Skip to main content

tv   The Rachel Maddow Show  MSNBC  February 2, 2018 6:00pm-7:00pm PST

6:00 pm
about if they leave, as i said, they seed this department to a very politicized department. i'm not sure that's in their interest. in one sense it's easier because there are many it's attacking. it's clear he's doing an attack on the department and one person says i'm not sure i have the president's confidence. he's doing everyone -- >> strength in numbers. thanks for your time. that is "all in" for this evening. good evening. >> good evening. have a great weekend, my friend. thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. that's it. [ laughter ] >> that's it. that's what the hype is about? two weeks. i hyped i had donald trump's tax rump returns and i clarified and i
6:01 pm
said i had two pages and before i released what were donald trump's tax returns and for a year people said that was unconscionable hype about donald trump's tax returns but at least those actually were donald trump tax returns even if they were boring. this, this is two weeks of this memo is going to end everything. this memo will make department innocent and put mueller in prison. the donald j. trump security private task force. i can't believe i don't really believe in the people news wars ideas at the fox news channel. i have friends this work there
6:02 pm
they have been huffing and puffing and working a frenzy and built a right-wing public movement that this memo must be released because this memo will fix the trump presidency. it will fix the russia scandal for president trump and make the whole thing go away. apparently, despite that, apparently they didn't know or they didn't notice that this thing they have been clambering for and hyping for two solid weeks, that they have built up this frenzy around disproves their whole point. i mean, at some point in the past year they fixed on this strategy that dossier that was published january 16th, fix it.
6:03 pm
they promised the fox news audience and country. they talked a big portion of the media into believing that they were about to shake the earth. they were about to prove the whole basis of the russia investigation was that dossier. they never even planned to come up with a good argument against the content and didn't think they would have to. it was step one, say the dossier is bad. step two, say the whole russia investigation is based on the dossier. step three, was today. release the memo that proves step two. that proves that the dossier was the basis for the whole russia investigation and then boom, you don't need a step four because game is over. trump is president for life and if you don't support him, you're a democrat and legal good-bye. today was the big reveal. today was step three. the memo, that proves the whole russia investigation is based on the dossier. and then they released this memo
6:04 pm
that says in the final paragraph, sort of districting making a point about specific fbi agents being bad people that have affairs. they let slip in the last paragraph of the dossier, the memo, by the way, the dossier didn't actually lead to the russia investigation. the fbi was looking at a trump campaign guy for the contacts with the russians. that guy did actually end up pleading guilty to the fbi about lying about contacts with the russians. papadopoulos thing started the investigation. all right. they released this memo to prove that the dossier started everything. the memo says the dossier didn't actually start anything. at which point everybody in america goes -- everybody else in america, i guess, goes right, that's what we've been saying. but what happens now to all the hype at fox news over the past couple weeks? this was a lot of hype.
