i'll be back tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. and watching you at 3:00 p.m. check us out on social media. right now, can i get a witness? paul manafort oc up prosecutors accuse the president's former campaign manager of witness tampering while out on bail. >> to the president's other inner circle members that if you obstruct this investigation, we're going after you. fumble. president trump disinvites the super bowl champion for the traditional white house celebration. falsely claiming they did not respect the national anthem even though no one from the team took a knee during the season. that sparks a strong reaction from philly fans. >> he's president. >> it's a sport. let these guys come w want to come. >> yeah, they should. they should be able to go to the

white house. blue crush. california democrats are hoping to flip the balance of power many the white house. >> the idea that democrats mig have thought diversity equals democrat, what do yo to that? >> not sfast. >> not so fast. >> not so fast. good day, everyone. paul manafort will be back in a wa disict courtroom in ten days. he's now facing a fresh set of legal problems from robert mueller's team accusing president trump's indicted campaign chairman of trying to tamper with potential witnesses. reaching out to unnamed business partners back infebruary. manafort and his legal team must respond by friday.

at this time they are refusing all comment on these new developments. pete williams joins me now. this is a big deal development. >> reporter: it is a big deal not surprising his lawyer hasn't comment ed yet because the comment that count s the one he makes to the judge. here is the deal here. when he was allowed out on bail, he had to agree there is standard in these bail agreements that he not commit any federal crimes. now robert mueller had come forward to accuse manafort of committing a crime of witness tampering. what manafort -- what mueller says here is that after the superceding indictment was filed manafort got in touch with a former employee who had been involved in doing some loblobby. manafort always claimed this

lobbying was never in the united states.ccording to mueller and i statement that accompanied that manafort sent a message to this employee saying we should talk. i have made clear that they, meaning a team of people that were to lobby on behalf of ukrai ukraine. i have made clear they worked in europe. the person he contacted has told mueller's prosecutors, according to court documents, that this person understood manafort's out reach to quote suborb perjury. that is to get this witness to say something that isn't true. if the judge finds that manafort did do this and violate the conditions of his bail then law says that puts the burden on manafort to show why he should be allowed to stay out and why he wouldn't be a danger to the

community or commit some other crime. it's a very strong arm tactic by robert mueller's prosecutors and if manafort isn't careful here, he could wind up in jail while he waits trial. >> pete, is there is a way -- can we figure out how the prosecutors figured this out? how did they find out? were they surveilling him? >> they har of means. they were intercepting his km s communications. some were by encrypted app. they got subpoenas to look at his phone records, i cloud documents. they talk to these people as well who came forward to say, to get us to commit perjury.ng >> thanks to pete. just hang a second. we want to congratulate you you e a winner of the radio television news association 2018 award for contributions to journalism and freedom of the press. it's so well deserved. congratulations. >> thank you. >> joining us now, msnbc legal

analyst, former assistant u.s. attorney in the southern district of new york and msnbc national security analyst clint watts. talk about a timely book. congratulations to you. first to you, prosecutors do not like witness tampering. this could be a serious deal for manafort. >> absolutely. it's not just that prosecutors don't like witness tampering, judges don't. this is something that judges take very seriously. and you know i really think assuming that the facts are proven to the judge, which it sounds like they will be. sounds like they have very good i think at's probably why they waited even though this started back in february. they obviously wanted to get all their ducks in a row to really be able to show the judge this happened. a judge is going to be, i think,

very leery of leaving someone out on bail who has not just witness tampered, attempted tamper with witnesses but done it in such a brazen way while already on electronic monitoring, while asking for looser bail conditions. he has shown himself to be reckless. that is something a judge will consider is he isn't someone who can be trusted to abide by the court's rule and regulations leading up to trial. >> clint, with all the defense arguments and the white house arguments there's no collusion, there's no russia involvement, paul manafort was the campaign chairman for a critical period of time. your book goes into the whole role that russian hackers and others played. he had so many russian connections that the case obviously has to be proved, but he's right at the center of this whole original reason for the

