allegedly came from bezos and quote i've decided to publish exactly what they sent me. i should note this is a breaking story. nbc news has not yet seen the letters or got a response from ami. "hardball" is up next. divided government bites. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. we have a lot of news including donald trump once again lashing out at house investigations over russia. and we're getting new details on exactly how robert mueller discovered key elements in his investigation of the russian conspiracy, that's according to a newly released transcript in paul manafort's hearing case. and late today a major breaking

story about washington post publisher accusing the "national enquirer" of blackmail and i'm serious. more on that explosive story in a moment. we begin with the democrat ramping up their oversight of the president and his administration. less than 24 hours after president trump's warn shot over investigations, democrats up the ante, outlining a new investigation that will go beyond russia and into the president's finances, related to russianer russia or other foreign entities. writing so now congressman adam schiff announces, after having found zero russian can collusion, he's going to go looking at every aspect of my life, never happened before. unlimited presidential harassment. the democrats and their committees are going nuts. the republicans never did this to president obama.

there would be no time left to run the government. meanwhile, matt whitaker has threatened to walk from his testimony tomorrow, after the commit ea voted to authorize the subpoena if whitaker refused to show up or answer questions they've got. the department of justice demanded a written answer that whitaker won't be subpoenaed today or during his testimony tomorrow. he said based upon today's action, it is imparent the true intention is not to discuss the great work of the department of justice but to create a public spectacle. theater is not the purpose of an oversight hear and i will not allow that to be the case. and chairman nadler of the judiciary committee responded, noteding that if he shows up quote to the extent you believe you are unable to fully respond to any specific question, we're preparaed to handle your concerns on a case-by-case basis both during and after tomorrow's

hearing. wow. a democrat from illinois and a member of the house intelligence committee. and natasha, of course staff writer for "the atlantic." this is amazing. what's going on? is the acting attorney general going to show up tomorrow before the committee or not? >> i hope so. he said that he would appear voluntarily and there would be no need for a subpoena. so hopefully he shows up tomorrow. >> to me the only reason you want to talk to him is you want to know what does he talk to mueller about? what's he know about mueller? and what's he hear from the president about what he's spezed to do with mueller? will he answer any of questions? >> i'm sure they're going to ask him about oversight, whether he's going to allow it to proceed unimpeded. >> and? >> well, i think as he wrote

previously in an op-ed, he looks on it -- he's dis pairaged the mueller investigation in the past. so it's really unclear how he can be an honest broker about it. >> and i'm not going to show up if you ask tough questions. we've got democrats unpower. they've got the power of the subpoena. something richard nixon was always afraid of when the democrats had it. >> that's exact ly the answer. both branchs behauving as you would expect. democrats in control of the house are trying to use that to get answers to pretty serious questions. and the justice department is not thrilled about the idea of having the acting attorney general answer questions about his personal communications with the president of the united states. so you have this showdown where

the two rams lock horns and one group says we reserve the right to subpoena you if you don't answer the questions and here are the questions we're going to ask you. and the other side says if you don't promise you're not going to subpoena me, i'm not going to show up and we'll see who blinks. >> robert mueller, he's like ralph nadir of old. the question is he going to get his report before the public, the congress or not? and that's why they would subpoena him. isn't the question has he cut a deal with thes? is he going to redact a lot of it. your thoughts? >> that's why so many democrats were weary of supporting bill bar's nomination in the first place. he has said mueller has over reached in his investigation of

whether the president obstructed justice. if there is a portion of the report on his attempts to derail the russia investigation. is he going to redact it? with hold it completely and can the democrats then in the houses subpoena that information from the justice department? but of course bill barr's nomination has been very controversial on the left because he has not committed or he did not commit in his nomination, in his conformation hearings to eare lease that report. and we don't even know -- we don't even know if this is going to be an actual report. we don't know what form this is going to take. but obviously his communications with the president about all of this and i think that's why democrats were interested to hear from whitaker. his news on the special counsel probe, things like recusal are important and the fact that whitaker said he's not willing

