outline grounds for impeachment against him is our special guest we'll hear his take on the mullah report on this edition of politicking. politicking on larry king special counsel robert muller as we report on his investigation into ties between the trunk campaign and the russian government is over who will decide what parts if any of moles will forte will be released to the public for his fought for as informed calls the report a complete and total exoneration of him and his associates but is it let's talk about that with ken starr he served as the independent counsel who investigated bill clinton and his administration and then on to out on the eleven impeachable offenses of mr clinton to congress his latest book only since september is

content a mix is been quite a couple of years ten the president says most his report is a complete and total exoneration of him what's your read. i think is a great exoneration with respect to the key issue of collusion obviously bob mueller left open the obstruction of justice issue kicked it up stairs to the attorney general and the deputy attorney general and they've made their determination so if you take the two together it is but of course we have to see them all or report and that's under review right now so it's a wait and see tell me why we have to wait why don't we all just see it. right and congress solved it wisely a long time ago to protect grand jury information and if bill barr did what some

are suggesting that he do just go ahead and release the report he would potentially be committing a crime it's that serious so we really try to protect he would be a criminal potentially if the attorney general just released it so what's happening now is that there's been a recent report to this effect that the process is under way of reviewing this entire report to identify it's called six seba grand jury information. but with the assurance has been given to us both in his confirmation hearing see as possible and i take him at his word because i know bill bard to be a person of complete integrity he's going to he's going to play it exactly right no fudging is there a difference between special counsel an independent counsel. yeah all the difference in the world same function but there's a huge huge distinction larry you'll recall this we lived through it together i was

appointed by a three judge a three judge panel and i did not report to the attorney general bob mahler is a special counsel he's hired to help with a special hired help but he's hired help within the justice department and he does report to the attorney general now under the regulations he was given independence to make his judgments but he still reported to the attorney general and by the way if i could say this very quickly one of the assurances that the american people have of the independence of the mall or investigation is that at no time was a decision that he made overruled or vetoed by the attorney general or the acting attorney general and that's very good news in terms of public confidence in the administration of justice. do you do you disagree then with those who say robert muller punt. well i think there is some to be said for that on the

obstruction of justice later that he was appointed to determine whether there was collusion between the trump campaign. on the one hand and russian individuals affiliated with russian interests on the other hand and so there bob our conduct of this while we complete investigation when you read about the number of lawyers the number of investigators oh my goodness he had every tool at his disposal and there was no collusion so that's over the collusion part of it but i do think it's fair to say he punted. it kicked it up stairs as i like to say on the on the issue of whether the president now and this is very clear from the turret general's summary larry the president did the president struck justice not did people around the president charges so he he made this very personal did that the president i's aides

committed structure just as the general said no he did not deputies you know said no he did not but that's what was punted up stairs and they said not sufficient to establish the president committed them struction of justice but also doesn't exonerate him either isn't that the having it both ways. ed away when i first read that larry i said well we have bob mahler's a very honorable guy who has become a hamlet on the potomac you know on the one hand and on the other hand and so forth i'm not sure to be or not to be but i have a theory as to why that's so because president trump really personalized this process right time and time again the president said this. as a witch hunt i can imagine that bob mahler stepped back and said you know if i conclude that this was obstruction of justice and could be charged.

i might very well be subject fairly to the criticism you criticize me you criticize my investigation i'm going to charge you with a crime now that's a theory i have no idea whether there is any merit to that theory but i think bob was clear bob mahler was clearly uncomfortable making that judgment and he's a decisive guy he's a marine these simper fi so it tells me something that he step back from that decisions i'm not going to decide i'm just going to lay out the evidence now won't do you know him and what do you think of the job he's done. i've known him since we both served together. under president bush forty one in the justice department and i had not daily interactions with the but regular interactions with bob mueller when he was in the main justice he's had

a very distinguished career i think the world of him and i think he's done a good job he's obviously been comprehensive as i said before and one of the things that i think the american people should really appreciate are the two indictments that were returned at the solid work of his team against the russian individuals and the two russian organizations those two indictments have told the american people a lot about the skullduggery in which platinum or putin and his regime were engaged and aimed at our democracy and adam schiff the house intelligence committee chairman says in a new interview that he believes evidence of collusion does exist and that can be found out by his committee are they making a mistake if they keep this going. well i think the i think so but i mean that we move into politics and so forth when the house will make its

