well on the irs hearings. i'll see you tomorrow morning on today. for now andrea mitchell reports starts now. right now, president trump escalating his charge against the mueller probe as his attorney general agrees to look into republican charges that it was politically motivated. >> this was an attempted coup. this was an attempted take down of a president. what they did was treason. solo act. overnight the acting deputy at the homeland security department is also ousted leaving no confirmed officials in charge of the nation's most important department to defend the homeland. >> frankly, there's also one person that's running it. you know who that is, it's me. >> joining us, a man who held top posts under three presidents and the white house. leon panetta.

the hard line with a big push from president trump. benjamin netanyahu appears to win a fifth term. >> the big questions now are what will he do with it. will he follow through on that promise to annex part of the west bank. can he stay out of jail? good day p. president trump accused investigators of trying to stage a treasonous coup and falsely claiming he's been exonerated by the 400 page report sight unseen. >> i have not seen the mueller report. i have not read the mueller report. i won. no collusion. no obstruction. i won. i haven't seen the mueller report. as far as i'm concerned, i don't

care about the mueller report. >> minutes later his attorney general began a second day of testimony. this time to the senate. suggesting he will follow up on the president's demands to see if the russia investigation was politically motivated. >> i think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. it's a big deal. >> you're not suggesting no that spying occurred? >> well, i guess you -- i think there's a spying did occur. yes. i think spying did occur. >> well, let me -- >> the question is whether it was predicated. i'm not suggesting it wasn't adequately predicated. i need to explore that. >> this panel you're putting together? >> i'm not putting together a panel. >> you just have interest. you don't have evidence. >> i have concerns about various aspects of it.

>> do you have to rephrase what you're doing because i think the word spying could cause everybody in the cable news eco system to freak out. >> i'm not sure of all the con kn connotations of that word you're referring to. unauthorized slaurveillance. >> here we are in the cable news eco system. joining me nbc intelligence reporter ken delanian and kristen welker. we were talk about fisa warrants. judges approve these all the time. >> yes.

>> what does he mean by unauthorized eavesdropping? he just clarified when he was given a chance to try to clarify it. >> he sought to embrace the republican talking points on the or othrigins. >> we're talk about donald trump's talking points. >> a more sanitized version of that. barr invoked the vietnam spying abuses of the fbi nap was surveillance without parenwarra. he's saying he has legitimate concerns. he seems to suggest he has some evidence although he didn't detail it. he used the word failures on the part of the upper echelon of the fbi. he really threw down the gauntlet. now it's up to him to deliver to show if there's evidence. he said he's putting together a

tell me team to review this matter. he said the inspector general is neari nearing completion of his review and hopefully we'll see the results soon. >> harry, we need a lawyer here, quickly. help. this is the attorney general of the united states. >> we need lawyer and andrew mccabe and lisa page need a lawyer even when this matter seemed all -- >> and james comey. >> and james comey and seemed really bogus. you could try to rationalize this as the attorney general just doing due diligence but i agree with ken. there's a rhetorical embrace of republican narrative here. the word spying, his sort of hesitant acknowledge that he has certain evidence and concerns and it is kind of bone chilling. it should be already put to rest

that there was nothing unpredicated. we're back here in march 2019 right after the firing of comey when the counter intelligence investigation is launched. the notion he's revisiting that again when it's so dove tales with some of the more extreme and distraction kind of tactics by the president is unsettling. >> the inspector general reports. >> there's also a report -- it's also unprecedented. you let the i.g. process play out and then you receive the report. you ask about the report, et cetera. he seemed clearly to imply he was doing something on his own. what does that telegraph to the i.g. i'm over your shoulder looking at this independently makes it a bit hard for the i.g. to be independent, doesn't it. >> it does. kristen welker i know that william barr came into this job,

