the gunman shortly before the shots. >> i had interaction with someone in the parking lot who asked if the team was democrat or republican. i said republican. >> reporter: president trump said the violence could inspire unity. >> my dear friend steve scalise took a bullet for all of us. our country will perhaps bece closer. >> reporter: in miami's little havana friday, the predent
5:05 am
signed cuba policy that brings back restrictions lifted by president obama. it will curb individual americans from travel to cuba and tighten business with the cuba military interests. the president drew attention away from the event with new actions tied to the russia investigation. president trump added a heavyweight criminal lawyer to the outside legal team. washington's john dowd. who defended past dc scandals and led the baseball investigation that banned star player pete rose. can another lawyer bench the president's twitter game? friday, the president declared i'm being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. witch hunt. referring to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. the president voluntarily released a federal financial disclosure. not due until next year. the filing cleared by the office of government ethics shows the
5:06 am
president reported earnings in a broad range. minimum of $595 million since january of 2016. but president trump refuses to release any tax returns. >> that was kelly o'donnell report from the white house. let's bring in jeremy peters from the new york times and now columnist for the hill. good to you have with us. jeremy, let's start with you. the point that kelly was talking about. the very important development that the president has added high profile lawyer john dowd to the personal legal team. tell us why this decision is significant. he has a personal lawyer marc kasowitz. why does this change the dynamic? >> marc kasowitz doesn't have the experience you need when you are overseeing an investigation of this kind. marc kasowitz is known for a hard-charging wall street lawyer. he really has not had much of
5:07 am
anything to do with federal investigations in washington, especially one that reaches into the highest levels of government. john dowd has defended john mccain in his dealings with the keating 5 back in the '80s. he is well known and well respected. the respect nepresident needed legal muscle. >> and let's ask about the tweet that the president has posted i guess a few hours ago. we have it on the screen. i'm being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. what is the significance of the president weighing in on the investigation confirming he is under investigation despite the fact that a spokesperson is saying no, it is response to the washington post. is this that the president tripping up over his tweets again? >> yes is the short answer, ayman. i think this is an interesting
5:08 am
example of the president really kicking out the leg that supported his defense. his argument had been he was not under personal investigation. we saw that issue come up again and again and as far as james comey is concerned. the president wanting to get word oute was not under personal investigation. now apparently confirming he is. seemingly at least confirming other reporting for suggestion of a possibility of obstruction of justice. this is the kind of tweet that just has the president's defenders banging their heads. >> the lawyers must be watching and say not again. they have to get that twitter under control. jeremy, let's ask about that. the president's tweet has turned up the heat on the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. he is the person overseeing the
5:09 am
investigation given the fact that jeff sessions recused himself. what is the issue given the tone of the tweet that you will see possibly rod rosenstein recuse himself or the president may try to fire him or director mueller? >> i think firing, ayman, is unlikely. trump knows although he would like to that it would be so politically untenable for him to do such a thing. he is advised by everyone in the inner circle and beyond not to do it. he has been sounding out dozens of people on the matter. what you are likely to see going forward is more of these tweets. more of an effort to gin up the base in the way they cast the investigation from the white house as a witch hunt. this is extremely helpful. the white house is quite pleased the way the base has been responding to the president's
5:10 am
charge that this is just a bunch of nonsense that is led by people who they describe as conflicted. people who have ties to hillary clinton and who have given money to democrats. without saying anything about the legitimacy of the claims, they are powerful when it comes to donald trump's core supporters. donald trump has trafficked in grievance and notion he is being persecuted by a system that is rigged against him. right now, his supporters respond to that. >> the system rigged against him was the narrative on the campaign trail. let's ask about the event that rod rosenstein is recusing himself, rachel brandt would take over the investigation. >> we know she is very esteemed in legal circles. was a federalist society and legal organization and prominent member of that.
5:11 am
harvard educated. also worked in president george w. bush's administration in the senior position in the justice department. she has sometimes gotten criticism from the left because she went on to work for the chamber of commerce and very tenacious litigator in that role. what we don't know which is of course the crucial thing is were she to step in, would she be more maleable to the demands donald trump would make. that is the big question that would hangover her or anyone else who would step in where rod ro rosenstein recuse himself. >> jeremy, we have the numbers of the financial disclosure form. $594 million made and $315 million in debt. $130 million alone to the german bank deutche bank. significant.