6:05 pm
what happens to the plan by the white house where the president was apparently led to release this thing? not because he knew what was in it or bothered to read it himself but because he was watching fox news segments about it and those fox news segments were convincing him that this memo was the magic ticket that would be the get out of jail free card. what happens to the president's argument that this memo was all the justification he needs to remove the deputy attorney general or maybe the fbi director or everybody else who might conceivably give him some path toward stopping the mueller investigation. fox news apparently convinced the president this memo is all he would need to be able to fire rod rosenstein. to be able to get rid of the mueller investigation. by one report to get jeff sessions to indict robert mueller. washington post reported this morning that the president was left alone with the memo for
6:06 pm
several hours so he could read it. the memo is only three and a half pages long. and the thought is not that small and i know the president famously does not enjoy lots of reading but i mean, several hours to read three and a half pages, there is no reason to assume he had adequate time to get through all three and a half in several hours. maybe he didn't get to the bad part in the end. so after all of the hype, after all of the excitement, after all of the absolute fixation on this big reveal, this big moment today, i will admit to being shocked that this is what they released. it was kind of like a sad trombone. we only bring that out for very special occasions. but we did nevertheless get a landmark moment in american history with us today. we did get a public release of
6:07 pm
classified information pushed by house republicans and okayed by the president of the united states apparently because he thought this was going to be good for him politicly because fox news told him it would be. fisa warrants are classified. we're not supposed to get any public information about the fisa court or warrants. confirmation of specific targets of fisa warrants. we're not supposed to get that but we got that and we know thanks to this memo on october 21st, 2016, a foreign intelligence surveillance act fisa warrant was approved to start on foreign policy advisor carter page and learned from this classified memo today that that warrant was renewed three times after its initial approval and that's helpful information. even though, it's good to know. i was talking to a reporter
6:08 pm
friend of mine in my office and we were counting off on the fingers what the rules mean exactly when that means carter page was subject to the surveillance warrant. it started in october 2016. they run for 90 days. that would mean it's renewed in november, december, january. and then if it ran for another 90 days and it was renewed again for a second time that would be in february, march, april. and then if it ran for another 90 days and it was renewed for a third time which is what the memo said today, that means it was renewed in may, june, july. and then it would run for another 90 days which would be august, september, october. that means from october 26, 2016 to october 2017 at least carter page was being surveilled which is the thing we're never supposed to know particularly for something that's an on going investigation but we got that information because they released this information from october '16 to october 2017,
6:09 pm
this trump foreign policy advisor was under surveillance thanks to a fisa warrant because he was believed to be a foreign agent or a u.s. person who was in contact with the foreign intelligence service. and it's bizarre that we know that. it is bizarre that that has been declassified and given to the public. i mean, it's handy to know if we're trying to piece together the timeline on this. it's handy to know if it's clear carter paige came to this studio to do an interview with chris hay hayes, based on the math, he was still being surveilled at the ti time he did that interview and that interview was nutty. all of carter paige's interviews are nutty but he said this one now very intriguing thing. not really about his own case or about donald trump but about house republicans.
6:10 pm
>> in the interest of really getting the truth out there because i think when the truth comes out, when speaker paul ryan says the fisa warrant or the details about the dossier and what happened and all the documents surround that will be released, that's what i'm excited about. i think the truth will set a lot of people free. >> because of the way he talks and behaves in interviews, everything carter page says seems fuzzy. like a little where you going, man? he just said there actually is what happened. and he knew about it months in advance. this is months ago, last october, carter page knew speaker of the house paul ryan would green light the release of classified information about what went into the fisa warrant of carter page. >> when speaker paul ryan says the fisa warrant or the details about the dodging dossier and what happened and all those documents that surround that will be released, that's what
6:11 pm
i'm excited about. >> paul ryan is going to green light the release of the information around your fisa warrant? i mean, it sounded like another crazy thing page said but that was months ago and that's what just happened. so months ago there was a plan in the works that carter page knew about that involved paul ryan that they would try to use this warrant against carter page to make a public case to try to turn that warrant somehow into some sort of public information that presumably would be used to turn the russia investigation into a scandal and it's happened and they have put out their memo and it is such a bust. it is so not what it was hyped to be but it's worth being clear this is something they are trying to figure out a way to use for a very long time. apparently, the let's release the classified information about what led to the warrant plan,
6:12 pm