many people say with great reputation. others say with a job application in that long memo he wrote unsolicited memo that laid out rather unique interpretation of the obstruction law and how it would obtain, could obtain to the president of the united states. this is really the second day of system now senators really questioning him more closely and more follow up questions than we saw yesterday on the house side. what have we got here? >> i think it emphasizes what you've been talking about is you have president trump who has been calling for an investigation into the investigators for quite some time. you really saw him become very bullish on that point before he departed for texas today. then you heard his attorney general echo that similar se sentime sentiment. that was striking. there were a number of questions

during the confirmation process of the attorney general about that memo that you cite about concerns he had already pre-judged the mueller investigation. he was already critical of it. now he disputed that and he does have bipartisan support. again, it's going to only add fuel to a number of his critics. yesterday he dodged that critical question. has he shown the mueller report to the white house. i tried to pin the president down on that point as we watch the second day of testimony. i asked him if he's been briefed or anyone at the white house been briefed. you heard him saying he has not seen it. >> senator coons was following up on what you're talking about with the attorney general today. let's watch a bit of that. >> who, if anyone, outside the

justice department have seen portions or all of the special counsel's report? has anyone in the white house seen the report? >> as i said, i'm landing the plane right now. i've been willing to discuss my letters and the process going forward but the reports will be out next week. >> actually, when asked by senator van hollen about the process that went into his letter on the subject of obstruction, why did he reach those conclusions and on what factual basis. here is what happened. >> you put this out there. the president went out and tweeted the next day that he was exonerated. that wasn't based on anything in the mueller report with respect to obstruction of justice. that was braced on your assessment. now you won't elaborate at all as to how you reached that conclusion. >> i will discuss that decision after -- >> did bob mueller support your conclusion?

>> i don't know whether he supported my conclusion. >> this is only part of a much longer exchange where senator van hollen was frustrated trying to say to him, you put yourself out there. you injected yourself into there with that first letter reaching a conclusion on obstruction. on what basis did you reach that? who told you to? was that on your own? again -- >> he just wouldn't go there. he refuted the reporting we have seen that mueller had given him summaries that could have been easily releasable to the public. he said that was not true. he said there was grand jury information on every page. it went vetted. he is refusing to go into the reasons that he made that analysis. he did say that rod rosenstein agreed with his conclusion there was no case for obstruction. he's saying if there's classified information that's

redacted, there doesn't mean i can't share it. >> he's saying with two people. lindsey graham and jerry nadler. with the two chairs. >> i think the intelligence committee has a right to that information. he said we can do a work around. he seems to be saying i understand the public needs details. y you're going to get them. wait a few days. >> there was one other bit of information about that other fourth category. embarrassing information on people who have not been charged. in other words, that embarrassing information would involve people who are not office holders. not the president or staff aids. >> that was big. that category, unlike the other three, seemed pretty much made up and possibly attempting to invoke the comey debacle with

hillary clinton. there's a sense in which you can see him. he's buffeted on both sides by tremendous forces. he's maybe trying to land the plane. yet at least every once in a while the passengers, including us, are really jolted from our chairs with odd little hiccups on his part that seem to be going. there's an overall sense, to me, in the last couple of days of improvisation and a bit of making it up as they go along. maybe that can't be avoided with this kind of project but it's really going to be important to just see what happens next week. this could all look sinister or all look like work a day government in a crisis. >> it's government in a crisis with this president. we have seen how cabinet

secretaries have to walk this tight rope. we saw jim mattis doing it. now doing as many interviews as his predecessors had done. trying to stay on the right side of the president by behind the scene maneuvering around some of the more controversial decisions being made. we saw tillerson fail miserably at that. getting on the wrong side of the president immediately. mike pompeo making sure he stays within the orbit of the president even when it means taking controversial positions. >> the people who survive work and get along with the president and don't get on his wrong side even if it means telling him he can't do something. >> that's part of the concern with this shake up you're seeing within the department of homeland security right now. the fact you have the outgoing secretary nielsen who clashed with president trump on a range of issues. essentially trying to make the argument that some of the changes he wanted to make within

the department might not stand up to legal muster. i've been talking to senior administration officials who say they want to see big policy changes when it comes to asylum seekers, for example. they believe this shake up is necessary. the criticism is will these new people just be yemen as men and women. we'll have to say. >> thank you so much. coming up. help wanted. more outsters at homeland security while the president might try to eliminate a key government agency. former defense secretary leon pa panetta joining me next. blan blan ...we're open just pass the ball! no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. yea.