mueller investigation. it's an on the ground game. they bring these two together. manafort was the length for these things. he is the campaign manager. at times he sited russian propaganda. he did this on cnn. there was a fak attack on social media. he cited that during an interview. not only is it sbreinteresting he's become the principal figure but he is probably behaving the way he always behaved overseas. to think about going to a witness to try to communicate saying this is what you need to say. this is very damaging. i think they will look at this harshly. i can't wait to see how this plays out in the courts opinion. >> he changed influence, arguably, that's the allegation,

influence the gop platform to soften language about ukraine. >> this is afterching is play in social media. i started to get really concerned. you're seeing policy changes. policy changes we would never see from republicans. the thought of backing away or going so on russia. ukraine s not something i expected from the rnc. he see a change in the platform. this is exactly howcew works. >> he represents bob dole and

many others over the years.hehi. >> that tweet is outrageous that he's trying to put on the fbi that they should have warned him about manafort. they did. that's been well reported. second of all or not specifically about mbut theussians wer trying to get into their campaign and second of all donald trump has long history with manafort which mueller has already documented to some extent and i'm sure will come out further. timing of the tweet is interesting. now that we know about manafort, it does make one wonder if that was just a coincidence that trump was tweeting about manafort and then we found out that manafort did attempt to tamper with some witnesses and this is the week that the government is moving about at. orid trump, who is hen

contact th. did he somehow have some idea that som was coming down the pipe soon? >>ed thank you. a codiincidence or something other? o this sta coming,ve the law. does president trump have the extraordinary powers. after most eagles team members plan to boycott, the president tries the beat them at their own game. you're watching andrea mitchell reports on msnbc. can yotually e wearing powerful sunscreen? yes! neutrogena® ultra sheer. no other sunscreen works better or feels so good. clinically proven helioplex® provides unbeatable uva/uvb protection to hp prevearly skin aging and skin can all with a clean light feel. for un protection. it's the one. the best for your skin.

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does the president believe he is above the >> certainly not the president hasn't done anything wrong. >> the question isn't is he done anything wrong. the question is does the framers sion a system where the president could pardon himself or be above the law? >> the constitution laws out the law. the president hasn't done wrong. we f comfortable in that front. >> nbc peter alexander pressing sarah sanders about president trump's claims of extraordinary legal authority following the president's tweet that quote i have the absolute right to pardon myself but why would i do that when i have done nothing wrong? joining me msnbc white house r

correspondent kristen welker. kristen to you, pardoning himself. s no pcedent fthat are they still claiming he has these unlimited, extraordinary powers? >> reporter: overnight the president's attorney, rudy giuliani, reiterated he believes the president does have the power to pardon himself although rudy giuliani stressed the president has no plans to do it bauds it would amouno political suicide. the reason he's making that argument because the constitution doesn't say he doesn't have the power. it's a theory that's never been tested because a president never tried to pardon himself and a lot of legal experts say it likely wouldn't stand up for a couple of reasons. one of them being the language is important in the constitution. it says the president had the wer to grant pardons. grant is something that is given to someone else. the other part of the language,

no one may be a judge in his own case. that was what the justice department told richard nixon in 1974 just days before he resigned. that's what the justice department determined back then. again, no president has ever acally tried to pardon himself. it's still very much untested. >> political suicide is one issue but charlie savage, legally, this expansive view of presidential powers is extraordinary. >> that's right. this goes beyond this tweet that he can pardon himself in this unsted issue. kristen is right that the justice department told nixon that he couldn't because he couldn't be a judge in his own case but we don't know. no president had tried to do it. the larger exertion of power that we see coming into view is what was posted these memos. the overarching that they have

been whisper ng ting in the president's ear is he is above the law when it comes to obstruction of justice. what his lawyer vs bes have bee telling him that unique above people in the united states, he does not havo obey thala he is impede an investigation no matter his motive because congress lacks authority. ts it's a sweeping view. it has echoes of nixon saying when a president does it, it's not illegal. it's being applied in a very different context. not a president pushing the limits to advance foreign affairs and defend the country but a president pushing the

limits to defend himself. >>. richard nixon with david frost. >> you are saying there are certain situations where the president can decide that it's in the best interest of the nation or something and do something illegal? >> when the president doesit, that means it is not illegal. >>hat's a comparison that the white house can't be enjoying. >> reporter: they can't be enjoying it. they are pushing back against it. if you go back do that letter obtained by the new york time from the president's legal team to the special counsel it lloyd out a very similar case. the president can't obstruct justice because he's the president. he can't be forced to testify under oath.