5:12 am
what did we learn? >> i think the striking thing, ayman, is the money he made from mar-a-lago last year. he made more money from mar-a-lago than ever before. on the one hand, it should not be surprising that people would pay to have access to the president, but it is troubling to know that there is really nothing that the government or the white house is willing to do to curb that type of buying of influence. >> let's change gears and talk about something announced yesterday and a lot of people here had been watching closely. that is now the president announng reversal of the oma administration cuba policies. the move is actually drawing mixed reactions. even among supporters in southern florida. what is behind the decision? >> well, i think that part of it is simply going against president obama whom president trump was characterized as weak
5:13 am
on foreign policy. i think president trump wants to at least present himself as pushing a harder line on that. obviously there is a political consideration and you have a cuban community in florida that tends to be supportive of republicans. it has been changing generationally. i think there could be attempt to shore up support there, but more broadly give the impression of strength on a harder line than we saw with the previous administration. >> we know republican senator marco rubio played a role in shaping the policy. jeremy peters and niall, thank you. we could go on, but we have run out of time. police arrested 18 protesters overnight after thousands shutdown the i-94 freeway in minnesota after the police officer involved in the philando castile shooting was freed. we have nbc's blake mccoy
5:14 am
joining us from st. paul. blake? >> reporter: ayman, good morning. protesters were upset and angry. keep in mind this is the first time a police officer has ever been charged in a police shooting in minnesota and after that not guilty verdict came down, they gathered at the state capitol and ending on i-94. a major freeway in st. paul. 18 people were arrested as police worked to dispersehe mostly peaceful crowd. overnight, protesters shutdown the freeway in st. paul after marching by the thousands from minnesota state capitol. protesting what they see as injustice. police officer jeronimo yanez found not guilty of manslaughter friday in the shooting death of philando castile. >> oh, my god. don't tell me he is dead. >> reporter: castile was shot five times during a traffic light last summer. his girlfriend broadcasting live
5:15 am
to facebook. ten white and two black jurors spent four days deliberating. new this morning, we are hearing from one of the jurors on the decision to acquit the officer. >> we feel so much pain for the family and especially when the verdict was said out loud. we all just sunk in our chairs. we had to do what we had to do. >> reporter: the jurors said the law favored officer yanez. he said castile matched the description of a robbery suspect and saw him reach for a gun. >> i told him not to reach for it. >> you told him to get his i.d. >> reporter: prosecutors argued castile had a permit and warned the officer he had a firearm and officer overreacted. castile's family is outraged by the verdict. >> my son loved this city and this city killed my son! and a murderer gets away.
5:16 am
>> reporter: the officer's attorney says he is still very shook up, but extremely happy it's over. although officer yanez was found not guilty, he is being let go by the police department here. the city of st. anthony saying the public is best served if he is no longer an officer. they will enter into a voluntary separation agreement. there will be severance paid to the officer and the city will help him transition to a new career. >> thank you, blake. president trump hounded by questions as he is on the move. what were reporters asking him that did not yield an answer from the president for now but will we hear from him soon on the specific angle in the russia investigation? that is coming up next. stay with us. (vo) pro plan bright mind
5:17 am
adult 7+ promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. (ray) the difference has been incredible. she is much more aware. she wants to learn things. (vo) purina pro plan bright mind. nutrition that performs. ♪ i love you, basement guest bathroom. your privacy makes you my number 1 place... ...to go number 2. i love you, but sometimes you stink. ♪ new febreze air effects with odorclear technology cleans... ...away odors like never before. because the things you love the most can stink. and try febreze small spaces to clean away odors for up... ...to 30 days.
5:18 am
breathe happy with new febreze. depend real fit briefs feature breathable, cotton-like fabric. in situations like this, there's no time for distractions. it's not enough to think i'm ready. i need to know i'm ready. no matter what lies ahead. get a free sample at depend.com. ♪ ♪ isaac hou has mastered gravity defying moves to amaze his audience. great show. here you go. now he's added a new routine. making depositing a check seem so effortless. easy to use chase technology, for whatever you're trying to master. isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can.