apparently that was in the works since last october when carter page blurted it out to chris hayes. it's also worth noting before that last march, you remember the obama wiretapped trump tower scandal? march of last year at the start of the administration, president trump made that strange allegation, terribly, just found out that obama had my wires tapped in trump tower just before the victory. he said i bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact president obama was tapping my phone in october. trump tower was not wiretapped and president obama was not tapping donald trump's phones in october but you know the fbi was in october wiretapping trump foreign policy advisor, that is when they got the fisa warrant to surveil carter page. there was surveillance of the ex campaign aids starting in
6:13 pm
october. if that's what was the truth behind that effort to try to create sole giant national security scandal around it, i mean, it -- i think it worked sort of for a couple weeks while people were upset about this allegation from the president that president obama had had his wires tapped and everything and people tried to figure out what he was talking about and that lasted before he realized it was non-sense and a couple weeks later, they tried to reup it. couple weeks after the obama wiretapped me stuff, that same month march 2017 was devin nun breathing hard said he received terrible information about people from the trump campaign being monitored in foreign surveillance. this was damming and terrible information, sorry he had to go. he had to rush to the white house to brief the president on this disturbing revelation. that disturbing revelation was
6:14 pm
information that was provideed to devin nunes from the white house in the first place. is that about carter page? is that what it was about, too? i mean, what is this all about? the trump campaign did hire someone, lord knows why who had no foreign policy profile. no national security profile and no political profile at all but believed by the fbi to be a whiting foreign agent of russia or a u.s. person in contact with the foreign intelligence agency. the fbi had him on the radar for years. he turned up in a starring role in a russian spy ring that had been broken up involving a branch of veb bank in new york city a few years earlier. during the course of the trump campaign of counter intelligence officials because of his intelligence. they were looking at the matters
6:15 pm
without cause and part of their investigation, they did get a fisa warrant in october 2016. they can confirm that because they released classified information to make this big political point about it. but they have been trying to make a point about this for a long time. seems like they have taken a few different cracks at it. the existence of the warrant for page is kicking around a lot. that itself is an unusual thing. the fisa warrants don't in the abstract. knowing about the target of a fisa warrant, an on going one, knowing about the application made and renewals and who it's about and why, this is stuff that doesn't leak to the press with frequency at all. this carter page one for whatever reason has been around. we've known about it. there is a ton of reporting about it. washington post was first to report on the warrant in april
6:16 pm
then cnn got the story and "the new york times" got the story. for some reason, people knew enough about this fisa warrant so much so it got picked up in multiple news organizations. and it's clear, it's been clear for a long time somehow it's been clear for months. carter page made that clear in the chris hayes interview in october. i think also based on the timing this may be what they tried to turn into the trump tower wiretapping thing and devin n nunes. we don't know. it's confirmed public ly, a big shot today. they declassified the information selectively. they take their big shot so they can finally figure out, they
6:17 pm
used this memo. to make the russia investigation go away, poof. right? they would show that the fisa warrant for carter page was steele dossier they will say was their source of the fbi russia there is no more russia investigation. problem solved. as i mentioned at the top, this plan was under cut. which notes in passing quote, the fisa application mentions information regarding fellow campaign advisor george papadopoul papadopoulos. in late july, it was other intelligence that the fbi had about contacts about the trump
6:18 pm
campaign and russians. they weren't made up and result in a guilty plea and a cooperating witness. whoops. why did they put that in their big memo? they could put anything in here, right? they didn't let anybody check it against the actual facts. they just released it on their own. why did that put that in there? oops. they did. i mean, even if you never fell for any of the new embarrassing fox news hype about this thing, even if you never expected this would be a get out of jail free card for the president and his family, you know, there is one assertion in this memo that does still stick out. it's designed to seem very worrying. there is an assertion about christopher steele himself, republicans have been telegraphing their punches on this for a long time and tried to make the dossier a scandal and christopher steele a scandal. he was the head russia guy in britain for years. they tried to make him into a scandal. because they have been trying to
6:19 pm
make that case for a year now, in fact, they have turned a lot of what are supposed to be the congressional russia investigations into instead full-time ef poforts because ofe republicans have done that, we have got pretty good public record. we have documents in the public domain about the dossier and about christopher steele, about the creation of the dossier and firm that commissioned it. part of the reason we got all that detail is because republicans have hauled fusion gps to capitol hill and pressured their founder in giving 21 hours of congressional testimony about steele and the dossier because republicans are so invested in making it sound like a terrible thing. it was released today. this is what they say about christopher steele personally which is designed to under can the him as a source, there by under cut the russia investigation even though the investigation wasn't based on the dossier. this is what it says about steele in the memo today. quote, shortly after the
