following this morning on msnbc live. bombshell new pictures and text messages showing just how close the communication line was between republican congressman and rudy giuliani associate lev parnas. what it means for the president's impeachment trial. >> as we get closer to the start of that trial, both sides ready for battle. who is on the president's legal team and why they made the cut? >> and winter whiteout. flights cancelled. trouble on the roads. who will get the brunt of a winter storm blasting its way across the country? >> just think about it. week ago at this time, we were talking about record-breaking heat all along the mid-atlantic and the northeast. and now -- >> absolutely. >> -- about 100 million people around winter storm advisories this morning. >> and we've got a number of reporters and analysts following the latest for us this hour. >> yeah. we begin with breaking news from capitol hill. new evidence released overnight by house democrats, courtesy of

lev parnas, the indicted associate of rudy giuliani. it includes material that appears to be pulling the top republican devin nunes deeper into the ukraine scandal. >> a set of text messages show a top aide communicated. meantime, nbc's josh lederman who's been digging through all these documents for us points out some other key findings. here's what he told our colleague brian williams just a few hours ago. >> one new piece of information that is taking a lot of people by surprise, brian, is a photograph that was turned over by parnas that shows -- basically, it's a photo of an event. and you can see the name placards at the table. and you see right there, president donald trump seated, at least according to these placards, next to lev parnas at the same table with brian ballered, who is a lobbyist who's also come into this story. and this is really undercutting

the president's continual claims that he doesn't know parnas. maybe only met him briefly. at least judging based on this photo, it seems like they sat next to each other at at least one event. the other big piece of information that's coming out today, brian, has to do with that story we've been talking about about robert hyde. who apparently had some type of surveillance operation on ambassador marie yovanovitch. and i want to walk you through the reporting we've done on this because it's been quite a roller coaster throughout the day. first, earlier today, robert hyde, on twitter, named a new person that he said actually had provided to him the information about yovanovitch. that he then passed on to lev parnas. a guy named anthony da calloway. so we said who is this anthony callaway guy. robert hyde told me this was someone he met at a trump fundraiser. didn't know who he was but hung

around trump events. so we went to his facebook and we found all kinds of pro-trump photographs, slogans. make america great again type of stuff. showing that he's someone whose identity was really wrapped around his support for trump. but then i got ahold of anthony callaway via e-mail and he denied this. he said, yeah, i was in touch with hyde. he asked for information on yovanovitch but i told him, no, that would be illegal. i'm not going to have anything to do with this. then comes the document dump from house democrats just a few hours ago in which there are all these whatsapp messages that show, indeed, robert hyde did get this information from some unknown belgian phone number. that the house democrats, in their document dump, didn't identify. but we were able to do some digging. and we found that, first of all, we spoke to one of his friends who confirmed that anthony callaway is belgian. spends a lot of time in belgian. and then we were able to match a photograph from his facebook

page to the icon used in his whatsapp text messages. it's the same photo from that unnamed belgian phone number that the house democrats had in their messages they turned over. and the nail in the coffin, brian, was that we found another profile online for anthony callaway and at the bottom, there is a phone number, a belgian phone number. and the digits in the phone number exactly match the unredacted digits that were in the phone number of these text messages that showed up in the house democrats' documents turned over by parnas. so long in the short of it, brian, is even though some people have been saying that this robert hyde guy might have just been making all this up, didn't really have surveillance. there seems to be a lot more in the story, including a new character who is purporting to have surveillance on marie yovanovitch. >> josh lederman having to go through a bunch of new documents. interesting new information as well. including those links from parnas to the apparent surveillance of marie yovanovitch.

joining us now from capitol hill, nbc's leanne caldwell. leanne, before we talk impeachment, what do you think of the new documents? in particular, the question of whether yovanovitch was spied on. >> it appears that they were watching yovanovitch. and there is also the news that devin nunes, the ranking member on the house intelligence committee, who was defending the president throughout this entire impeachment process. sitting through these hearings. denouncing the democrats', quote, witch hunt against the president. that he had an aide that was in close contact with lev parnas. and so what these new documents really show is that -- how deep the tentacles were in this -- in this, you know, irregular channel of people who were trying to, you know, get rid of yovanovitch. who were working very closely with rudy giuliani, who was working very closely with the president.