to go sit for discussions and a hearing on the discussions with the president is telling. because i think we can all be assured it's very unlikely the president would have appointed matt whitaker and bill barr as the full attorney general if he did not have at least a conversation with both of them about recusal and the mueller probe. >> one intel told jonathan swan, saying kweet ekwot we are going to take on an mri to eany russian financing that the russian organization and the president may have had. this is driving the president insane. he always said i don't want the mueller investigation to go einto my finances and now the new chair of the house intelligence chair making fun of his name, schiff, making him sound like the other s.h. word

and now he fears he's coming back at him with a vengeance and my question to you is how hot is this going to get? john snn >> i think it's not over stating to say this is potentially the most threatening fight of the trump presidency so far. trump drew a very clear red line earlier in the administration saying if mueller approached his business affairs, his personal finances, it would be out of bounds. and now the democrats on the house intelligence committee are explicitly saying that. what they're most interested in are these extraordinary series purchases of then donald trump made in the decade before he ran for president. "washington post" did a story last year that i thought deserved a lot more attention than it got. again donald trump spernt -- the trump organization spent some

$400 million in cashing to buy properties around the world. it's very unusual. it's not how real estate is typically done. usually it's leveraged with debt and donald trump called him silself the king of debt. so erick swaul well told me this last night, they are going to put a microscope over how they got the money and that's going to be a trail they follow with real determination and they've hired people with expertise in tracing money flows through complex money transactions. >> i have to tell you this is what i've been thinking for months. you know in the movie they went over to japan for years and then they go to the american indian tribes. and now i hear if you're going to do anything in real estate is russia. that's where you have the oligarchs with lots of cash.

they've been looting that country since 1991 and they want a place to make more money with. donald trump. >> i think you have to follow the rubls. in this particular case the president did draw a red line. we don't know if mueller crossed that red line. we just don't know. >> do you deutsche bank was a pass through? i'm just thinking all this cash, donald trump can repay it? >> for sure deutsche bank is all over the news as to being a conduit for various oligarchs who want to get money into the west, transforming black money into white money. >> this guy, adam schiff, has the bit in his teeth. he's not going to limit himself to mandates prescribe robert mueller. he's going after this guy's

finances. >> people think of the robert mueller investigation as this all of our questions of donald trump. one thing we've learned is he's extremely limited limited mostly, staying within his lane and that means huge amount of stuff when we think of trump, the ethical questions, the legal kwgzs actually outside the robert mueller lane because he's being a good boy and staying in his lane. that means there's a lot of space for the southern dwisricate of new york, the new york attorney general's office and a lot of space for congressional investigator whose, as you say, have a bit in their mouth. >> he's been mobbing this guy. human nature tells me schiff is going to get serious with this. they didn't harass him when republicans regain the house.

politico reported issa plans hundreds of hearings. saying i want seven hearing as week. how dare the crowd say don't harass a president. he was chasing him to hawaii saying i've got investigators coming up with good stuf prove he was an illegal alien. >> what was benghazi all about? this is very serious. and we have to come to a reckoning with what happened in 2016. schiff is held in very high regard in congress because he does things by the book and that's what he's going to do here and i'm very confident we're going to threat chips fall where they may. we're going to investigate and see what happens after that. if the president thinks harassment equals oversight, well, i'm saur a to say we're going to be doing our duty in the oversight.

>> question to you at the bottom of all of this. should he be removed from office? himself in terms of u.s./russian relations. that he is in fact working for the russians because of whatever they have over him. >> i think that goes to impeachment. >> toll me about the money and where it's leading. >> as a matter of policy the house intelligence committee will try get people to voluntarily testify and they may or may not do that. my understanding is you when they start to encroach on the public, delve into it, they are going to sit on them because they see that -- again the

president drew that red line. that's somewhere they're not going to let them go. you get into litigation a court fight. something that becomes very, very ugly and ultimately a political contest. the trump people are going to be arguing that adam schiff has exceeded his duties and bounds and that this is a witchhunt and democrats will argue they're doing their oversight. i think it's going to end up in the courts and get ugly pretty quickly. >> what right does this president in the constitution draw a red line and say you can't ask about my money? >> there's no red line such as that. and the ways and means committee to get access to the president's tax returns. there's a big question about why the president is handling himself the way he's handling himself and i think a lot of the answers are in his personal

finances and how they're entangled with foreign actors. sglr >> if you voted democrat in the last november election, it matters. they have the power to supoona. they control the oversight and it's all going to natter in the weeks and months ahead. thank you. natasha burr trnd -- and ben, thank you for sticking with us tonight. coming up, jeff bezos, the billionaire owner of amazon and the "washington post" is accusing the "national enquirer" of blackmailing him. this story will be easy to follow. this story will be easy to follow this is why voya helps reach today's goals... all while helping you to and through retirement. can you help with these? we're more of the plan, invest and protect kind of help... voya. helping you to and through retirement.