decisions but i think the american people have been on tenterhooks right for two years and that's why we hired bob mahler and he had again frankly more resources than the house committee is is powerful as it is and it has tools but muller had every tool in the book he spoke for the justice department he had subpoena power know the house does and so forth but he had all these volunteered resources think of it forty f.b.i. agents and intelligence operation operatives thirteen different requests of foreign governments he beat the bushes he did the job and reached his conclusion i think the better part of wisdom is to let that go and gauge and other appropriate functions of the house of representatives in terms of oversight. malone will undoubtedly be called to testify before congress he as you did with whitewater.

should they not testimony be public was that pressure put on you by clinton's white house and others to fight your testimony. i know president clinton and his very able lawyers never to my knowledge put up a squabble with respect to my testifying larry i did not want to testifies that here's the report for your assessment but the decision was made no can you're going to come up and testify so obviously i did and i think it's appropriate for the house or the senate for that matter to say we want to hear from from billboard i think bill barr should go first. and i don't wish bob all or those ten or twelve hours or however long it would take in the hot seat because i think the real question right now is bill barr. you reach his decision with respect to obstruction

of justice and so forth this is someone who works for you obviously if i have every confidence in him he'll do a great job you'll be honest he'll tell the truth people going agree or disagree with a particular decision but we've got honest government here and that's when they when you compare our system they are great systems and so many other countries to let us give thanks for the fact that we've got these methods of accountability and we've got a really honest guy in the attorney general's office simply put can you maybe this is stupid why can't we just know we have idea or here we just know yeah. yeah well. yeah life gets complicated as and but you know this well the grand jury process has a different kind of secrecy and confidentiality but you're right we'll look we live in the age of transparency and i think billboard is going to work hard to do is pushing it including if i should say this including going to court and saying to

the chief judge or. requesting you don't say but requesting taken over it ridgeon you have a your honor we respectfully request that this information be released should the president grant pardons. oh boy that's the ultimate presidential power and i don't have an opinion i really don't i usually have an opinion on stuff but you know president clinton as you know and you had susan mcdougal on your program. some time ago right she got a pardon and i don't think that sat well with a whole lot of people but you know he was going out of office it was next to last full day it was his last full day in office so presidents will be judged right the fact we go back in time the president clinton gore to rican terrorists i'm sure that it would sit too well so it becomes a part as becomes a footnote but i think the president just has to bear that in mind i say be cautious can always great seeing you and so have you looked so well. thank you

larry love you know even the great work ken starr we thank him for his time today and we'll have more politicking after the break. aeroflot russian and lights. you know world of big partisan movies lot and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smart we need to stop slamming the door on the bats and shouting past each other it's time

for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for the truth the time is now for watching closely watching the hawks. aeroflot russian and lights. ukrainian presidential elections are just days away but a quarter of eligible voters still don't know who to support with thirty nine candidates in the race is the choice too broad of

a hops to construct it. about politicking turning out of the political panel their political tones in the homes he's in new york city and in philadelphia david moore reed democratic strategist former adviser to barack obama twenty eight and twenty twelve presidential campaigns the trouble with the moon is made a surprising move to invalidate obamacare a tumble of days after the news that the president's russia investigation seemed to be over were you surprised that well i suppose i was surprised that they pivoted to

health care immediately but of course president trump he campaigned against obamacare and the mandate that was built into obamacare that really supports the entire structure has been eliminated so obamacare isn't circling the drain the democratic solutions for it that we've heard from the campaign trail like from senator kemal areas that they want medicare for all and that americans will just have to give up their employer employer sponsored health care plans is very frightening and i don't think either side yet really has a handle or a grasp on it david are you surprised since polls you'll be american public's in favor of the affordable care act i was it's almost like they snatch victory from the jaws of defeat or defeat from the jaws of victory i should say i mean health care is the issue on which they had the worst last since watergate in the midterm elections it's an issue that the democrats seem to do well on especially if they get rid of obamacare with all its problems by the way without having