>> leigh anne, what about these newly released photos showing parnas with ivanka and jared? >> the president is saying he doesn't know parnas and with these new photos, it shows that -- that -- that parnas has been in close, at least, proximity to the president's children. ivanka, jared. there is pictures with don jr., as well. so we don't know really what was happening in these pictures at this time. but he has a lot of pictures with the president, with the president's associates, with the president's family. and so it just -- just, you know, makes it much more difficult to believe the president when he says he doesn't know parnas and he hasn't come into contact with him. and as i said, this is just showing how -- how expansive this entire ukraine saga really was. >> hey, leigh anne, let's talk impeachment now. house managers facing a deadline today, 5:00 p.m. walk us through

what's next for this whole timeline because there is a lot of scenarios, right? >> yeah. there are a lot of scenarios. so the deadline today is for them to submit their brief on how the outlining how they're going to present their evidence against this president. the white house has a deadline, too, which comes on monday to present their defense. and then on tuesday, the senate gavels back in as jurors, not just as senators. where they're going to start -- take up this organizing resolution, setting the parameters of the trial, which we expect to be extremely contentious because the resolution that mitch mcconnell wrote doesn't address the issue of witnesses. democrats want to take votes on witnesses at the forefront, at the top of this trial. and so we can expect a lot of procedural tactics and haggling over that. and then we will start to hear from the actual case, perhaps on wednesday. >> it does sound like it will be days of the haggling first. nbc's leigh anne caldwell for us

in capitol hill this morning. thanks. >> in the meantime, as a result of all this, the president's legal team is huddling together this weekend and they're gearing up for battle no doubt. and they fattened up a little bit as well. it'll now include the controversial harvard law professor alan dershowitz and clinton white water independent counsel's ken starr and his successor robert ray. >> all right. let's bring in nbc correspondent heidi przybyla. heidi, good morning to you. what do we know about the order of events as far as what they'll look like starting on tuesday? >> tuesday is the big opening. and at that time, we will see this food fight over a resolution that no one has seen. and as leigh anne pointed out, the big question here really is on witnesses. now, two senate republicans have said that they extracted a promise from senator mitch mcconnell, the majority leader, to get a vote on witnesses, up or down, whether to include new information at the conclusion of

the presentations of both the house managers and the president's lawyers. however, since democrats have very little trust in the fact that mcconnell will hold up that, and we haven't seen the actual resolution. you will see this fight to amend this resolution, to get witnesses upfront. and why are you seeing that? because there is a fundamental difference here with this trial and the trial of william jefferson clinton. and that is that you have a second article of impeachment, which is for obstruction. you did not have that in the clinton case. and so democrats argue this is very different when you have a president who's obstructed absolutely every witness and every piece of document that he can. and, therefore, we need to extract this upfront. now, it's very unlikely that that will succeed. however, it does appear that according to these republicans, who are mitch -- lamar alexander and susan collins have said, on the record, that they did

extract a promise from mcconnell that at the conclusion of the evidence, people will -- or the senators will be able to vote on whether they want to hear more evidence. >> heidi, lindsey riser here. you mentioned a key difference with the clinton trial. how did clinton's trial proceed? and how long do you think this one could last? >> right now, it's anybody's guess because of the open wild card witness question. but we do have early indications that at least the general nuts and bolts are the same in that each side will have 24 hours to make their case, which will be spread out over, most likely, you know, about three days. and then when that question of witnesses comes, that is where we don't know how many weeks this could last. it could be two weeks. it could be three weeks. or if you really throw open that witness door, it could be a lot longer. however, when you look at this very -- with a fine microscope here, you're really not talking

about that many witnesses because the president has already indicated that he will try to block testimony from john bolton. that means he will succeed, most likely, in blocking testimony from everybody else that the democrats want to call because they still work in the white house. even if democrats get bolton, they're unlikely to get anybody else to cooperate. so the question really does revolve around the president's former national security advisor, john bolton. i haven't gotten any indication from democrats that they actually want to call lev parnas, for example. they just want the documents he's providing. >> and he's provided a lot of documents and he's spoken quite a bit. of course, we remember the interview that he did with rachel just this past thursday night. highest-rated "rachel maddow show" ever by the way. more than 4 million people. my colleague joy reid sat down with rachel to talk about the behind the scenes of this interview. here's a clip. >> in both of those cases, i asked mr. parnas if he believed