very similar tones to what you heard there in that historic interview. i would stress one other point. the fact you have a very robust push back from democrats and republicans on capitol hill. chuck grassley saying if his lawyer told him that the president could pardon himself, he would fire that attorney. it doesn't make sense. congress really trying to warn the president against even havinghie of discussion while the russia probe continues opinion. >> we're following some breaking news from new york city. it's shocking and terribly sad. nbc can now confirm that fashion designer kate spade was found dead in her apartment this morning. the cause of death is being investigated. kate spade was only 55 years old.

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from the ground up and having citi as an early investor worked as a signal to others to invest. with citi's help we built a wonderfuitward and we were able to purchase an mri machine. we've made it possible for the people who live here to lead healthier lives and that's invaluable. ♪ it was only four months ago that the pladelphia eag were basking in the yoeuphoria their victory. millions of fans flooding the city of brotherly love. it lasted for days long after

the confetti was cleared. there will not be a party at the white house after president trump abruptly cancelled the celebration honoring the super bowl champs. after nearly all the players and coaches said they will boycott over president's demand they will stand for national anthem. he was aware of the bad optics of having fewer than tene attend this event. the move sparked a immediate backlash from dispientsing fans pch. >> you would think he would allow th plars that wan t ort him to be there and it's a little disappointg. >> the players that do want to go, they should he the right to go. it's the white house. they were just practicing free speech. >> in a statement issued only moments ago the white house saying the vast majority of the eagles team decided to abandon their fans. joining me now by phone is philadelphia mayor. thank you very much. your reaction to the

cancellation today of the celebration of the eagles. >> that was the president's decision. obvious lly the crowd size was concern for him. there wasn't going toe enough people there to stroke his ego but he decided to cancel it. his assertion the eagles have abandoned their fans the, he doesn't really have a clue about the eagles fan base tha they would ban their fans or fans would abandon the eagles. it's been 50 years since we winning our first super bowl. even when we were terrible, wione or two games a year, the fan base was still there. i think it's clearly this white house is out of touch with the eagles organization and eagles fan base. >> do you smell a hint of politics in all of this in there are no eagle players -- no eag player took a knee or stayed in the locker room during all of last season.

>> i mean the whole issue over the anthem is just ridiculous. it probably would have gone away on its own. i think players had the right, the first amendment right to respond to something things they think are wrong in our society. i, as a privileged white male stand and cover my heart when the national anthem is played because i have a reason to. it's been beneficial to me to be in this country. there are other people who don't have the same experience i have. they want to express their disdain or anger the way things go in this country sometimes. i think the first amendment covers their right to do that. the eagles are an organization and individual players are concerned with the community and involve themselves in charitable works and fighting for criminal justice reform and hunger and all kinds of things. i'm proud of this team and the eagles organization. they are great corporate citizens and great people. >> there is some criticism they have cancelled their community

service opportunities in d.c. today because they will not be here. i don't know if there's some way they can make that up. >> that's up to them. by in large what they do here in philadelphia in our region is extremely important to us. they rebuild playgrounds and involved in checking kids for eyesight, for glses. they are involved in medical help for our poor kids. carson wentz is putting a food tr out in neighborhoods to serve healthy food to people. malcolm jenkins is involved in criminal justice reform. they are stellar individuals and i don't think the president understands that. >> thank you very much for joining us today. i know it's a busy day for you. we really appreciate your >> thank you. nice talking to you again. >> joining me now is jonathan jones.