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billionaire own of amazon and the "washington post," jeff bezos. tonight, tonight bezos published a personal account accusing the national enquirerer of blackmail, extortion, after bezos announced he was divorcing his wife last month. they allege bezos had an affair and published personal text and images of bezos and the wumen invauvlted. shortly after bezos launch said an investigation into how they were leaked. in a blog post on medium, he says in an email exchange, bezos claims in those emails the national enkwquirer threatened release more photos if he didn't end their investigation into them. additionally msnbc has not seen cop as of the emails themselves.

some saying, white reporter for "the daily beast" of course and the own senior media report. let's start from the beginning and tell us what this is about. >> what you have here is the wealthiest man in the world accusing the count ra's most notorious tabloid of both blackmail and extortion and those are his words and rather, he says, than to be held host toonl that kind of debased journalism, he's going to expose his chairman, david picker frrks what they're trying to do to him. saying come at me with everything you've got. i will expose you. he is also implying, at the very least, that part of the motivation for "the national enquirer" has to do with the

"washington post," his onnership of the "washington post" and the coverage of both trump and its unwillingness to give up the attention that's being paid to the murder of jamal khashoggi. he's implying a political motive in terms of who it was that wanted to go after him and who wanted to expose the extramarital affair he was having that resulted in the end of his 25-year marriage. >> it seems, if you believe all of this from the point of view of jeff bezos that he's being extorted and blackmailed and he's doing it because he's the publisher of the newspaper and of course this president. but also they seem to have retaliated against him for how the leak occurred. those pictures were embarrassing to him. >> and it gets way more convuluted to that. we were the first to report last

week that jeff bezos personally funded an investigation into the national enquirer. they acted as basically a media enforcer in the 2016 election. >> a really smart security guy too. becker. he's good. >> he's also been for a while jeff bezos' personal security guy. so he tasksed him with figuring out how this got into the national enquirer and they shortened it to a list who basically ended up being it sanchez, jeff bezos' mistress and he just happens to be an associate personally and professionally of certain trump figures like roger stone and --

>> what would -- who would want to get the dirt in the press? >> theories that have been kicked around by bezos' investigators is there was a possible political motivation. i'm not sure they know what it is though. >> a war they were willing to launch on the mainstream press? >> specifically "washington post" and again these are just theories. people like michael sanchez, who is a suspected leaker and people he's associated with. >> i don't know how high got these so-called texts or pictures or whatever. >> he just happens to be the mistress of jeff bezos. via my reporting, all we know is bezos' people suspect he is the prime suspect and he is very publicly a pro-trump person and has a relationship with the

national enquirer. >> it looks like a limited tv series right here and the good guy is the one who released the information because we want to know what people are up to and bezos has made the smart move of putting out at least his account of the truth. your thoughts. >> and we should note at the top we don't know exactly what the motive is. don't know who was behind this. but it is clear he thinks his team thinks that there are two people -- two parties that would want tago after him, would want to besmufrp his reputation and that of the "washington post" and bezos clearly implicates both president trump as well as what he described as people that would be upset of the coverage of the murder of jamal cushogy. to me that reads as an

indictment for saudi arabia or someone doing business for saudi arabia. i think it's quite clear in his letter who they think is behind allf othis. >> i do care about that case, khashoggi and how he ways killed and butchered. who would be in bed with the saudis on this one, protecting them from what looks like premeditated murder from a journalist? >> i think if there's an answer, whatever that answer s obviously offends all moral judge mtd. probably one of the most frustrating aspects is while he laze bear those letters, the extortion and the blackmail, he does not come to a specific accusation, rather he floats them throughout for us to have these ultimately inconclus