the allegations against yovanovitch and the allegations against biden. that he helped publicize. that he tried to turn into a scandal. if he believed they were true. in both cases, he said, you know, at the time, i really thought they were true. and now, i realize they are not. >> so what she kind of teed up there, and i'm curious to get your take on this. you think that the evidence that's brought forward by parnas, including those new text messages with the aide of devin nunes and congressional republican candidate robert hyde could help to change the scope of all of this? >> it's not just these new text messages. think about everything that's come out since the house concluded its hearings. it's also the redacted copies of omb documents showing that the president himself was alleged to have ordered this hold. it's john bolton offering to testify. and we have several weeks, most likely, to go still for this trial.

and i will -- i will swear that i -- i bet there's more information that's still going to come out. so you really need to watch two groups of senators. you need to watch those like lisa murkowski and senator susan collins, who've been known to break with their party. and you need to watch some of these retiring senators who have not been known to break with their party. but are already starting to kick up some dust. like senator lamar alexander. when i spoke with their offices this week, they said they had not seen the parnas information before -- yet. and they hadn't seen it, you know, to be able to comment on it. but they're going to have a lot of time to sit in those chairs. and they're going to see that information. and then the question will come about whether they want new evidence. when you have a second article, which is based around blockage of evidence, it makes it hard for people like susan collins who is on the record in 1998, before the trial even began, saying she wanted to see witnesses. >> it will be very difficult for

them. and that decision will come within the next week or so. heidi przybyla, joining us from washington, d.c. thank you so much. later this morning, joy's full interview with rachel maddow today 10:00 a.m. eastern time. >> some other breaking news. cities in minnesota, iowa, and illinois have declared snow emergencies as a winter storm brings white-out conditions to roadways and airports. we want to show you multiple cars in minnesota were stranded on icy highways. actually, right here. look at that. covered in head to toe. look at that. wind right there. of course, wind chills there forecast to dip 20 below zero today. >> that's nothing. >> you know, they do wear shorts in the snow. but this, i think, is -- that takes the cake. we want to bring in nbc's ron mott in chicago right now following the storm. we've got travel delays, car crashes on highways. what is happening across the midwest? >> guys, good morning to you. well, fortunately, the snow is out of this area.

unfortunately, it's headed your way. we are going to deal with some rain the lerest of the morning. you can see ice still clinging to the trees here. this is michigan avenue right back here. the road travel should be a whole lot better than on friday because as you mentioned, in minnesota a loan, authorities told us they worked more than 170 accidents since this time yesterday. a travel nightmare unfolding across the country on the roads. a stranded driver barely escapes an out of control pickup in iowa. fortunately, no serious injuries there. white-out conditions and zero visibility around fargo, north dakota, sent trucks jackknifing off the road afraid. a fire truck rolled on to its side in lee summit, missouri. fierce winds adding to the misery of having to push out of a minnesota snowdrift. ice encrusted vehicles in kansas. ice causing problems in nebraska, too. >> just getting over the bridge was, you know, a hassle. >> more trouble in the air. chicago's o'hare shut down for

hours. this delta plane slid off an icy taxiway in kansas city, missouri, friday. no injuries but 90 flights cancelled. more than 1,700 flights cancelled nationwide, including all flights from nashville to kansas city friday. that means a lot of titans fans have to hit the road. >> hopefully, people are ready to get in the car and go pull for the titans if needed. >> snow coming so fast in the sierra nevadas it may have set off the avalanche that killed one skier. winter weather advisories up for millions of people in the northeast today. arctic air as much as 20 degrees below normal settling in across the middle of the country. >> there's going to be a lot more coming. >> all right. so here in chicago, we might actually hit 40 degrees today. so the ice that's on the trees hopefully will all melt. the snow really was just the first punch of a powerful one-two combination. because on the backside of this storm is a whole lot of cold air