5:20 am
mr. president, are you under investigation by the fbi? >> mr. president, are you going to fire mueller? >> are you under investigation by the fbi? >> mr. president? >> no comment. >> so those were some questions directed at president trump yesterday. you could see he was ignoring the questions from reporters. shouting over helicopter engines. they were asking about the tweet in particular and whether he confirmed for the first time he is under investigation by the special counsel. joining me now is cynthia oxney from washington d.c. let's talk a little bit about the interaction, but more importantly the tweet. do you think he is based on that tweet confirming he is now under investigation? >> he is confirming that it is so obvious when the witness
5:21 am
comey comes forward and says i was fired and when we know the president has said he did it because of the russia investigation and we have a special counsel investigating the russia investigation, of course he is under investigation. to me, it is not clear it is a big hoo-haa. remember this, when we talk about the investigation, there is not just one really one investigation, but three. there's did russia interfere in our elections? that's one inveigation. did the trump campaign c with the russians to interfere in our elections? did they give them hints about where they wanted all of the bots and computer interference to go? that is the second investigation. the third investigation is whether or not trump obstructed justice. yes, he is under investigation for the obstruction. it's not clear how he is involved in the other two investigations. >> so to that point about the
5:22 am
possibility of different investigations, earlier in the week, the times reported that president was considering firing special counsel bob mueller and former u.s. attorney andrew mccarthy says he should not have been hired in the first place. mueller has gone ahead and he has staffed up with experts in criminal law. do you think the president is taking his cue from conservative media on this particular issue? >> i think he takes his cue from newt gingrich who went on a rampage on mueller. that's my hunch. mueller is there. he is there to stay. he is competent and honorable and workmanlike. he is a prosecutor's prosecutor. i worked with him a long time ago. i admire the heck out of him. i think he will do a great job and there's no chance trump will fire him. >> what do you say to the charge
5:23 am
that bob mueller has gone ahead and hired some top investigators as well that have links and associations to the democrats particularly the clinton, not the campaign, but the clinton empire and that tanints his ability to be a neutral instigator? i don't think much of that. if you go through the list, you will find donations on either side. bob mueller is a real independent person and i have great faith in him as do -- nobody cares i have great faith in him, but the members of the hill have great faith of him and senators have great faith in him. the people of the justice department have great faith in him. i'm not worried about that. i don't think that's important. >> let's talk about really quickly that tweet that the president put out talking about the fact he is being investigated for firing the fbi
5:24 am
director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. that implies rod rosenstein. where does this leave rod rosenstein? is he in jeopardy based on that tweet alone? >> i don't think he is in jeopardy. there is an important decision to make whether or not to recuse himself. many don't want him to recuse because he supports mueller and he went shutdown the investigation. i understand that. he is a known quantity on the hill and people trust him. he has tried cases and this is in the grand jury and he is obviously capable of supervising the investigation. on the other hand, he has a big problem. he is a witness in the third section of the investigation that has to do with whether or not the president obstructed justice. he did write the cover fake memo on why comey should be fired. he did have conversations with the president on the firing. he probably had con vargs versa
5:25 am
with the attorney general on the firing. i believe he will end up recusing himself. what happens? the third person is not a prosecutor. she is a smart lawyer. she never tried cases. to my knowledge, never put a witness in grand jury. is not a criminal lawyer so much as a judicial policy lawyer. that's a problem. >> you said last week in your assessment this is actually worse than watergate because it involves a foreign government in one of the investigations. being involved in our elections and voting process. does what happened this week make it rerue? how do you see this playing out? >> i see as the comparisons to watergate. if it is really true the russians are involved in the election process and it looks like it is, that's a nightmare
5:26 am
for our country. if it is true that trump organization somehow steered the russian computer people to go to certain states or do something like that, that's involving other people in our very basic fundamental governing decisions. that's obviously worse than watergate to me. what is most like watergate is the obstruction investigation. that is a case where watergate and here we have a paranoid president. we have the stealing of information by hacking or by the watergate break-in itself. we have the firing of the prosecutors. there are a lot of similarities. the third is the obstruction case to watergate. i'm concerned about the russia involvement as worse. >> cynthia aksne, thank you. after five days of deliberations, jurors in the
5:27 am
bill cosby sexual assault trial cannot make up their minds. the judge could consider a mistrial and that could happen at top of the hour. we will follow that for you. stay with us. before fibromyalgia, i was on the go. i kept on top of things. then the chronic, widespread pain slowed me down. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. he also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. woman: for some,
5:28 am
lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects: dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. and you're about inactive. to hit 'send all' on some embarrassing gas. hey, you bought gas-x®! unlike antacids, gas-x ® relieves pressure and bloating fast. huh, crisis averted. this is a story about mail and packages. and it's also a story about people.