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. today is the first day on the job for president trump's new acting homeland security secretary after dramatic house cleaning president trump is threatening tougher boarder actions. a controversial white house aid stephen miller is largely in charge of the administration's harder line on immigration. >> stephen is an excellent guy. he's a wonderful person. been with me from the beginning. he's a brilliant man and frankly, there's only one person that's running it. you know who that is? it's me.

>> thank you very much for being with us. i want to ask you about homeland sdu security. this shake-up. you have the acting deputy secretary overnight forced out. you have an acting secretary. nobody else of any high rank underneath. i think the general counsel is gone. the secret service director is gone. homeland security does a lot more than just the boarderder. the border is huge as this crisis erupts, self-inflicted or exacerbated by the policies. what about the defense of the homeland, fema, all these other agencies with agenting heads. >> i think the president has a fundamental conflict here. he's sworn to uphold the law but he obviously doesn't like the

law as it applies to immigration. he's looking for people that can find cways either around the la or not abide by the law as it is. that was the problem with the former secretary of homeland security. she wanted to follow the law. he's going to continue to look for people that are willing to violate their oath of office which is to enforce the law. that means that he's going to have a difficult time finding good people. he'll use this acting secretary label to try to keep people on the edge so they know he's watching them. it fundamentally upsets the primary responsibility of a president and his administration which is to enforce the law of the land.

>> people don't have to have confirmation hearings and it takes the senate out of confirming them for these posts and prevents them from bringing people in to create their own teams. >> instituticonstitution is pre that people nominated to these positions by the president of the united states have to be confirmed by the senate of the united states. it's very clear in the constitution that people who head these agencies need to be confirmed by the senate. they can't just serve in an acting capacity. by continuing to appoint acting individuals, i think at some point he will come in direct conflict with the constitution and the law. it will have to be challenged because frankly, the senate then is not enabled to do the job that the constitution wants the

senate to do. >> what is the effect at the pentagon where you've had acting secretary shanahan since jim mattis quit in protest of the syria decisions. what's the protest on the rank and file? >> it undermines the authority of that individual in that position. if the president appointed him acting, it means the president doesn't have full confidence in that individual and lacks the willingness to nominate that individual to being secretary of defense. people in the pentagon are not stupid. they see what's going on. they are dealing with somebody who has been weakened by the president of the united states. as a result, i think it impacts

on the ability of the pentagon to do its job in defending the country. >> does that make us less safe? >> pardon me? >> does that make the country less safe? >> i don't think there's any question that when you have an acting secretary who is trying to scramble around and do the job of a secretary that there are pieces that are falling between the gaps here. that means that the pentagon, our defense establishment and the military are not as strong as they should be in confronting the enemies that we have to face in the world. >> one of the things that the president did off the top of his head was to cancel the funding for the three countries in the northern triangle where my grigs are fleeing from mexico to the border. part of this was no notice to officials on the ground. part of this money in el

salvad salvador, anti-gang money that was doing quite a good job according to the diplomats there. how do you run a government this way? >> again, i think this is a president who resists trying to find the answers to the problems that he's concerned about. if he was serious about dealing with the immigration problem, the first thing he would do is try to make an effort to develop a comprehensive immigration approach in order to make the laws applicable to the challenges we face in the 21st century. the second thing is he would try to go to the root causes of immigration. those root causes are not at the border. the root causes are t tat the countries that generate all of these asylum speakers that are escaping the problems that they

confront in their country. the purpose of the aid is to try to assist those countries in other words to vtry to avoid th circumstanc circumstances. by cutting off that money you're milwaukeei in making the problem worse. >> the office of personal management, is it a good idea to get rid of that agency? he's talking about that now as well. >> the president of the united states obviously is not satisfied with the kind of personnel that are operating within his government. he's going to have to shut down more than just the office of personnel management. he's going to have to shut down a lot of the other departments in the government. ultimately, if he's president of the united states, his challenge

is to make government work for the people, and he's got to appoint good people. the heads of these different agencies who know their job and are enabled by the president of the united states to do the job that they are responsible for. if he keeps trying to simply undermine people or get rid of agencies or get rid of people or use acting secretaries. all he's doing is weakening his administration and in that process frankly, weakening the country. >> leon panetta, thank you so much. coming up, bibi one more time. israel's prime minister ekes out narrow win for an unprecedented fifth term. what does it all mean? h term at does it all mean? hmm. exactly.