6:20 pm
election, the fbi began interviewing a senior doj official, deputy attorney general who has been in contact with christopher steele or, according to the memo had been documenteding hkinumenting hisc. steele admitted to ohr his feelings against candidate trump when he said he was desperate that donald trump not get elected and passionate about him not being president. that's actually the only phrase in the entire memo that's in bold type that they really want you to know christopher steele communicated that when he brought his material. thanks to the russian probes in congress, being turned into anti christopher steele investigations, thanks to the glen simpson transcripts because they hold the fusion gps back to congress again and again and again, we actually know what the context is for christopher
6:21 pm
steele's state of mind around that time. we know what was going on at the time that might have led christopher steele to say how he felt about donald trump being elected as president. we have more information about that than just what's in the memo. the first glen simpson transcript was released. in that on page 219 of that transcript, glen simpson explains his and chris steels state of mind about donald trump given all the information that steel had just collected about him, which caused them to take their information to the fbi and the justice department. basically out of fear because they were so alarmed by what this research project had turned up about trump. so this is from the transcript. quote, so after the election obviously we were as surprised as everyone else and chris and i were mutually concerned about whether or not the united states elected someone that was compromised by a hostile foreign power. we were, you know, unsure what to do initially we didn't do
6:22 pm
anything other than to discuss concerns but we were gravely concerned. okay? then we get a second transcript talking to the house intelligence committee and he explains the state of mind that christopher steele had at the time, explains it in more details, page 78. did the fbi ever reach out to you or fusion gps in relation to the matters that mr. steele informed them upon? i was asked to provide information to the justice department. by whom and when? it was by a prosecutor named bruce ohr following up. did mr. ohr reach out to you? i think chris, it was someone chris steele knows. chris steele knows bruce ohr and he told bruce what p happened a wanted more information. the context of this it was after the eelection, a very surprisin thing happened, donald trump won we were enormously concerned about rapidly accumulating indications the russian
6:23 pm
government mounted an attack on the system and that, you know, donald trump and associates might have been involved and there was a lot of alarming things happening including trump saying things about vladimir putin that didn't make sense and weren't ordinary things for a republican to say and, you know, anyway, and we had also by this time given this information to the fbi. they indicateed to chrd to chri were investigating and told "the new york times" they weren't. that's about this article published on october 31st before the election, investigating donald trump, fbi sees no clear link to russia. the substantive claims in the "new york times" article have all basically been disproven. there is a raging debate why they haven't retracted but it existed at the time so that led to this from the transcript. we had given this information to the fbi and indicateed to clid they were investigating but told "the new york times" they
6:24 pm
weren't. it was not clear to us whether anyone at a high level of government was aware of the information chris gathered and provided to the fbi so we were frankly very scared for the country and for ourselves and we felt if we could give it to someone else higher up, we should. chris suggested i give information to bruce, give him the background to this, we eventually met at a coffee shop and i told him the story and then that part of the transcript ends with my time is up. thank you. so the memo released today by house republicans, this classified memo that they thought would be the big get out of jail free card, would end the russia investigation, the one actually alarming piece of it or at least kind of shocking piece of it is when they say chris steel expressed grave worries about donald trump being elected president of the united states. they take that one piece and bold it, it's the one bold line in the whole memo. they hold that up as the proof
6:25 pm
that christopher steele was a terrible anti partisan even though he's not from this country. they don't mention the reason christopher steele had feelings of desperation might be because of what he learned in research about donald trump and russia and compromise and blackmail. what a fiasco. what an embarrassment. n people! lobsterfest is back at red lobster... with the most lobster dishes of the year. new dueling lobster tails has two tails that'll fight to be your favorite. one topped with creamy shrimp and scallops, the other... steamed with lemon and herbs. and no, you're not dreaming, classics like lobster lover's dream are back too, along with decadent new lobster truffle mac & cheese. but enough talking about lobster- let's get to eating! - because lobsterfest won't last. so dive in today at red lobster! 3 toddlers won't stop him.. and neither will lower back pain. because at a dr. scholl's kiosk he got a recommendation for our custom fit orthotic to relieve his foot, knee, or lower back pain,
6:26 pm
from being on his feet. dr. scholl's. born to move.