and very strong wind. so it's going to get a whole lot colder over the next 48 hours. parts of this region could see single-digit high temperatures both on sunday and monday with lows below zero. factor in all that wind, wind chills well below zero. >> nbc's ron mott, stay warm out there. thank you so much. >> wind kicking up that visibility -- kicking up all the snow for the visibility. that is the hardest thing to watch. >> terrifying when you can't see in front of you. >> then you have the chicago will topple at 21 degrees tomorrow. so stay warm as much as you can. the u.s. military is contradicting president trump about whether any soldiers were hurt in that iranian missile attack. the question this morning is, why did the president say all's well and said no one was injured? when, in fact, nearly a dozen suffered severe brain injuries from the blast. >> also, the supreme court tackling the electoral college. could a decision potentially change the outcome of the 2020 election?

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welcome back to msnbc world headquarters in new york. this is a live look of philadelphia. the art museum and the famed rocky steps. 7:22 in the morning for you folks in philly. let's get to some more of this morning's headlines. former new york congressman chris collins sentenced to 26 months in prison for each of two federal charges. he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit insider trading and lying to the fbi.

collins was the first sitting member of congress to endorse trump in his bid for the white house. the trump administration is rolling back more federal regulations. this time, with obama-era school lunch rules. the usda proposal would allow schools to cut back on fruits and veggies and sell more pizza and burgers. parents in los angeles suing delta airlines after a jet dumped fuel over children in playgrounds and schools. the suit claims the pilots failed to follow protocol in an emergency landing. parents demanding answers filled a town hall meeting yesterday. worried about lasting health effects. >> my kids have been in and out of the doctor since tuesday. the possibilities of long-term effects that we weren't even aware of. it's just -- it's horrible. >> on tuesday, the china-bound flight released 15,000 gallons of jet fuel to lighten their load in an emergency landing.

and the local air regulator over there sent them a notice of violation, as well. so definitely a lot of people not only frustrated but also delta airlines potentially facing some serious consequences. >> they're supposed to, when able, to go out to sea, dump fuel, and come back in. obviously, that was not the case in this situation at all. all right. new today, a new war of words over iran. that country's supreme leader lashing out against what he calls american clowns who are pretending to support iran. >> president trump hitting back on twitter saying ayatollah khamenei should be careful with his words. military officials now contradicting the president's claim that no u.s. soldiers were injured in iran's missile strike last week. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel has more for us. >> when more than a dozen iranian missiles smashed into this base housing american troops in western iraq, revenge for the u.s. killing of an iranian general, the missiles cratered the ground.

and obliterated a small chow hall and a row of bunk houses. each missile packed with 1,000 to 1,600 pounds of explosive. president trump has said repeatedly no u.s. troops were killed or injured. >> we suffered no casualties. all of our soldiers are safe. how many died? how many were wounded? sir, none. >> the u.s. military issued a statement saying while no u.s. service members were killed, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are sitill being assessed. it's all about the blast. missiles of these size release strong shock waves that can cause internal injuries. >> we heard the sounds first and then the shock wave just like drove like even through these walls all the way down. and it just kind of punches you in the heart. >> some other troops have also been given psychological counseling. but numerous commanders stressed that this could have been much worse had u.s. forces not had

advanced warning, allowing them to take cover. >> a u.s. military spokesman said that eight service members were sent to germany, three to kuwait. and that after their screening, they are expected to return to duty here in iraq. richard engel, nbc news, baghdad. >> all right. let's bring in daniel lippman, reporter at "politico." daniel, good morning to you. did the president believe this at the time? or did he actually know that people had been injured? was he covering it up? this brings up so many questions. >> well, he's long had issues with the truth. and so one might think that he was saying things that were not correct here. but, actually, i think his explanation holds water, which is that he did not know. the reports of the injuries filtered to the pentagon a few days late. and so if trump said, today, hey, there were no injuries, then we can say, hey, this information is out there.