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think we'll see some pretty good action in terms of peace. every one said, and i never made it a proomise, but everybody sad you can't have peace in the middle east with israel and the palestinians. i think we have chance. i think we have a better chance with bibi having won. >> let's test that. what will be the fall out for middle east peace for the palestinians and an increasingly divided jewish community in the united states. bill, first to you, this victory still more votes to be counted from soldiers and a few others, but the fact is he's win. a narrower victory than before. he has a historic fifth term. >> yes. quite extraordinary.

he's already been in power for one fifth of israel's entire existence and it does look like another four years. his coalition stands at 65 and at 55. president trump has already congratulated li ed him. i think there's a process to be going through for the president calling on people and so on. it does look like leahe's the n prime minister. the question is what's next a and what's coming down the tracks. two things. he's indicted on three charges of corruption and bribery. that shouldn't be underestimated because it's a big thing in his mind. certainly and there could be hearing within weeks. also within weeks, is the launch of the u.s. peace plan. the so called deal of the century or as some people call it the dead on arrival deal. the question is donald trump has given bibi netanyahu extraordinary gifts. what will he ask netanyahu for

in return. will benjamin netanyahu make good on his pre-election promise to annex part of the settlement of the west bank? bibi doesn't have great record over the last ten years of being interested in a two state solution. many people here see that as pretty much dead. he's made almost no gestures towards the palestinians in terms of dialogue. the palestinians regard his victory as a set back. the prospects for peace even with netanyahu as the new prime minister maybe not as good as president trump says. >> in fact, the kushner plan

when it comes has cut out the palestinians. netanyahu promising to annex the west bank. the annexation endorsed by the president of the golan heights. the message to the palestinians and arabs is this will not involve real dialogue. there's been no real conversation since the moving of the embassy. in fact, president trump didn't demand anything. he hasn't gotten anything from netanyahu. >> i think it's a mistake to be referring to what's about to be put on the table for a peace plan. this is not plan for how to resolve the conflict. i think of it as the term sheet for surrender. there's no such thing as a refugee. the settlement can stay and you get to run garbage collection in some of the major cities on the west bank. please sign here. that's not a negotiation. that's not a peace plan.

>> saturday night the president was with the republican jewish coalition in las vegas. a very strong conservative group. people who haven't been paying attention to this thinks that's the entire jewish community. you work with a lot that want to see palestinian engagement. >> it's such a mistake to think the 20% of american jews who vote republican and supported donald trump, i think his approval rating is 19%, that that 20% speaks for the whole community. american jews are a liberal based constituency. we fight for equality and justice. what is happening right now between israel and the palestinians most american jews believe there's a better and different way that results in two states, that results in justice, that results in security and that's the majority of view. >> what happens next given the fact that president trump is completely aligned and his

policies against iran are now solidified, cemented? >> in terms of american politics, this will not move american jews to vote for donald trump. the issues that american jews have with donald trump go so far beyond israel. israel is only a voting issue for a tiny fraction of american jews. we care about the economy. we care about civil rights and liberty. we care about education, the environment and all the things that donald trump is doing result in him having a disapproval rating of 76% among american jews. whether israel can annex the west bank and have u.s. approval for that will not move a single jewish voter if a democratic column over to the republican column. there's been a missed strategy by the republicans for 40 years. it's been consistent that american jojews have voted democratic since polling began. >> thank you. coming up, testing the waters. steve mnuchin gets schooled by