6:27 pm
why create something this extravagant? or make a back seat that feels nothing like a back seat? why give it every feature you could want, along with a few you didn't know you needed? it's simple. you can build a car, or you can build a cadillac. come in now for this exceptional offer on the cadillac ct6. get this low-mileage lease on this 2018 cadillac ct6 from around $549 per month. visit your local cadillac dealer.
6:28 pm
6:29 pm
we are joined by adam schiff. this is a weird day. >> yes, it has. >> you know what the underlying intelligence is that led to this republican memo today we know that the other republican member of congress who has seen that underlying intelligence is actually not congressman devin n nun nunes, it's trey gowdy that surprised everybody this week by announcing he would be resigning from congress. there is conflicting information as to whether or not he actually
6:30 pm
wrote this document. he contacted congressman gowdy's office and they told us he was not involve in writing it and nunes says it was him and trey gowdy that wrote it. >> i think the republican staff wrote the memo. that's the best of our understanding and quite breathtaking because the chairman didn't bother to review the underlying material. the on one apparently of republican members that did, trey gowdy brought us the endless benghazi conspiracies that never prove to be true. it's important for people to understand as they try to justify this use of this never before used house rule to publish this, this is not what oversight looks like. they claim this is part of oversight. we do every sight every day. oversight involves bringing agencies before our committee and asking tough questions and demanding information when they
6:31 pm
raised this memo, which they raised with no notice to us, we said let's bring in the fbi. let's bring the department of justice. let's hear what they have to say and look at the full applications and go through them and see what is being left out of the memo. we took a vote and they voted no, we don't want to know. we who haven't read it, we that don't look at the underlying materials don't want to know. we want to publish our memo. this is about a narrative they wanted to tell that they wanted to get out in the public domain and you're right, i would add one other thing to the timeline. this all began on march 20th when james comey testified before our committee in the first open hearing and revealed there was a counter intelligence investigation going on of the trump campaign. we on the committee, the democrats laid out a powerful case why a thorough investigation needed to be done.
6:32 pm
republicans said they view that hearing as an utter disast r as d -- disaster as did the white house. it's only a disaster if you view your job as protecting the president and not finding out the truth. it was the very next day after that hearing that devin nunes went on the midnight run to his undisclosed location to get these incriminating documents that didn't stand for anything like he represented them and the day after that that he would present them back to the white house. that whole gambit began the day after that hearing and it's never really nldended. this is the latest chapter in an effort to district attention from the russia probe and put the government on trial. >> what do you make of the effectiveness of this effort? to me, it feels quite fitting that today is ground hog day because it feels like we have seen this movie before in wavin. i have this list.
6:33 pm
i have this classified information that proves the russia investigation is based on something inappropriate that it should go away and the real villains here are the obama administration or hillary clinton. i feel like we've seen a number of different it ratiways of thi with the hype and conservative media and dramatic and unprecedented action where they actually released classified information in order to do this, i have to ask you how damaging you think this is and how well this particular attempt of their's has done at its aim to protect the president and try to divert the investigation. >> well, i think it's been very damaging but not in the way republicans have hoped. it's been damaging because they have built this up so much. on fox, they were trumpeting this that made watergate look like a walk in the park and gop
6:34 pm
members saying this is the most vile thing they have seen and it's a big dud. the department of justice consists of a single fisa court application against someone under inquiry because he had been approached by russian intelligence for russian information years before donald trump came along but the real damage they have done is they have damaged the relationship between our committee and intelligence committee. in the future, the insdwrentell committee will be wary of sharing information, if you have a neighbor next door buying a lot of fertilizer and seems odd because they don't have a yard, are you going to think twice before calling the fbi because if they get a search warrant for your neighbor and something is politicized and there is
6:35 pm
information, your identity will be revealed because you really can't trust this will be kept c confidential anymore. even so, the process presumed in the president of the united states who has a veto over this would be a responsible person who would have the interest of the nation at heart and of course, that's not what we have here. >> congressman adam schiff, current rly engaged in the figh to have the rebuttal memo declose fd declassified. thank you for being with us tonight. >> thank you. a lot more to get to tonight, stay with us. there's something you may be missing. a key part of your wellness that you may be... overlooking. it's your eyes. that's why there's ocuvite, from bausch + lomb. as you age your eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish those nutrients. ocuvite has lutein, zeaxanthin, and omega-3.