5:29 am
people who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams they're handing us more than mail they're handing us their business and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪ at crowne plaza we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. 'a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly.
5:30 am
welcome back. i'm ayman mohyeldin at msnbc world headquarters in new york. here is what we are monitoring for you. sixth day of deliberations for the bill cosby starts today. the jury remains deadlocked. returning to the court room to ask questions this week. cosby has repeatedly denied allegations of sexual misconduct and the defendant had a message for the jury friday night. >> i just want to wish all of the fathers a happy father's day and i want to thank the jury for their long days and their honest work individually. i also want to thank these
5:31 am
supporters who have been here and please to the supporters, stay calm. do not argue with people. just keep up the great support. thank you. >> ron allen joins me now. ron, good to have you here. what are we expecting today? is there a drastic change expected? >> reporter: we hope there is a verdict. you never know, ayman. we thought there would be a verdict several days ago. deliberation has gonen for 50 hours. it is striking it has gone on for two days after the jury came out and said they were deadlocked on all three counts that cosby could potentially be found guilty or acquitted of. it is hard to know. the defense team has really been pushing hard at the judge each time the jurors come back and ask questions or want more testimony read back.
5:32 am
pushing for a mistrial. for them, that means it is a tie. cosby is not convicted and up to the prosecution to decide to prosecute the case all over again. unclear what they would do in that situation. so again, they will be here about 9:00 a.m. to begin deliberations. we just don't know. it is a very, very unusual situation because the deliberations have lasted longer than the trial itself. the testimony in the trial itself. they asked questions at least a dozen times. they had reread to them significant chunks of testimony. bill cosby's statements in the civil deposition and accused andrea constand statements along the way. they essentially retried the case in the jury room. some observers think what is going on there is a majority in the jury room, they think, of course, no one knows. a number pushing for conviction
5:33 am
and trying to convince holdouts to come to their side. interestingly, yesterday, the jury asked the judge to read the definition of beyond a reasonable doubt. that is the standard needed to convict. again, we just don't know. we are here. we thought this would be over some time ago. the jury is diligent. the judge, asked to declare a mistrial and tells the defense there isothing they can do until the jury says they are deadlocked or complain about something in the jury room. the judge cannot intervene. they he can deliberate as long as they want. >> we will find out more in 25 minutes from now when everyone returns to the courthouse and if the judge declares a mistrial. ron allen in norristown, pennsylvania. i appreciate it, ron. regarded as a bellwether political battle in the heart of georgia. how much impact will president trump have on next week's runoff? that is coming up next. stay with us. for mom" per roll
5:34 am
more "doing chores for dad" per roll more "earning something you love" per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer... ...than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty, the quicker picker upper and now try bounty with new despicable me 3 prints. in theaters june 30. ykeep you sidelined.ng that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you.
5:35 am
finding the best hotel price is now a safe bet. because tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites - so you save up to 30% on the hotel you want. lock it in. tripadvisor. have you any wool?eep, no sir, no sir, some nincompoop stole all my wool sweaters, smart tv and gaming system. luckily, the geico insurance agency recently helped baa baa with renters insurance. everything stolen was replaced. and the hooligan who lives down the lane was caught selling the stolen goods online. visit geico.com and see how easy it is to switch
5:37 am
welcome back. seven crew members of the "uss fitzgerald" remain unaccounted for after the navy destroyer collided with the merchant ship off the coast of japan. it has been taking on water, but has been stabilized. we will keep you updated on msnbc live. meanwhile, at washington, d.c.'s hospital, doctors are keeping a close eye on steve scalise who is in critical condition. let's get an update live from there with mike. mike, what do you hear about the congress member and his condition? >> reporter: ayman, when that gunshot rang out at the baseball practice at republican practice wednesday morning and steve scalise was hit, we knew he was in critical condition when he got to the washington hospital center which is a few miles north of the capitol itself.