why is he kind of covering it up? but i don't think that when he tweeted all is well that he knew about those injuries. >> do you think there's any military strategy here to try to minimize the damage or not acknowledge that iran had struck its intended targets? >> i think the strategy is to deescalate because president trump did not want another foreign war. he -- that was one of his big campaign promises. to get out of afghanistan. to not do more foreign adventures. and so a lot of people were worried that with his killing of soleimani, that we were all going to go to war with iran. and so it was his strategy to try to keep the damage reports limited. and to not retaliate against iran after those attacks on that base. >> hey, dan. good to see you. iran described it as a slap in the face. and trump said iran appeared to be standing down. i mean, back to the top question

here. do you get a sense that he tried to downplay the injuries of those american soldiers as part of a strategy to prevent, i guess, further escalation of the whole thing? >> i think that they should've been more, you know, investigating exactly what happened. and so i think there was a miscommunication between what happened in iraq and what was told to president trump and the pentagon. but i think the larger issue is his credibility in terms of the explanations for the strike. we heard about an imminent threat to those embassies, which mark esper, his defense secretary, said there wasn't actually specific threats to all those embassies. and it seemed like trump did not have the intelligence that he said he had in terms of that soleimani was going to, you know, kill all these americans right then and there. and so that's why people are worried about his credibility.

>> all right. daniel lippman from "politico." thank you. >> thanks, guys. >> the supreme court is taking up the case that could change how presidents are chosen. and it could have a decisive impact on the outcome of the presidential election coming up here in 2020. we'll take a look at that. (whistling) (whistling) and i like to question your i'm yoevery move.n law. like this left turn. it's the next one. you always drive this slow? how did you make someone i love? that must be why you're always so late.

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hearing arguments over the electoral college and whether or not it should change. >> the question here, are electors required to vote in line with their state's popular vote? msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos is with us now. >> the constitution is largely silent. it gives the electors the power to cast their votes. but it's unsure -- it's not really clear whether that or the 12th amendment say they have to follow what a state tells them to do or state law.

or they can use their discretion. now, right now, we have what's called a circuit split. the state of washington says their supreme court says that they can force electors to vote a certain way. whereas the 10th circuit court of appeals says that, no, you can't do that. >> so, danny, if this was in place back in 2016, would it have changed the results? >> possibly. 2016 saw a record number of electors who tried to defect. ten tried. seven were successful. whether or not that would have affected the outcome is unclear. but if you go back to the 2000 bush v gore election, it would have only taken two electors to defect to change the outcome of that election. so this is a very significant decision. it's important to note that hamilton wrote something to the effect that we choose these electors from the masses for their discernment, which suggests that they should have discretion, at least according to hamilton's vision of what these electors do. >> so this really could have an

impact come november or december. >> a massive impact, especially in a situation where you may have a controversial nominee that electors may be likely to defect from. and if recent trends are any indicator, last election being the new record, then this new election could be yet another new record. of defectors. >> i don't know about the rest of the american people but i certainly want to be able to have my voice spoken for. >> it's kind of interesting. danny cevallos there. appreciate it. the constitution says one thing. you know, the popular vote that has been going opposite of it lately. so we'll see. let's talk about popular vote. the race to the white house. 16 days. that's like a tournament right there. 16 days away from the iowa caucuses where the first votes in the election will be cast. >> and the democratic candidates spread across the country. today, many meeting with iowa

voters. senator elizabeth warren took questions from a crowd in newtown on friday. she dodged questions from reporters about her relationship with senator bernie sanders. >> i don't have anything else to say on this. i have said what i'm going to say on this. i don't have any additional comment on it. i am here in newton to talk about why i'm running for president. i have said all i'm going to say on this. you can keep asking the question but i'm not going to make an addition-l additional comment. >> tom steyer meanwhile traveled to south carolina to kick off a bus tour. when asked about michael bloomberg, steyer said the former mayor needs to embrace the idea of taxing the wealthy. >> someone like michao run as a democrat, then he has to accept and embrace a wealth tax to show that, actually, he understands what's going on and is going to put, you know, his policies in line with the values of the democratic party. >> meanwhile, bloomberg focused on voters in california. saying his goal for the office

was to solve the country's problems. >> my whole career, i have been a problem solver, not a problem creator. and i believe we need less talk and less partisanship and less division and less tweeting. i make you a commitment right now, if i'm in the white house, no tweeting ever again. >> and pete buttigieg took questions from illinois congresswoman robin kelly and audience members at an event in chicago. he was asked about his campaign's work with black, small business owners. >> we got a long way to go for the purchasing done by the federal government to reflect the economic, the diversity of the economic opportunity being created. especially, by entrepreneurs of color. >> this, as a new poll of new hampshire voters shows bernie sanders leading with 23%. followed by buttigieg at 18%. >> then of course you have biden