6:36 pm
nourish your eyes to help them be their healthy best. ocuvite eye vitamins. be good to your eyes. but their nutritional needs (vremain instinctual.d, that's why there's purina one true instinct. nutrient-dense, protein-rich, real meat number one. this is a different breed of natural nutrition. purina one, true instinct. what can a president [ do in thirty seconds? he can fire an fbi director who won't pledge his loyalty. he can order the deportation of a million immigrant children. he can threaten an unstable dictator armed with nuclear weapons. he can go into a rage and enter the nuclear launch codes. how bad does it have to get before congress does something?
6:37 pm
ok, i...is it...? clearblue digital pregnancy test... ...with smart countdown, gives unmistakably clear... ...results written in words. over 99% accurate. absolute clarity, when you need it most.
6:38 pm
renein the caribbean.onder... for a limited time enjoy two free perks, like complimentary wi-fi and drinks. a savings up to $300 when you book now, during the celebrity cruises sail beyond event. renein the caribbean.onder... for a limited time enjoy two free perks, like complimentary wi-fi and drinks.
6:39 pm
a savings up to $300 when you book now, during the celebrity cruises sail beyond event. ron and rachel are harvard graduates, experienced lawyers. rod had 27 years in the department. rachel had a number of years in the department. they both represent the quality and leadership that we want in the department. >> [ indiscernible question ] >> thank you very much. >> [ indiscernible question ] >> you figure that one out. >> the republicans appear to have laid an egg with the big memo release today. but the president reportedly had been convinced by watching fox news channel segments in the lead up to the memo release he
6:40 pm
was convinced this would offer him all the ammunition he kneadkneaneeded to fire deputy attorney general rod rosenstein at the justice department when the president was asked about that today by reporters, does it make you more likely to fire rosenstein and does he have confidence in him? the president's response was you figure that out. former u.s. attorney, extensive experience with the fisa process and james comey and robert mueller seems like the guy to talk to tonight. thank u you for being here. >> my pleasure. obviously there has been criticism any classified information has been released at all. further, there is criticism if something is going to be released, this selection of information about the fisa process according to democrats is misleading and incomplete and
6:41 pm
according to the fbi fatally incomplete and inaccurate. from what you know about the fisa process, would it be possible to decloassify safely enough information to give the public a true picture of what appropriately or inappropriately led to a warrant being issued? >> i can answer it this way. if you wanted to give even a full picture, this wouldn't do it. you have three pieces of a jigsaw puzzle with a 997 missing and no box top. this doesn't give you any picture at all. i can tell you having worked for bob mueller at the fbi, i was responsible for viewing the fisa warrants before prosecutors brought them to a judge to be authorized. lots and lots of people before me worked on those wants vetting them and corroborating them and making sure that everything was checked to the extent it could
6:42 pm
be. it's an exact process and iran in this case -- ironically, it's the rank and file process of the department of justice, the paralegals and lose cue toprose ensure the accuracy. the rank and file are the ones that help prepare these for court. >> is there -- to the extent this is going to be used as a political document, i played that clip at the top because there are reports the president believes he can use this memo, the release of this memo and publicity around it in the consecutive media to give him public support for dramatic action like firing the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. given its intended use, should we expect there could be some kind of rebuttal, that the fbi would issue a public statement clarifying what are the
6:43 pm
allegations against them in this memo? >> the fbi said its peace and properly so. the fbi is in a tough bind. they didn't want anything out. they only compound the problem by putting more out. can i tickake a minute to expla what is odd about classified information? >> please, please. >> imagine someone leaked a document saying rachel maddow loved nutella but would only eat it with a red plastic spoon and marked top secret and everyone is wondering why in the world is that top secret? it turns out that only one person in the whole world, your great aunt barbara knows you like eating nutella with a red plastic spoon. we told the whole world great aunt barbara is the source for the united states government. she's a mole. she's a spy and something bad is going to happen to her in the next couple days in that foreign
6:44 pm
country. and so the fbi cannot be in the business of rebutting this stuff because to rebut it, they will layout facts foreign governments will use to their advantage and our disadvantage. they said their peace. >> chuck, i have to tell you, i have an aunt named barbara who is freaking out right now but in a different way -- >> she's a spy. >> in a different way than you freaked out the country with what they have given away with this classified information. former u.s. attorney and senior fbi official and dea administration. thank you. >> my pleasure. from the very beginning ...