5:38 am
what we did not know is he was at quote imminent risk of death. those are the words of the head of trauma here at the hospital who told reporters that when scalise got here, he was critical as a person can be when they come to the hospital. he described the wound. the bullet and rifle shot entering scalise's body at the left hip traversing the pelvic region and hitting bone and organs and tissue and blood vessels and leaving bullet fragments which will likely be left there because it is riskier to take them out. meanwhile, scalise's colleagues stand behind him. both republican and democrat. he is the number three republican in the house of representatives. his boss as it were, speaker paul ryan, put a video on his web site and taubld abolked abo need for unity. >> we are being tested right now. we are united in our shock. we are united in our anguish.
5:39 am
an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. i ask each of you to come together to lift each other up and show the country and show the world that we are one house. the people's house. and we are united. >> reporter: and ayman, the doctor did say that scalise is at a lower risk of death. he pointed an optimistic scenario. scalise would walk, perhaps run. he could not put a timeline on how long scalise would be in the hospital. he put in it in a matter of weeks. ayman. >> amazing work by the doctors there. we wish for him a speedy recovery. mike live for us in washington, d.c. new today, early voting is over and polls indicate a fight to the finish in the tuesday
5:40 am
special election in georgia. the sixth district solidly voted republican for decades, but democrat jon ossoff managed to take on karen handel. now leading by 2 percentage points. we have beth joining us in atlanta. beth, this is one of the most expensive races in u.s. congressional history. how is the voter turnout for early voting? >> reporter: ayman, i'm here in georgia as you said at the rally of karen handel. she will get here in about ho. she is theepublican candidate in the most expensive house race in history. it will go down on tuesday. she will be here with a couple of stalwarts. tom price and sonny perdue. it is really a neck and neck race with handel and ossoff. 40 years since a democrats held the seat.
5:41 am
democrats are optimistic. you asked about early voting. it looked strong. we went there yesterday to a couple of polling places to talk to voters about the race. we talked to one woman in particular who is excited and democrats are making a comeback in the district. >> it is time to have the sixth district represented by someone who represents the district's values. we are certainly progressive and centrist here. not just conservative. we have not had a congress member that wasn't conservative in 40 years. it is time for fresh leadership. >> reporter: not everyone loves jon ossoff on the other hand. this is a republican district. jon ossoff raised $23 million largely from out of state. republicans say he is a candidate who has come from nowhere and sponsored by national democrats. not connected to the district and they do not want to see him win this race. take a listen.
5:42 am
>> i feel like a vote for jon ossoff is a vote of ignorance. the only reason you see an additional surge is because of dissatisfaction with trump in the white house. it bothers me to a great degree. i believe it is medri and driven by the unsatisfactory feelings of the democrats unwilling to accept a republican president. >> reporter: we heard that from a lot of republicans, ayman. they are uncomfortable with trump, but trump could do a better job if he had a solid republican congress. that is why they want handel to win the race. >> history making congressional race which will have implications nationwide. beth fouhy, thank you. 45 years ago today, it was the beginning of the end for
5:43 am
5:44 am
(vo) you can pass down a subaru forester. (dad) she's all yours. (vo) but you get to keep the memories. (dad) shlove.ll yours. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. tha...oh, burnt-on gravy?ie. ...gotta rinse that. nope. no way. nada. really? dish issues? throw it all in. new cascade platinum powers through... even burnt-on gravy. nice. cascade. ♪ ♪ isaac hou has mastered gravity defying moves to amaze his audience. great show. here you go.
5:45 am
now he's added a new routine. making depositing a check seem so effortless. easy to use chase technology, for whatever you're trying to master. isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can. "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours. step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business. we, the device loving people want more than just unlimited data. we want unlimited entertainment. so we can stream unlimited action. watch unlimited robots. watch unlimited romance. if you are into that. but we also want more like... unlimited hbo.