a replacement that was the problem for paul ryan that was why he had so many problems as speaker of the house a letter i think the democrats win on health care particularly the five states that will probably decide the next election as of now amy. well certainly democrats they campaigned on health care that was smart we knew going into the midterm election that health care was the number one issue but i don't think the democrats necessarily have a solution that's popular with the american people particularly the very radical solutions we're hearing being floated by two thousand and twenty democratic presidential candidates reaction david to education secretary betsy did was is slashing of eighteen million dollars in federal funding for dysfunctional olympics. that makes no sense to anyone who's thinking at all it's just a you know it's a drop in the bucket given the scope of the federal budget she's actually raising executive pay within her cabinet and they're slashing special olympics i mean it's

just that's that's it's not any would you make it that i have no disagreements with david on that when when i saw the headline i thought you know what in the world what is the justification for this it certainly is not politically savvy the special olympics is a very beloved organization supported by the shriver family that have done such good work i don't understand it it did it made really bad headlines for betsy divide and republicans and you know frankly made them seem heartless i hope she reconsiders and i hope there's enough blowback that as i say that that this this gets rolled back david the president says the mullahs reporters a complete and total exoneration of him and his campaign against illusion and obstruction is it. i know it's an initial and it's an historic victory it takes in my judgment larry impeachment off the table the democrats going to have to be

trump at the ballot box which is better i think for the country in many ways and that's what nancy pelosi has been implying if not saying look it's an initial victory but remember muller was in the dilemma as follows he couldn't subpoena the president because that would take forever going up to the supreme court he couldn't indict him according to department of justice standards and he couldn't exceed that standard of reasonable doubt so what does he do remember there's bad stuff in that report he had a hard time calling obstruction bill barr had to call it for him so is that stuff trickles out it'll be you know less of a gigantic initial victory and it's given i must say the democrats a new focus on health care on the economy on bringing the country gather on the kind of issues that will win the election in two thousand and twenty larry and me do you take it is a victory. i certainly did that the president has been cleared as have actually all and any americans in the twenty sixteen for colluding conspiring or in any way cooperating with the russians to meddle and undermine the election i mean the

special counsel said no americans he didn't find a single one that was participating and cooperating in this kind of activity and it's a huge win just for the mere fact that it takes the special counsel investigation off of the president shoulders he's no longer laboring under that cloud of suspicion i think david's right the democrats should be focusing on issues instead of conspiracies and witch hunts but we're already seeing that house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff said there is still significant evidence that apparently the special counsel with one thousand lawyers forty investigators five hundred witnesses five hundred warrants a twenty eight hundred subpoenas was not able to uncover adam schiff things that he's going to be able to we see maxine waters saying that this is not over this is not the end the president can't get away with this you're seeing you know media allies of the democrats saying now we've got to dig into these other aspects of the report if they can if they go down this rabbit hole that's bad news for democrats

americans want to move on we already saw a poll before the report came out that fifty percent of the voting public thought that this was a witch hunt they don't want this taking up the next year and a half the capitol hill's time what they want to see and chasing donald trump around over the russia hoax is not one of them you agree david well you know yeah i was just going to respond larry i agree with some of what amy said but not all of it official i think they have a constitutional responsibility in check and balance to follow investigative leads and secondly the southern district of new york is going to be the problem for president trump and his family for years to come in the eastern district of virginia so in some ways remember the moeller report also indicated something the president has really not admitted but all the intelligence people milling. very law enforcement people believe that russia meddle in this election and in fact there are sixteen examples of trump associates having contacts with russian officials or russian entities and six of them are accused of lying five of the closest people

around the president are indicted or on their way to jail are going to have those and so and so the point being had anything to do with meddling and david i'm here to tell you that if democrats keep pounding the russia drum it's bad news for them i agree with that focus on with us since that care no i hear people i agree with that and i think they're doing that but the one thing that people in the report i think in the southern district and others are going to get into this why does everybody lie about the russia connections i mean that is just perplexing to me i don't get that well you have the hillary clinton campaign the d.n.c. that actually paid for a foreign national in the name of christopher steele a brit to go and use his russia connections for the dossier that then he tried to inject and hillary clinton campaign inject into the twenty six thousand presidential election i don't know why they're lying about that and trying to have all these cut outs that got them to the dossier but as i say the more we talk about this the less the less that we are actually solving the problems the american