who is there at 14% as the poll goes down. i want to bring in, though, in the meantime, nbc's priscilla thompson, who is in des moines this morning where several candidates will be there throughout the day. priscilla, you have pete buttigieg who will be focusing on iowa today. he's done a lot of work as well in new hampshire. is it paying off in either locations? >> yeah. i mean, certainly, the work that he is doing is paying dividends. you mentioned the latest poll out of new hampshire that shows really the top four candidates are within striking distance of each other. so the race is still very fluid. pete buttigieg landed a huge endorsement in new hampshire from representative annie cushner. and she is backing buttigieg. and that's going to be huge while he is spending his time here in iowa preparing for the caucuses to have her on the ground in new hampshire campaigning so that when the race heads that way, he's got

the momentum there to keep going. >> yeah. priscil priscilla thompson joining us right now on the race for the white house. as you see that poll, it's interesting to see that it is a very close one there. sanders on top, 23%. 18% for buttigieg. and biden, 14%. and warren, 14%. that is in new hampshire. >> and i want to say we have reported the top four at least have been at the top there for iowa like each week, it's changed. >> amy klobuchar double digits as well. >> moving on to the upcoming impeachment trial. today, new pressure on senate republicans to call witnesses after indicted rudy giuliani associate lev p exclusively to msnbc's rachel maddow about his relationship to the president and his dealings in ukraine. >> now, we're going to go through the biggest revelations from that interview. first, parnas said president trump was aware of his work in ukraine. >> president trump knew exactly what was going on. he was aware of all of my

movements. he -- i wouldn't do anything without the consent of rudy giuliani or the president. i have no intent, i have no reason to speak to any of these officials. i mean, they have no reason to speak to me. why would president zelensky's inner circle or minister or all these people or the president meet with me? who am i? they were told to meet with me. and that's the secret that they're trying to keep. >> and he says that's not the only thing that the president, in his mind, was familiar with. parnas claims trump knew exactly who he was. >> he knew exactly who i was especially because i interacted with him at a lot of events. i sat a lot of one-on-one conversations with him at gatherings where they would have special like these round tables where there would be only six people at a table. we had several of those. and basically, i mean, i was with rudy more than -- i mean,

four or five days out of the week. i mean, and i was in constant contact with him. >> and parnas continued to discredit president trump pointing out that everything that went on in ukraine was always about the bidens. >> it was all about joe biden, hunter biden. and also, rudy had a personal thing with the manafort stuff. the black ledger. that was another thing that they were looking into. but it was never about corruption. it was never -- it was strictly about the burisma, which included hunter biden and joe biden. >> and parnas said it was made very clear he was in ukraine as a direct representative of rudy giuliani and president trump. >> the first thing i did is to introduce myself and tell them i'm here on behalf of rudy giuliani and the president of the united states. and i'd like to put you on speaker phone for you to confirm, which we did. we put rudy on the phone. rudy relayed to him basically that we were there on behalf of the president of the united states. >> that you were there to speak

on president trump's behalf. >> correct. those exact words. >> and then perhaps one of the most damning revelations here is that parnas says that vice president mike pence also knew exactly what was going on in ukraine. >> do you know if vice president pence was aware that that was the quid pro quo, that that was the trade and that, in fact, is why his inaugural visit was called off? >> i'm going to use a famous quote by mr. sutherland. everybody w sondland. everybody was in the loop. >> revelation after revelation there from that interview. joining us now, political reporter jonathan alan. >> jonathan, did he kind of remind you of alexis carington from dynasty with all those receipts? >> can't see your hand gesture here. there we go. >> i was thinking lev parnas is like the -- for the younger folks, the forrest gump of this story where he just keeps popping up in historical moments. he seems to be like in every picture. >> it's true.