5:46 am
can i stop dying now mark? no can't do mi amigo. it's unlimited. besides you are really good at it james. don't settle for any unlimited data plan. only the at&t unlimited plus plan comes with hbo included at no extra charge. still ahead, the woman overseeing the russia investigation. if u.s. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein would recuse himself. just who is rachel brand? next. julie is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor- positive her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy.
5:47 am
♪ ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. and ibrance plus letrozole shrunk tumors in over half of these patients. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts... ...infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and ss of appetite. julie calls it her "new"ormal. because a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't. ask your doctor about ibrance, the number-one-prescribed, fda-approved oral combination treatment for hr+/her2- mbc.
5:49 am
president trump acknowledges for the first time today he is under federal investigation. tweeting i am being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. witch hunt. that an apparent reference to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. last month, rosenstein sent the president a memo about concerns of james comey.
5:50 am
>> that was part of the report by kristen welker. joining us now is zerlina maxwe maxwell. programming for sirius xm. joe watkins, aide to president george w. bush and rick tyler, former cruz campaign spokesman, now an msnbc political analyst. joe, let me begin with you. the president is attacking his own justice department. at least that's the way some are interpreting that tweet. what is your reaction to it. when you actually read it, do you think he is, in fact, going after and targeting rosenstein and the doj. >> i think so. this is a move to get rosen stein to at the very least recuse himself. of course, there's always the possibility that trump could try to fire rod rosenstein. he could do that as president of the united states. he could fire the number two
5:51 am
person at the justice department. i don't know rosenstein will do that. he's not necessarily going to be moved by tweets. i think he's a by-the-book bipartisan guy, and he'll do what's right when it's time. if it's time for him to recuse himself, if he thinks it's the best thing, he'll do that, but not before then. >> zerlina, what do you think the reaction would be if rosenstein recuses himself and rachel brand steps in, given the fact that she has conservative leanings and some connections on that side of the political aisle, how would you see democrats responding? >> i think democrats want someone truly bipartisa completely disassociated from the political conversation and the leanings of the white house. i think there would be a concern if she demonstrates herself to not be somebody who can be truly independent. we're really in this position because donald trump went on television, if we all remember, with lester holt and admitted he fired former director comey
5:52 am
because of russia. i think his tweeting is really just examples of new evidence in this -- what appears to be an ongoing obstruction investigation, and saying i fired the fbi director because rod rosenstein told him to, we know that's not true. he admitted that on television. >> rick, we know there's a report out by the associated press in which it's reporting that trump advisers are describing the president as increasingly angry over the investigation, yelling at television sets. i'm curious to get your thoughts on what you've been hearing. have you heard reports to support that, that he is increasingly frustrated and angry? have you seen anything like this before? >> only what i've read. i don't have any inside knowledge of how he's reacting inside the white house, but his tweet really didn't make any sense. rosenstein has no need to recuse himself. rosenstein's memo which never mentioned russia and didn't actually -- it was building a
5:53 am
case against fbi director comey, but didn't say to recommend to fire him. there's no reason. i think if rosenstein has to recuse himself, i think we have a serious department with the justice department, and that's not a very good thing. >> some have characterized it as being a constitutional crisis if either rosenstein or former direct store mueller were fired. zerlina, what about rosenstein's role the firing. the memo itself doesn't make reference to russia and doesn't go so far as saying he should be removed. it was his assessment of handling the hillary clinton e-mail situation. what is your assessment? >> rick is right, that the memoranda he put out didn't actually call for the firing. i think we all made that assumption because trump actually did fire former director comey, but i think it would be important, if mueller is -- has an ongoing and active investigation of obstruction, rosenstein would be a witness in th investigation becausehe reasoning that the white house put out as to why they fired comey was not the truth.