conversation. >> let's talk about this kind of blackmail. the earliest days of the private is and san francisco. taking a picture of somebody. this is the way crime storease develop. in this case the good guy, it seems to me is the one who exposes it. >> so i want to tip my hat to jeff bezos about this. the most important thing he said and i dont have the kpaktd txt in front of me is if i don't expose what happened, who if not me is going to having the power -- who aren't billionaires. a couple years i did a storeoo of online sex torgz. and we found out who the average victim is and it's teenagers. these are teenager whose go online and they get extorted into producing pornography in

incredibly brutal ways. in the fbi they call it sextortian. >> and they're afraid of being embarrassed. >> and they do horrible degrading things over very long periods of times. they basically become sex slaves because it is very hard to do what jeff bezos did and out yourself and say hey, somebody has something on me and i am not going to comply with demands. i'm just going to out myself. he's tlr kind of billionaire that can hire professional security. he's got a newspaper. he's got the ability to speak for himself. it's still hard to do what he did today and i think he deserve as lot of credit. >> when you commit a crime, you create vulnerability for yourself. the fact that the national

enquirer would take a shot like this. here's a guy to bring this guy. old-time sorted stuff. tell us about that thinking if this is what happened here. >> what i would say if you look that track record, at what david picker had acknowledged about the sort of catch and kill stories he did in regards to president trump, i would say this is not by any means a one off. this is the business that tabloids like the national enquirer are in. and that mindset was so hard for most people to understand. that is the mindset that governs tab lieds like the national enquirer, the mindset that keeps them in business and one of the reason they're tipping their hat is because they feel like he's exposing an aspect of american

journalism we don't always talk about in the mainstream media but incredibly sorded, harm nfu to the lives of somany people. that praise upon the american penchant for gaossip and mudslinging. dprrs and i agree with ben. a tip of the hat to him. >> great to have you on this weird occasion. we got you off a fire pole. thanks for coming in. what is going on in virginia? more chaos is surfacing by the day. this anyway, mayor, the youngest exploring a presidential run, he comes to discuss. , he comes to discuss hey, who are you? oh, hey jeff, i'm a car thief... what?! i'm here to steal your car because,

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♪ we need bold ideas. we need a different perspective and it's not a bad thing to come from a different generation. ours is the one that provided most of the troops round 9/11, we're the one that grew up with school shootings being the norm and ones living through the impacts of climate change. so 23 you're thinking about what the world is going to look like

in 2054 when i am the current age of the current president, they're not somebody else's problem, they're personal. >> that was south bend mayor who is currently exploring a run for president in 20 dwent. he would be the youngest president in history as well as the first openly gay person to hold office. well, look at this environment, this wonderful swirl of fun you're wa you're walking into. we have everything going on right now. jeff baize saying he's been extorted, an affair. same old stuff l.a. confidential was about 100 years ago. why would you walk in to -- put yourself in a pedestal of being a candidate right now? >> blackmail, black face, there are a whole bunch of horrors going on. unfortunately this is what we see a lot of the time when we

tune into what's going on in our politics. some are things we have to contend with. i dont know what's going on with the blackmail situation other than i think it reflects what happens when a mob mentality continues to reach the highest levels of our business and political worlds. do know when it comes to the issues we've been facing in a fresh way in this country around race and the relationship between a racist past and racism in the present, that there's no way to work through some of these issues and we should be willing to faces these chal mpgs. >> it does seem once you move up, and you would go from mayer to presidential candidate, that the level of scrutiny, i don't think anybody is ready for it. you could have something embarrassing on a regular basis. you announce for president and i've seen careers changed on the downward spiral rather quickly.