>> what is your take away for this? the eagles thrust into controversth this white house. seems as though it came out of nowhere. >> it's not very surprising. the last time we spoke we talked about the anthem policy and how it was a bunch of half measures designed to satisfy everyone and doesn't satisfy anyone. donald trump taking aim at the nfl. this is very easy for him to do. you have a league that's 70% black. you have a league that didn't alhim to becomer back in the '80s. he loves to play the hits. when he says something about the nfl and talks about players, it doesn't matter who stayed in locker room or who kneeled or who took a fist. he noknows he can say that and stoke the flames with his base. >> there was a white house statement saying we will proudly be playing the national anthem

and other music at 3:00 p.m. the white house with the united states marine band honoring nfl no escaping to locke rooms. they will have an event at 3:00 when they would have been welcoming the eagles. do we know what this event will be? >> the white house is saying it will be a celebration of the american flag with eagles fa this statement really walks through the president's thinking when it comes to the optics of this. he did not want to be standing in a room with several representatives full team of nfl players. kpiends as a result he's now having this event and part of that statement says the eagles are abandoning their fans and they are showed a lack of good faith when dealing with the white house. you see the president here trying to drive a wedge between eagles fans and the football players. i think it's iortant to say that while some of these players for the eagles took a knee, ere's a t of players who

have political differences with this president. insteaof thinking through that idea the president wants it to be this broad idea about the national anthem when there could be several other things the players agree with and have nothing to do with the national anthem. >> to jonathan, is there any sense this is an attempt of a distraction. there's some bad news on the past couple of days. >> going back to playing the hits. i'll say this one thing. when you talk about, hey, some people say you should go to the white house because you have an audience with the president. you can make your point. how often in these meetings do people come away, one, with the truth from the meeting not being told afterward or two, as we're seeing now, the meeting being cancelled before it happens. >> is there any consideration at

the white house that this is creating more fric among people, among races between maybe the president's base and the nfl? >> i don't think so because the president really likes this issue. he thinks it's a winning issue for him. the first time he started talking about the and players taking a knee because of police brutality was in alabama. even then he didn't have to talk about the nfl. there wasn't a pressure for him to comment. this is manager the president inserted himself into and he thinkst makes him look like a pray tr patriot and feel good about his base. it's an issue he thinks that people will side with him on. there are a lot of people saying it's tearing apart america and making people be very angry at each other. now you have people that will be arguing about whether or not the eagles should have come.

whether or not the eagles were disrespecting the president. now you have this event where these fans will be, if they come to the white house, they will be dealing with administration that has been bad talking the super bowl champions. a lot of these eagles fans are excited. love these players and feel happy the squad was a i believe toe happen for their city and now they are saying you shouldn't be celebrating those men. that's hard thing to say. >> thanks so very much to you all on day when we are celebrating the eagles whether here or not. coming up, california governors make or break day for democrats in california. we'll break it down next. lyssa milano leading the new women's movement. plaque psoriasis can be relentless.

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republican district. >> this is campaign headquarters. >> this is headquarters. >> this is cool. >> this ishere the work gets done to flip the seat. >> flipping the seat, california's 39 was once considered highly likely after hillary clinton won in 2016. there's six democrats running in the primary and no clear front-runner. he's calling every last voter he can before the polls close on today. >> is the grant available. >> is james available? >> nope. >> this is sam. i'm running for congress in our community. i wanted to call to introduce myself. >> you already have our support. >> that must feel pretty good. >> those are always the best call. >> do you sense the democrats really know what's going on in the district? >> i think what they are pliszing is they are looking at demographics. we are a very diverse district.

you still have to make the case. >> do you know she might be your next congressperson? >> it's true. congratulations. >> democrat who came to the from vietnam as a refugee when she was nine thinks she can connect to the diverse residents of this district but she's not another problem to deal with. >> is it true the national democrats asked you to get out of race. >> they called me and said we did a poll. the poll shows that you don't have any viability. you should consider dropping out. >> was that crazy thing to hear? >> oh, my gosh. it was. i said, first who gave you that right and secondly, how dare you. w dare you. >> it's a funny thing to hear from a democrat. >> i know. >> there are more republicans than demonstrates run fning in e

39th. >> welcome to 39th district. >> this is the district the democrats think is one of most flipable in the country. >> not so. this is a very vibrant business district. i've talked to every single one of them. they come and talk to me about the issues that they care about. we haven't had a voice. asian american voice in washington for too long. >> people here don't represent them. >> they know you. she's famous here. she's a big star. are you going to vote for her on tuesday? >> yes. >> it's amazing. everywhere you go, peoplenow you. >> of course she says. is the fact that the democrats targeted this district based on its diversity. were they over confident.