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claim the gavel. >> this is a new way and a new day. it's a new chair. i have the gavel at this point. if you wish to leave, you may. >> can you clarify that for me? >> yes, clarify is -- if you wish to leave, you may. >> we're dismissed, is that correct? >> if you wish to leave, you may leave. >> i don't understand what you're saying. >> you're wasting your time. remember, you have a foreign dignitary in your office. >> i would say the previous -- when the republicans did not treat the secretary of the treasury this way. >> as i have said, if you wish to leave, you may. >> if you'd wish to keep me here so i don't have my important meeting and continue to grill me then we can do that. i will cancel my meeting and not be back here. >> thank you. the secretary has agreed to stay. >> you're instructing me.

you're ordering me to stay here. >> no, i'm not ordering you. i'm responding. i said you may leave any time you want. you may go any time you want. >> please dismiss, everybody. i believe you're supposed to take the gavel and bang it. >> do not instruct me as to how i'm to conduct this committee. >> well, joining me is ann geren and doug brinkley. what a read. you're the historian. have you ever seen a match up between, let's say a man, a white man, a treasury secretary facing off against the chair of a committee and responding that way. he was trying to leave without answering all of the questions. that's how that all started. >> you can feel their disdain for each other. sometimes you have those and each side does a correction because they realize the tv

cameras are running. in this case it was a showdown of disdain for each other. i think maxine waters has become a bit of the being targeted by the right a lot and this is just another indication of her harshly partisan times. there seems like that in the mccarthy era where things get rough and tumble. this was one of the most cringe worthy changes. >> especially him telling her how to yield the gavel. >> and he said the word wrong too. >> gravel. it goes back to the president claiming that he doesn't have to release his tax returns. here is what he had to say and his own irs commissioner rebutting him. >> i got elected last time with the same issue. while i'm under audit, i won't do it. if i'm not under audit, i would do it. i had no problem with it. while i'm under audit, i will

not give my taxes. >> if anybody's tax return is under audit, is there a rule that would prohibit that taxpayer from releasing it? >> i think i've answered that question no. >> well, it's very clear that there's going to be a legal showdown over this, ann. the prepond rens is on the side of the house democrats. house ways and means has an unchallenged right to look at any tax returns. not to release them but look at them. the treasury secretary is not supposed to be involved in this. >> the house democrats through the committee chairman said today as a deadline for the irs to respond doesn't look as though the irs is going to. this will come down to a legal fight about what does the word shall mean which is -- >> the 1924 law. >> it's probably a fight only washington could have and love.

the exchange yesterday was really revealing and the irs commissioner said there's no law that prohibits turning over -- someone from turning over their own material while under audit. and this is the longest history in the history of audits like 11 years or something like that. >> we don't know if there's really an audit. >> we don't. it's never been established. the president's tax returns for any span of time were during the campaign or still are under audit. he claims they are. he also said the american people don't care and he was elected last time in the face of an argument over whether or not he should turn over his tax returns. he didn't and that settles it in his view. >> doug, the president's taxes are important for a lot of reasons. there's a reason why the house democrats want to go there because they think that could show them whether or not he was overly reliant on russian money,

russian bank loans. whether there was any kind of funny business going into the campaign. >> donald trump is not going to release his taxes. in his world that's an utter disaster because people will find threads and connections and it will become the story of 2020. instead he's going to just bore down and say no. they're my taxes. blow off. this is just another witch hunt. you've tried this before. the democrats score points on this tax issue. remember when senator harry reid went after mitt romney and kind of humiliated him that he's hiding his taxes and you could feel the democrats scoring points. this will be an issue. conversely like bernie sanders, they say is a millionaire on monday's release -- >> hold that thought because we will be talking about that coming up with our reporters covering him. with mitt romney it was to try to embarrass him of being too well talth

wealthy. with donald trump, according to his biographer wants to hide the fact he's not as wealthy. he's a billionaire but not a mega. >> isn't that businey. it will show he's not nearly as wealthy as he really is. the problem we have in america is billionaires find ways to hide taxes. caymen island and swiss bank accounts. who knows what he's been doing with money over the years. if you got seven years of returns out of donald trump, the democrats would have a field day with it. this is just a political issue right now. it will be a tug of war or trying to get them released. maybe congress will find a reason to get trump's taxes but it seems unlikely. >> the state of new york is also going after them and the trump organization and there's all sorts of reports of cash being paid by foreign entities for apartments and the likes.