>> scrutiny comes to anybody in the arena. i think everybody has made an as of themselves at one point but chances are somebody was there to put it on social media too. as a mayor you're accustomed to a different kind of scrutiny, which is backyard scrutiny. when we make decision from the parks and recreation tweak to major consequential decisions aroundicnomic development or policing or some of the other most sensitive issues of our time, somebody will stop you on the street, at the grocery, somebody will hold you accountable for how your decision effected them and i wish our national politics had a bit more of that character. they effect people in their every day lives. and i think the reality-based world of local government and mayors is something we could do

well to have more of. >> you're an openly gay gentleman, you're married. first book i read about politics was about a senator from out west who shot himself to death because he was going to be outed. "advice and consent." we're living in a better time in some ways. >> if you pick up my book "shortest way home." you'll find a much happier ending. i gmardied to a grade husband ad he'll be right beside me in the political process. yes, thank goodness marriage equality has come to the land but right here indiana in, we don't even have hate crimes lenl slagz. it's still perfectly league tool fire somebody because of who they love and obviously a president who felt comfrtdable to fake a disability when it was his turn to serve, feels

comfortable using twitter to indachger the careers of transmilitary members today. >> you're on the stage, standing about 10 feet from donald trump. i want you to tell him to his face, as if he were there, why you should be president and not him. >> the one thing i have to say to the president is it's not buts you. it's about people in communities like south bend who are looking for real answers and real results. i have more experience in government than the current president. more executive experience even than the vice president and it might not be a bad idea to have someone who lives a middle class lifestyle in a midwestern neighborhood who actually cares about things. like climate change. not because they're talking points or because how they play into the political game in washington but because they're personal. because people like me have a purse stake in where this can country is heading.

>> it's going to boo ea big crowd and you're going to be right in the middle of it. thank you. up next. the latest on the ever growing field of democratic candidates. can they with stand the intense scrutiny? two of them are already strugging at the front. y strugging at the front re-align yourself, with align probiotic. and try align gummies, with prebiotics and probiotics to help support digestive health with my bladder leakage, the products i've tried just didn't fit right. they were too loose. it's getting in the way of our camping trips. but with a range of sizes, depend® fit-flex is made for me. with a range of sizes for all body types, depend® fit-flex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit.

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and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program call or visit welcome back to "hardball." the democratic race to take on donald trump in 2020 is heating up. four democrats have formally declared their run for the white house. and former vice president joe biden closing in on his decision. quote, former vice president and long time democratic senator has spoken to former congressional colleagues on his chances and his timing for entering the races and what it would take for him to compete in a crowded democratic primary.

it will get even more crowded when two big names, officially announce their candidacies. senator warren continues to apologize for how she's identified herself in the pasts. >> i had a good conversation last week with chief baker, who is chief of the cherokee tribes and i told chief baker that i am sorry. that i extended confusion about tribal citizenship and tribal sovereignty and for harm caused. kblb also sorry for not being more mindful of this decades ago. >> as for senator klobuchere is struggling to find people to work in her campaign because of how she treats her staff.

frarsz spokesperson for her says she loves her staff and thatmany have worked with her for years. as we wait their official announcement, a rising star said she's not closing the door on a potential 2020 run. e door on a potential 2020 run with recurring constipation and belly pain talk to your doctor and say yesss! to linzess. ♪ ♪ yesss! linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. linzess can help relieve your belly pain and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. linzess is not a laxative. it works differently to help you get ahead of your recurring constipation and belly pain. do not give linzess to children less than 6, and it should not be given to children 6 to less than 18, it may harm them. do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away.

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this nation cannot be negauchebible. our most urgent work is to realize american's dreams of today and tomorrow. to carve a path for independence and prosperity that can last lifetime. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was stacey abrams, everybody knows, giving the democratic response. after losing daex it's had some reporters saying she should be running for president. miss abrams's ability to articulate an uncompromising liberal message while blending themes of unity and togetherness impressed both sides. and abrams left the door open for a potential run for the white house. >> listen, everybody is already getting ready for 2020 and a lot of people are talking you up as a potential candidate.