>> i don't know what they are thinking but this is a district not just because it's an asian american district they should think they will be voting democrat. >> the idea that democrats might have thought diversity equals democrat, what do you say to that? >> not so fast. >> not so fast. >> not so fast. you're finding everything sort of thoun rown up in the air. >> the idea was to get more participation, more of a choice, less of partisan bent on the elections here in california but with the enthusiasm after donald trump was elected president, you have a lot of democrats running for office and a lot of republicans afed royce in the 39th district decided to step down. diversity is one of things that democrats thought would make it the most flipable district in america and turns out because of the partisan infighting among

the democrats, asking the candidate to get out of the race, looks like you can have a korean american republican from this district when it's all said and done. >> great day in california. everyone should vote. have the democrats really shot themselves in foot by fielding so many candidates that they will divide up field and maybe elect republicans instead? >> we won't know that until tomorrow night. it could happen. young kim is in a lot of trouble if a democratomes through. what she needs is to have two republicans inhe final. donald trump is the great turn out engine for democrats. he's also the great recruitment in persuading democrats to run. the democrat congressional campaign committee tried to

intervene. i think it's possible that democrats have begun to figure out that they have to vote for the candidate who has the best chance. it could happen in two or three of these seats. if it doesn't happen, then there's seven seeats up. i think the democrats have a good chance to flip them. >> if they were to flip those seven, that's seven out of 23 they need to turn the house. california really is the zone for trying to get this done. let's talk about the rest of the ticket. you've got the governor's race. you've got the senate race. dianne feinstein probably the best known candidate. she's 85 years old. she's ranking on sew dish rain leader of intelligence. >> she's winning across every democratic group. she has a very large lead. the real question here is whether or not her poeopponent fall will be the democratic in the state senate.

he's running 30, 40 points behind her but could come in second. the real question is whether or not a republican like paul bradley who spent virtually no money but who has some numbers in the polls could watch up with him. this two tier primary system has not worked the way, for example, arnold schwarzenegger expected to. it was to produce moderate candidates. what it's done is produced polarization so that a lot of people say, republican leaders like meg whitman are for antonio in the race. republican rank and file go in. they look at the d after his name and not going to vote for him. >> i want to you about what happened 50 years ago today. it was the end of the california primary. i read your piece. you were a law student at d and i was a fledging report and we had just gone through the horror of what happened to martin luther king

junior and then bobby kennedy. it changed history in the democratic party. >> i think it changed history for america. i think the vietnam war would have ended much sooner. i think you would have seen a new kind of great society that localized power and empowered peop people. he showed that you could stand up for economic justice and social justice at the same time. you don't have to choose one over the other. he could win counties that george wallace has four years before.

he had enormous support for african-americans. he was a light in a very dark time. it's a night will never forget. >> agree with that. we'll see the commemorations another arlington tomorrow. thank you so much. >> take care. we have a statement now from paul manafort from a spokespers spokesperson. mr. manafort is innocent. nothing about this latest allegation changes our defense. we'll do our talking in court. not addressing the allegation of, specifically, the allegation of witness tampering. coming up, who's the boss? alyssa milano leading the charge for equal rights for women. she joins me next. i'm still giving it my best even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin, i'm up for that. eliquis. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis is fda-approved and has both.

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with no artificial preservatives, no added nitrates or nitrites, and by waving bye to by-products. so you can get back to loving them. for the love of hot dogs. (wienermobilhorn) as a woman and as a republican, i do not understand how we as a people can continue to hold our heads high up and be proud of what this nation stands for if we have not guaranteed the rights of half of our population. >> that was october 1981. former first lady betty ford.

one of the most powerful of women's rights. tireffort that she championed until her death at the age of 93 platform. today, a new generation of activists is breathing new life into this fight. st wednesday, illinois became the 37th state since 1972 to ratify the era. now there's a renewed push to get one more state, just one more state, to achieve the 38 needed to ratify the amendment. and to lobby congress to recognize it. two of those advocates join me, actress alyssa milano and democratic congresswoman from new york carolyn maloney. welcome both. thank you so much. alyssa milano, first of all, you've been a leader in a number of movements. why is the e.r.a. important to you? >> well, look, i think in the last year, we've witnessed a president in the white house who maybe had some abuses towards women, and i think it terrified us as women, and i think that