>> also, let me tell you guys i am enjoying -- i'm enjoying your show. the -- the trio with brio this morning. it's been a pleasure to sit here and listen. >> the trio with brio? am i the brio? >> you got to come up with your own then. >> okay. i'll take it. thanks. >> many strikes things here. but let me jump right in and ask you what do you find to be the most striking from this conversation with lev parnas? >> i mean, i think the most striking thing from his conversation with rachel maddow is the confirmation of the connections between all these characters. you know, we heard a lot of that testimony before the house intelligence committee. and then here's lev parnas backing it up not only with his commentary to rachel but also -- their investigation as they're on their way to the senate to make their presentation.

he is basically the guy that's walking around, you know, an fbi office where the bulletin board is and drawing the lines between the pictures of the various characters in -- in, you know, in the arrangement. >> he's got -- >> if what he says is true, you're talking about a massive conspiracy here. >> massive conspiracy. jonathan, you know, we have the vice president now and a lot of people are wondering what role he may have played in all of this. based on what we've learned, all the revelations, the text messages, et cetera, was he in the loop? >> i think one of the big questions is the degree to which the vice president -- >> the degree, not whether. okay. >> right. i mean, obviously parts of this, the vice president -- i should say, you know, we talk about a massive conspiracy. you know, the people in government are supposed to work together. and the president's defense is that nothing that he did was illegal. the issue -- part of the issue -- for him is there's been

such an effort to block not only congress but the public from understanding what was going on here. that that effort to hide things creates a lot of suspicion about not only whether what was going on was illegal but whether or not the people involved in -- in this effort also believed it to be illegal while it was going on. or, certainly, potentially damaging on a political level. >> so let's jump ahead three places, four places. if the president was removed from office, vice president pence would replace him. but, in theory, if pence auz aware of the ukraine bribe, what would that mean for his presidency? >> i think that's one of the reasons that you have seen the house democrats and the senate democrats essentially leave mike pence alone. because if they had gone after president trump and vice president mike pence, you know, obviously the impeachment removal of both of them would lead to the presidency of nancy pelosi.

the self-interest -- the self-interest that would appear to show, even if that wasn't the case, is -- is such that the democrats realized the potential political turmoil. and, again, i think that's why you've seen them focus so intently on the president. there are obviously cabinet secretaries involved in what's going on here. other government officials. and really, they have just sought to impeach the president. and perhaps there will be other people that will have to deal with consequences later. but for now, that's it. >> nbc's jonathan alan for us this morning. and by the way, i had to look up brio. okay. brio is vigor or vivacity of style and performance that is definitely you. >> i'm the brio? >> no, no, we're all the brio. >> it's a brio trio. >> someone who has tip efinesse. you're awesome too. good to see you. there is a new book. this one. very fascinating.

possibly exposes some incredible behind the scene moments. challenges his claims, the president's claims, that he is a stable genius. in the most unflattering way. >> they're details of the stable genius. but which in the book might be most disturbing at about the president? we'll take a look next. rbing ate president? we'll take a look next so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa ♪ ♪ ♪

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book is giving us a shocking new look at the trump presidency. >> "very stable genius" by "washington post" reporters portrays the president as erratic and at times, quote, dangerously uninformed. according to excerpts released from "the post," the president did not seem to grasp the fundamental history surrounding the attack on pearl harbor. it also details a president with a fundamental lack of understanding for basic geography, as trump tells india's prime minister, quote, it's not like you've got china on your border. >> you do. >> yeah. in another excerpt, the president tells his generals, quote, i wouldn't go to war with

you people. you're a bunch of dopes and babies. that fit unfolding in a 2017 meeting with the pentagon. it was set up after trump's military leaders became concerned about, quote, gaping holes in the president's knowledge of america's key alliances. then secretary of state rex tillerson, reportedly so frustrated by the meeting that he called the president, quote, an effing moron after trump left the room. >> and according to a passage released to axios on the first monday of trump's presidency, he told house and senate leaders at the white house reception, quote, you know i won the popular vote. but nancy pelosi interjected saying, well, mr. president, that -- that -- that's not true. watching pelosi challenge trump. steve bannon whispered to colleagues she's going to get us. total assassin. she's an assassin. >> wow. interesting book, indeed. joining us right now is alana who is a white house reporter with axios. alana, thank you for being here on this saturday morning.