6:45 pm
it was always our singular focus. to do whatever it takes, use every possible resource. to fight cancer. and never lose sight of the patients we're fighting for. our cancer treatment specialists share the same vision. experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care. and these are the specialists we're proud to call our own. expert medicine works here. learn more at cancercenter.com appointments available now. so, howell...going? we had a vacation early in our marriage that kinda put us in a hole. go someplace exotic? yeah, bermuda. a hospital in bermuda. a hospital in bermuda.
6:46 pm
what? what happened? i got a little over-confident on a moped. even with insurance, we had to dip into our 401(k) so it set us back a little bit. sometimes you don't have a choice. but it doesn't mean you can't get back on track. great. yeah, great. i'd like to go back to bermuda. i hear it's nice. yeah, i'd like to see it. no judgment. just guidance. td ameritrade. i ...prilosec otc 7 years ago,my doctor recommended... 5 years ago, last week. just 1 pill each morning, 24 hours and zero heartburn. it's been the number 1 doctor recommended brand for 10... ...straight years, and it's still recommended today. use as directed. this one's below market price and has bluetooth. same here, but this one has leather seats! use the cars.com app to compare price, features and value.
6:47 pm
and sometimes, i don't eat the way i should. so, i drink boost. boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d. boost high protein be up for it . there are five high-ranking officials. james comey fired. deputy fbi director andrew mccabe pushed out and dana bente had been fired but brought him
6:48 pm
back and rod rosenstein. the white house denied tonight that rod rosenstein's job is on the line ask denied the president ever tried to fire special counsel robert mueller which we now know he did. this is why people have been calling this moment a slow motion sad night massacre after nixon cleared out the department in 1973 to stop the investigation against him. joining me is ms nbc news historian. thank you for being with us. >> pleasure. >> will you put this in historical context in terms of magnitude in terms of how big a deal this is and how strange it is? >> it could be a really big deal because number one, just as you've been suggesting, we could maybe the next few days be seeing the firing of rod rosenstein which could lead to an effort to constrain robert mueller's investigation or even shot it down with all that would
6:49 pm
entail. i suggest the next couple days we all sleep with one eye open because we just cannot know what is going to happen but even a larger context, rachel, this is a guy donald trump who since the time he was elected has talked about attacking some of the most vulnerable aspects of our democracy and at the beginning and also in vent times. the fbiest talked about reconstructing the fbi, i don't think i want to see an fbi where a president can use fbi agents to go after his political enemies. justice department, we saw that actually today. there is an effort to cast doubt on the justice department which is now our legal system is a threat to donald trump in his circle and the intelligence community from the very beginning after he was elected. he attacked. this is something in recent years kept us strong against russia and one of the bull works against russia invading our
6:50 pm
electoral system in the midterm election. this is not only a threat to the mueller investigation, it goes way beyond. >> as we see the white house and allies in the republican party in congress, try to election. >> as we see the republican party in congress not just rebut but impugn and undo the mueller investigation, the fbi, the justice department, to a certain extent the intelligence community as you said, i try to see that in the context of the beef that various presidents have had with the media over times or the beef that various president haves had with people investigating them. what seems different is the conservative med ya messagingin machine. is that new? >> it's something that nixon was desperate to have and we know
6:51 pm
that richard nixon met with roger ails of all people and talked to him about establishing a tv network. nixon would have loved to have that in watergate in the case now it's embolding donald trump. a little late for nixon. today was a day that threatened america's faith in government. that's the top of the russian wish book. this was a great day for russia and that's something none of us want to see. >> nbc news historian michael beschloss, thank you for your time. we'll be right back. stay with us. ♪ that you'll ever need ♪ staying ahead isn't about waiting for a chance. it's about the one bold choice you make, that moves you forward. ( ♪ ) the one and only cadillac escalade. come in now for this exceptional offer
6:52 pm
on the cadillac escalade. get this low-mileage lease on this 2018 cadillac escalade from around $879 per month. visit your local cadillac dealer.