people want to solve including what we start with in this segment health care we've got a health care issue we have education disparities we have the college bribery scandal now the just the small it's candle where people feel that the system is rigged that it's not working for the common man and that the elites get to skate every time this is a big problem and that the lack of faith in our institutions are not helped by the continual as i say witch hunt and russia drum banging that we're seeing on the other side david to gether the i agree there's not tired of this. i agree or tara look i think i think the president has you know been pretty tough on the institutions of the united states let's start there number two i agree with amy the democrats will lose if they get fixated on this they're going to have to follow their constitutional responsibilities they're going to have to there are none none of the three of us have read them all report let's remember that so once they see what's in it and what the evidence of an obstruction is they're going to pursue those those those leads but they're going to much more important economy bringing

the country together in five states florida ohio michigan wisconsin and we're right now in pennsylvania that's how they're going to win the election i do agree with that. amy where does it go from here is do you think trump is now favored to be reelected. oh goodness we know that a year and a half of politics is a millennia it's an certainly not going to make any predictions like that i didn't predict that donald trump was going to win in two thousand and sixteen so i'm not going to speculate but this has been a big political victory for him and what he you know repeatedly calls the fake news has never looked fake or to a lot of americans that we spent two years on something that the special counsel said you know basically there's no there there no american colluded with a russian to meddle in the twenty two thousand and sixteen election that's just you know that the bottom line here i hope that both parties pivot to issue one another at the ballot box not trying to impeach one another because they don't like the outcome of the previous election where the democrats go veneer david. well in an in

a funny almost ironic way the victory for trump on the report as it's indicated now by bars summering may take the outsider position away from him you know in some ways he becomes no longer that outsider that we have advised around the world candidates one campaigns one thousand of them over the years in the outsider insurgent position it may make that position harder for him depending on who the democrats nominate i think the president i'm going to go further than any i think he's favored to win the election because he has the advantages of incumbency but he also may you know suffer some of the challenges of incumbency like you know sort of the you know the victory dance before anyone has read the report in the public or congress like jumping on the sort of get rid of obamacare before there's an alternative which we by the way i totally agree with amy we better get one and we better get a much better one remember a bomb a cure was only half a bill in the beginning it was about accessibility i was critical of it because it

didn't tackle affordability and people that have premium since obama care have seen those premiums double but the republicans have had no alternative it's going to be hard for them to come up with one now and certainly to pass one before the election and me the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said that he supports a plan by lindsey graham to investigate alleged political bias against the president at the d.o.j. and the i do believe there is a deep state bias against him. i think that was undoubtedly uncovered we saw the text between peter struck and lisa page their bias we saw bias among the f.b.i. investigators and you know frankly the bar as summary of the muller report it didn't make me happy in fact it made me very discouraged and we discouraged that so many important powerful people and institutions seem to be arrayed against trying to defeat

a candidate instead of trying to get at the truth david amy thank you so much for joining us on this edition i can larry king honored to be with you really thank you . and remember viewers you can join me and the conversation on my facebook page. there are some russian headlines. you know world of big partisan nudes a lot to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smarter we need to stop slamming the door on the bad shouting past each

other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for the truth the time is now we're watching closely watching the hawks. there of russian and lions. seize private companies that have got a lot of v.c. venture capital funding are ready to go public this year i saw the last they're all going out of forty fifty sixty seventy billion dollars valuations so the prediction here is that it will be the end of this cycle you're going to have

a like two thousand and one style crash and back due to the fact that there's nothing to support the valuations of these companies and very quickly will crash. not. a little. bit. and. it. was one of the richest companies certainly and now it's one of the poorest countries of the one. company not a country analyst. ship hijacked by migrants were pulled from the mediterranean

arrives in malta more than one hundred people are on board including children. surely they are not castaways they are pirates you know. and an online campaign that demands a us judge make a return billions of dollars that allegedly overcharged for anti hiv medication. kali kevin owen is here next hour with more on today's top stories right now though the kaiser.