5:54 am
so in terms of building that case for obstruction, you're going to need various pieces of evidence, one being that memo that really was put out as a pretense that turned out to be a complete and total fabrication by the white house. >> joe, you know how white houses work. you know the politics and the dynamics of various competing camps within the white house. "the new yorker" asked the question, who will turn against donald trump inside the white house? i'm curious to get your thoughts about what you're hearing about the mood inside the white house right now. what do you think are the different camps that are jostling for power? >> everybody has to see it through their own glasses, of course and how it impacts them. as you know, some members of the white house staff who may have had conversations with president on this issue have to lawyer up themselves, independently of what the president is doing. you've seen that already with vice president pence. he has his own counsel now that he's gotten. white house staffs are, generally speaking, arms of the
5:55 am
president of the united states. that's one of the things that you assume when you hire people to work for you. in this case i don't know that it's always sure that the president of the united states is loyal to his staff members. that makes for a different dynamic. we don't know who might turn. it really depends how they may be impacted by this investigation, if they get called to testify, if they themselves become the subject of the investigation. >> zerlina and rick, i want to ask you guys both a question in terms of how long do you think this is going to last for? what is the outcome here, zerlina. how do you think this plays out? >> i really don't know how this is going to end because certainly nobody would have predicted that donald trump would fire the fbi director in the middle of what is the most important investigation in the political history. i would be out of a job. what i hope happens is that mueller is able to investigate -- that's likely to take at least a year or more and
5:56 am
we need to find out what happened during the election, what happened again and we also need to answer this question about whether or not donald trump in his campaign colluded with the russians in order to attack our democracy. that's a question that is still out there, and the obstruction question is a newer question that we were learning this week is now also being investigated, but all of these prongs are very important and i hope we get to the bottom of it. it's going to take some time. >> certainly casting a big shadow on the president's agenda. rick, what's your take on it? how long do you think it will play out for, consequential on the president's agenda or not? >> i think this goes on for a very long time. i think rosenstein stays put and mueller does his investigation. zerlina is right, the most important thing is to find out what the russians did, get them to stop it and then punish them for what they've done. in that investigation, the trump campaign may be implicated. here is the problem that trump
5:57 am
is causing for not himself so much, he's in some way politically immune as president of the united states. he's not subject to criminal indictment the way all his staffers are. they're not jockeys for power, they're ducking for cover. if it turns out he embroils them where they have criminal liability and have to pay huge lawyer bills, you can see this white house turn fairly quickly. basically, agenda, no agenda. this is a car with no steering wheel, no engine, no transmission. trump's got everybody inside. this car is not going anywhere >> speaking of lawyering up, we didn't talk about mike pence, the fact that he's hired a lawyer this weekend and what that means -- >> which is extraordinary. >> and what that means for the russian investigation. gentlemen and zerlina, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thanks. we're keeping watch on the bill cosby sexual assault trial. the jury is expected to start a sixth day of deliberations in a few minutes from now. the judge may soon rule on another motion for mistrial.
5:58 am
we'll tell you about that as soon as we get it. but you've never had 'em quite like this. at red lobster's lobster & shrimp summerfest, the lobster and shrimp you love are teaming up in so many new ways. like new coastal lobster and shrimp, with a lobster tail with butter and herbs, sweet, smoky bbq red shrimp, and shrimp crusted with...get this...cape cod kettle chips. or try lobster and shrimp overboard. a dish this good... makes you this hungry. it's the highlight of the season, and can't last. so hurry in. looking for a hotel that fits... ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over 200 sites to find you the hotel you want at the lowest price. grazie, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. the opioid my doctor prescribed for my chronic back pain backed me up-big time. before movantik, i tried to treat it myself. spent time, money.
5:59 am
no go. but i didn't back down. i talked to my doctor. she said: one, movantik was specifically designed for opioid-induced constipation-oic- and can help you go more often. nuer two? th my savings card, i can get movantik for about the same price as the other things i tried. don't take movantik if you have a bowel blockage or a history of them. movantik may cause serious side effects including symptoms of opioid withdrawal, severe stomach pain and/or diarrhea, and tears in the stomach or intestine. tell your doctor about any side effects and about medicines you take. movantik may interact with them causing side effects. don't back down from oic. talk to your doctor about movantik. remember mo-van-tik. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.
6:00 am
242 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC West Television Archive Television Archive News Search Service The Chin Grimes TV News ArchiveUploaded by TV Archive on