6:53 pm
but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient from around $879 per month. originally discovered... in jellyfish.
6:54 pm
in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. your insurance on time. tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance.
6:55 pm
the man has held five different jobs in the trump administration. five jobs. dana boente, he was the u.s. attorney for the eastern district of virginia, which is an important position given its proximity to d.c. when if president fired acting attorney general salliaty yates until they swore in jeff sessions, then they made him deputy attorney general, until they sworn in rod rosenstein. then they made him attorney general of the acting.
6:56 pm
considering it was obama hold over they made these efrforts t keep him around and in these positions. that's why it was surprising, when dana boente was out. suddenly announced he was leaving the justice department and nbc news learned he didn't jump, he was pushed. he had been told to resign. after they gave him all those jobs why did they fire that guy? don't know. but then they changed their minds just a few days ago. they brought him back to the yet another big job. they have him working as the general counsel of the fbi. the trump administration just can't quit dana boente. today we learned something else about him. something he did when he was acting attorney general. that is that dana boente was one
6:57 pm
of the many official who signed a fisa application for surveillance on carter page. the president had been hoping to use this memo as a way to get rid of rod rosenstein because he signed off on one too, in fact, he appeared to do what everybody else did before him when it came to a warrant for carter page, be four different judges were happy to approve surveillance warrants and renewals when it came to carter page. the difference is the other rye high ranking officials have been fired or are out the door or are threatened like rod rosenstein. dana boente signed one too is he not going to get fired? if trump gets rid of rod rosenstein, does he have to get rid of dana boente too? why would rod rosenstein have to
6:58 pm
go and not dana boente? someone explain it to me. we'll be right back. not cool. freezing away fat cell with coolsculpting? now that's cool! only coolsculpting is fda-cleared to treat and freeze fat cells, non-surgically. diet and exercise alone just shrink those cells. coolsculpting gradually eliminates them, with little or no downtime. visit coolsculpting.com today... for a chance to win a free treatment. coaching means making tough choices. jim! you're in! but when you have high blood pressure
6:59 pm
and need cold medicine that works fast, the choice is simple. coricidin hbp is the #1 brand that gives powerful cold symptom relief without raising your blood pressure. coricidin hbp.
7:00 pm
i hereby wish you a very happy super bowl weekend and i hereby wish you gastro intestinal relief now that this memo has dropped. the ones that our friends at the fox news channel and republicans and those at the white house had hyped and suggested would be the get out of jail free card for anything that led to an fbi investigation over the course of the trump campaign or administration. and now that it has dropped it disproves the main point they were trying to make with it. i feel like -- well, like i said i wish you gastro intestinal relief. i feel as a country we had a relieving burp. it's over. that does it for us tonight see you monday. go pats. it's time for the last word. joy reed is in for lawrence o'donnell. >> i