to be continued. please come back. we'll talk about your book. as we said, coming up, money to burn. senator bernie sanders joining ranks of the millionaires he's denounced. how is this new fortune playing with voters? we'll talk about that, coming up. voters? we'll talk about that, coming up going for another 150 years. ♪ to inspire confidence through style. ♪ i'm working to make connections of a different kind. ♪ i'm working for beauty that begins with nature. ♪ to treat every car like i treat mine. ♪ at adp we're designing a better way to work, so you can achieve what you're working for. ♪

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bernie sanders has been campaigning for years against the millionaires and billionaires while resisting releasing his own tax returns. >> how does it happen that we've got 47 million people living in poverty, we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost my major country on earth and yet statement we're seeing a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires. >> income and wealth inequality and a rigged economy means that we are seeing a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires -- >> guess what. it turns out bernie is a millionaire. telling the "new york times" i wrote a bestselling book. if you write a bestselling book, you can be a millionaire too.

i guess it's that easy. joining me now mark maury. what a race? is it 18 with -- >> we're not talking about joe biden. i've always been bracing for as many as 20. >> what about the bernie brand? >> one of the strengths is there are about 25% of democratic primary voters who are going to be with him no matter what. the question is, can anyone end up consolidating more than that 25% putting bernie sanders in second or third place once we get to iowa or new hampshire. but it's possible that the winners of those first two contests, maybe you only need 25%. as you mentioned about this, this does hurt a little bit of the bernie brand with some of the people who are looking at him for the first time.

we heard about bernie sanders complain about the millionaires and billionaires. barack obama made tons of money from his book. elizabeth warren is close to that millionaire mark. but someone being able to use the capitalist system to their benefit is where some people might take some shots at him. >> with such a big field, bernie sanders with his committed 25% going into some of these primaries next year has a huge advantage plus he's going to have enough money to stay in the race until the end. >> a lot of people have talked about bernie sanders being the front runner. i wouldn't go that far. i would say a front runner. if joe biden does get it in, he would be a front runner, kamala harris, beto roeo'rourke.

we have a group of front runners and then there is a middle tier where the amy klobuchars, but we have more than 300 days to go until the iowa caucuses and as you and i were remarking before, be aware of being the front runn runner. i've seen people who have been the front runners, and it's not worked well for them. >> we were talking about pete buttigieg, the interview last sunday which was extraordinary, that emotional speech. he's redefining what it means to be a political contender in the detecti democratic field. >> no one has had a better past month than pete buttigieg has had. you know that the arrows come your way somehow, somewhere and how a person's able to respond to that kind of controversy or crisis. but right now, he is really hitting at the democrats who

want to see a very positive kind of campaign. who want actually kind of more inspiration than policy. and pete buttigieg has talked about policy but talked about restructuring politics. >> hitting all of the core issues coming from that whole midwestern area. mark maury, what a treasure you are. >> thanks. >> we'll be right back. can bg that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines,

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thanks for today. join us tomorrow. follow us online on facebook and twitter at mitchell reports and here is ali velshi and stephanie ruhle for "velshi & ruhle." >> thank you. hello, everyone. i'm ali velshi. >> and i'm stephanie ruhle. we got a lot to cover. let's get smarter. >> the president heading to texas but talking an awful lot on his way out the door. >> hopefully the attorney general, he mentioned it yesterday, he's doing a great job. getting started on going back to the origins of exactly where this all started because this was an illegal witch-hunt. >> i am going to be reviewing both the genesis and the conduct of intelligence activities directed at the trump campaign during 2016. i'm not talking about the fbi necessarily but intelligence agencies more broadly. >> so you're not suggesting,