any chance you're thinking of throwing your hat in the ring? >> as i said i'm thipging about everything. i gave myself a deadline until the end of march to think about what i'm going to do next. and that means i think of all things. >> great duo to come on. i'm telling you beto by lost about two points and she lost by 1.4 and they're being talked about for president. >> i am a big friend and fan of stacey aberooms and i think the way she spoke after the state of the union message and she spoke like a senator, like a president, like a governor. it's her choice. >> what would you say? >> i don't know. whenever you run for office, it has to be what you're passionate about, what you want to do. you have to feel it in your gut and i think she's going to check hers. >> i think she wants be to

governor. >> we've been friends over 25 years. she's a mississippi native and i can say she's one of the most intelligent people i anyhow. and with her strategic mind, let's wait to see what happens. >> what do you make of the democratic fight? these stories are growing, not going away. warren. 's problem applying for the texas bar, she called herself an american indian. people say that might have been an affirmative action effort but it's not true. what do you make of it? >> when i look at senator warren, she hasn't come up with a koejant explanation that she ecan put all of this behind her. but i think each one of these candidates are going to be attacked and attacked quickly and the question is who gets up and can prove they're the ones

that can take on donald trump. because if they think they're being charged now -- >> bobby kennedy used to say hang a lantern on your problem because they're going to point to it anyways. how does she hang a lantern on this problem of her identity? >> the value proposition is around economic security. i think more people are concerned about that than the past or ethnic identity she's struggle with. if she can penetrate through that, i wie ecan all benefit from that. >>ual said. let's get out of virginia. across the river. contraverse eys are causing the national democratic party to struggle with how they want to define themselves. governor ralph northam went swift in response -- theyvent been as quick with justin fairfax who's african-american

and tonight u.s. it congressman ocosio cortez how she thinks the situation should be handled. >> this is such an important question because it's not always just brout who did what but it's how our leadership really deals with the things that they have done. and so what i think when we see a crisis of confidence with some of the folks in virginia, it's the way they are handling these issues. are we using this as a moment to model what evolution on race looks like? and if you're andaundering that moment, then you will have a crisis of confidence in your electorate. >> isn't the problem here -- both of you know this. that people only tell you what they did wrong when their rrb caught. they never give you a break and

say i made stupid decision. i made black face and my fraternity is a bunch of bad guys. i don't know if there is a defense? >> welcome to the south, the 1980s and school segregation. because of brown verses board of education, you hadmany white parents pull their kids out of public enlication. they set u7 private segregated academies. >> christian. >> and there was very little to no empathy for african-americans and it was okay, condoned to put on klan outfits and get in black faces. >> and that's why i like working in the diverse business and television is the most diverse because it's on tv. if you've got african-americans that table with you, you're not going to put on black face. it would be so obviously eembarrassing, why would you do

it? but if you're in an all white setting, it's goofing off. i don't know. i've never been in that setting. >> it's the joke, the parody. the parties the photos. and there may be some in the room who say i don't think that's a really good idea but nobody says it out loud and it's accepted. these guys wlur born after board of education. they came out of high school in the year of our bicentennial. they were in school at a time when bill cosby was on television. there is really no excuse for this. these are post brown babies. >> after the antilynching laws were finally passed. not you go black or bobby bird days. thank you. up next a president caring

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♪ 128 days ago a columnist for the "washington post," one of this country's great newspapers was killed and carved into pieces by henchman of saudi arabia and now a investigation revealed he was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing,

planned and perpetrated by officials of saudi arabia. "washington post" it's treachery. they've been denied access to scene of the crime and refusing to say where mr. khashoggi's killers are. the men our cia believes was the king pen, crown prince mohammed bin salman, the man who effectively runs sautdy arabia. what do we as americans face as our mayoral imperative? at minimum to not let the murders walking away as free and respected figures. he needs face the world's judgment. is this what our president wants? all evidence suggests trump wants nothing. the people who planned this did fully suing they could do it knowing the amare president wouldn't so much as raise his voice for fear it would ruin his scheme to lure saudi arabia into an alliance with israel.

we would be siting with the victim and going after the killer. instead we're with a president more comfy with dictators than what was done to truth-telling journalists. walter chronkite used to say "and that's the way it is." and that's "hardball" for now. "all in" with chris hayes. tonight on "all in". >> when the president says the mueller investigation is going on too long, you say back to him, not as long as your tax audit. >> the president keeps threatening and democrats keep investigating. i think overwhelmingly the public wants to see the president's taxes returns. >> reporter: they start the process of obtaining donald trump's taxes. >> no one is above the law. >> if he did testify, he do very well. >> why he's suddenly threatening no