we've systemical seen the party roll back some women's rights and i think that that's what made me too happen and so we have said as a sex, as women, we have said me too. we have said time's up. but all of those are veryw words if there's no protection in the constitution for women. >> congresswoman, what is the challenge here? because it's been years since the 36th state ratified. now you've got illinois. you need one more state. where are you looking? and then what happened? >> well, we need one more state. there are a number of possibilities. virginia, north carolina, utah. >> arizona. >> there are a number. but we are now focused on getting it ratified and then beginning that debate. but what's different now? not only do we have alilisyssa helping us, we is very different, but we have the wind on our back with not only these two states that just ratified,

nevada and illinois, but also the women's march in 2017. the time's up movement, the me too movement, it's fagalvanized women. no longer a sole voice. women have been disrespected. they've been held down and back. everything has been doubly hard for them. and for 242 years, the constitution's guaranteed men equality and the only protection we have in the constitution now is the right to vote. we need to change that. >> and people don't know that. people are surprised when you tell them you are not protected, women are surprised we are not protected under the constitution. >> legally, what is needed to skeptics, just make the argument, congresswoman, why is it needed? why aren't individual laws like the ledbetter act for equal pay and others, why don't those do enough to protect women's rights in various -- >> because as you know and as

you cover, laws can be reversed. rolled back. ignored. executive orders. women's rights, fundamental rights and protections and respect should not be dependent on the whim of who's in the white house or who's on the supreme court or who's the speaker in the house of representatives. these should be bedrock guarantees, and only through being in the constitution will we be able to enforce the laws such as title 7 and title 9 that are so critical and gender -- ending gender pay inequality and all of the other issues we confront. and it is a big economic issue. when you are not treated fairly in your pay, it compounds over pensions, compensations that women, older women, are the largest segment of poor in our country. >> yes, and i just also think that this is a society issue as well. i mean, if there's no recognition for women's equality

in the constitution, it perpetuates the belief that women are less than which then leads to abuses of power and harassment in the workplace. and sexualssault and abuse. so really to me we have to deal with this cultural society issue that also comes along with being treated as a second class citizen almost. >> how do you deal with the fact that republican women may see this as an attack on donald trump, you know, how do you broaden it and make it more gender inclusive? >> i don't see how this could be a bipartisan issue. i really don't. and especially for women. i think that we all have to come together and hold hands across the aisle and stand up for women everywhere. this is about women supporting each other. so that to me is a bipartisan issue. >> it is definitely bipartisan. alice paul was a republican, by the way, the first to introduce it, as she was a distance relative of my late husband. i'm glad you started with betty

ford. underscoring it is a bipartisan issue. one that like-minded men and women need to pass. i can't think of anything that would be more impo our country. we can't compete and win in the world economy without using the powers and abilities of all of our citizens and women are half th population. >> well -- >> i'd like to hear your stories of discrimination. she's not going to tell us about it. >> that's for another hour. >> cover our hearing tomorrow. >> we shall. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> congresswoman, carolyn maloney, alyssa milano. alyssa, i know you are wearing -- you're all in kate spade today. >> coincidentally. my love to her family. >> we have this terrible update to share on the breaking news we brought you earlier. nbc news can now confirm that fashion designer kat sde who was found dead in her new york city apartment this morning, according to law enforcement that her death is being investigated as an apparent act

of suicide. spade created a line of handbags in the early '90s. sh only 55 years old. more on this in our next hour with craig melvin coming up next. stay with us.

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finally, former reagan defense secretary/national security adviser frank carliucci

died. he served four presidents including carter and helped saved reagan's second term by cleaning outhe nec after iran/cont iran/contra. he also brought his former military aide colin powell to the white house. our condolences to his family. and that's it for today. craig melvin takes it in new york. craig. >> hey there, andrea, good to see you as always. craig melvin here, nbc news headquarters in new york city. ortsman- conduct. president trump will host what he's dubbed a celebration of america event at the white house after canceling a celebration of the super bowl champion iladelphia eagles. last last hour, the white house issuing the statement about scheduling. but a new statement about bad optics. why the shifting story? why does the president keep going after the nfl? also, headed to jail. the man who ran the trump campaign for a time, paul