good morning to you. so what stands out the most to you as the more shocking revelations that -- that you've seen from this upcoming book? >> i mean, i think that what they're accounting of what happened in the tank as we call it with the excerpt about when all the generals garkted the president for that presentation. just really, it was supposed to be an informational presentation. and there's been reporting on this before. but the reporting in this book definitely sheds new details on, you know, using the term dopes and babies for these generals. and all these other commanders and former military officials in the room. it truly is remarkable that a president and -- and they say this in the book -- a president that has never been to war himself was using these terms for people who fought their lives in the middle east and past wars and have sons and daughters and others still fighting in these wars. i think that was a remarkable

scene that they had. and definitely, new details they brought on that we hadn't heard before. >> decorated military leaders to be respected and when it comes to what he is saying to them behind the scenes versus what he tells the public in front, which is nobody's done more for the military than i military than i have, where do you draw the line as far as what's the truth between the two? >> right. well so the president is definitely -- uses a lot of hyperbole. i think the interesting thing is something that we've seen now, the president, all of those generals in the room during the meeting they were trying to convince him of the importance of america's allies abroad, and work we have been doing abroad. none of them are here any more. that's something that's really interesting to note. we've seen the president used to think having four star generals was the best thing he coffin his cabinet, and that meant they could lead the way for the administration in particular when it comes to u.s. defense, and here we are about a couple

years later from the meeting and he doesn't have those generals any more. those are people that were supposed to be a check on what people said were the president's worst impulses. just a couple weeks out from the iran strike on the military leader, general soleimani, it is interesting to see what would have happened potentially if those leaders were still here. >> how damning is the portrayal of the president as being dangerously uninformed? >> definitely a striking quote from i believe an administration official they quoted there, several administration officials use that term or terms similarly, that he's just not informed on certain issues, pearl harbor citing was an interesting one to note. hard to say how many people believe that, or what they think there, but definitely striking quote from the administration official. >> from a striking book.

thanks, alayna. >> thank you. just ahead, a released documentary sheds new light on a notorious convicted killer. >> what the aaron hernandez documentary reveals. it paints a more disturbing picture of the fallen nfl star. r when you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. for small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. shop everything home at wayfair.com

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iand i don't add up the years. but what i do count on is boost high protein. and now, introducing new boost mobility with collagen for joint health. when taken daily, its key nutrients help support joints, muscles, and strong bones. new, boost mobility. he has allegedly murdered two people. played an entire season as a professional athlete. >> the much anticipated docu series killer, inside the mind of aaron hernandez aired on netflix this week, certainly getting a lot of attention about the life of former new england patriots tight end that took his life. this provides shocking new details on aaron hernandez from his rise to freedom to disturbing down fall and his life as he was determined to keep secret. joining us to discuss it all, a staff writer at vulture.

good morning. did we learn anything new in the documentary? all of this unfolded in front of the public eye. >> i don't know if we necessarily learned anything new that was very interesting. i think there is a big hole at the center of the documentary with how it ties everything together or doesn't tie everything together with what i think undergirds aaron hernandez's story which is toxic masculinity. >> the question in many of these murder cases is motive. the film does try to answer this question, talking about his childhood upbringing, his issues with his mom as well as being supposedly closeted gay at the time. what more did it add to motivations? >> it definitely explores the way cte and brain disease probably effected his control

issues. how it is effecting bodies in the long run. >> let's talk about reception. a lot of eyes are on the documentary, exploring the potential motives and cte, what's his family saying about this? >> i actually don't know what his family is saying about the documentary but i have been reading interesting reviews that kind of talk about how surface level, the documentary is and how it could have gone deeper. >> no doubt could have gone deeper. there weren't a lot of hernandez's family members or friends willing to take part in the documentary itself, so you can imagine they had some issues with it. thank you so much for your time. coming up this morning, msnbc joy reid sits down with rachel maddow who had the interview of the week with rudy giuliani associate lev parnas. the story that had her biggest audience ever. iggest audience ever. thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer,

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we'll see you again tomorrow morning. >> garrett, need a good day game for you. >> i like that. that's got some legs. >> cross fit zatty. good morning. i am garrett haake. team trump. the white house reveals the identity of the president's counsel for the upcoming impeachment trial in the senate. there are more than a few names you might know. ukraine doc