mr. mueller. if the report is true, mr. mcgahn did the right thing and to the president's credit, he listened. this is something more mueller to look at. >> you heard the president saying last august when asked directly about whether he had considered firing mr. mueller, he hadn't given it a thought. so -- if this reporting is true, then the president was lying to the american people? >> this is for mr. mueller to determine. we're not going to stop looking at the president because he claims "the new york times' fake news. we're not going to convict him based on a news article. as a matter of fact, i think mr. mueller is the perfect guy to get to the bottom of this. i have legislation protecting mr. mueller. i'll be glad to pass it tomorrow. i see no evidence that president trump wants to fire mr. mueller now. i don't know what went on last year. i think it's clear that everyone in the white house knows it would be the end of the president's presidency if he fired mr. mueller. so i think we're in a good spot with mr. mueller.

mr. mueller will get to the bottom of it. ation, but no organization is subject -- can't be looked at. if you're not worried about mr. strzok being in charge of the clinton e-mail investigation given his attitude towards the clintons and trump and what he said, then i think you're blind to the fact that this whole investigation needs to be looked at independently. >> i've got to ask you something. the president sort of joked with you the other day and he said, boy, lindsey used to be a great enemy of mine and now he's a great friend of mine. what's changed? a lot of your friends have been asking me that. hey, ask the senator why he's suddenly cozying up to president trump. what would you say to them? >> because he's president of the united states. he's going to make a decision about immigration i've been working on for a decade. he's president of the united states and going to make a decision about north korea, which is one of the biggest threats to the world at large. he's going to decide whether or not to stay in the iranian

mr. mueller's ability to do look at mr.the gentleman's name, but the guy that was in charge of the clinton e-mail investigation was fired by mr. mueller because we discovered e-mails between mr. strzok and miss -- >> doesn't that make you feel better about mr. mueller, that he fired before anybody brought it up and it became a right-wing conspiracy? >> absolutely it makes me feel good about mr. mueller but it doesn't make me feel good about mr. strzok. here's what one of the e-mails said. i want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in andy's office that there's no way that he gets elected, but i'm afraid we can't take that risk. it's like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you're 40. this is the guy in charge of investigating clinton who called trump an idiot. when you look at those e-mails, he had a political bias against trump, but was in andy's office and i want to know did this fbi agent feel like he had to take the law in his own hands and create an insurance policy against an outco

mr. mueller special counsel. we used to work in a bipartisan fashion. it became too public, too loud, too much before the cameras. we have taken that investigation very seriously. we have tried to ask every questi question, to answer every question. all we can do is tell the american people the truth. tell them what we have learned. we have tried to do that. i can compromipromise you that' goal. we're doing everything we can to do that. it's become partisan around. that's too bad. we still need to focus on the work we're trying to do. >> i understand the intention. we just hope it gets carried out. i take you at your word. i appreciate you for being on tonight. >> thank you. >>> this breaking news tonight, the president of the united states reportedly ordered the special counsel to be fired over the summer in about june. setting the legal implications aside, the political implicati n implications should certainly shake up the white house. we'll be right back with that. new year, new phones for the family. join t-mobile, and when you buy one of the lates

mr. mueller. the only person who has that authority is the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein and he's the one who appointed mr. mueller in the first place. i asked him about that at a hearing last year and he was adamant that he would -- any white house pressure to fire mr. mueller. >> cordes: doesn't it sound like the president was trying to obstruct justice? >> i that i the president was frustrated and angry about the investigation and did he what he should have done, which was to talk to his lawyer in the white house and clearly white house counsel said, you can't do this, mr. president. very unwise for you to try to do so. and here it is seven months later the white house counsel still there and mr. mueller is proceeding with very aggressive and thorough investigation. >> cordes: there's a big difference between wanting to fire someone and actually going through with it. you have not wayed in yet on these two bipartisan bills that would essentially protect mr. mueller from an undue firin

mr. mueller learned about the episode in recent months as his investigators interviewed current and former senior white house officials in his inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice. it continued, the president began to argue that mr. mueller had three conflicts of interest that disqualified him from overseeing the investigation. >> those three conflicts, according to the times, a dispute years ago over fees at trump's virginia golf club. the fact that mr. mueller had most recently worked for a law firm that previously counted jared kushner as a client, and finally mr. mueller had interviewed the president for the position of fbi director just days before being announced as special prosecutor. in response to the report, democratic senator mark warner, the co-chair of the senate intel committee, said any attempt by the president to dismiss mueller would be a, quote, red line and a gross abuse of power. warner and other members of congress are calling for legislation to protect mueller from being fired. certainly a fast moving story that could have wide reaching implications i

mr. mueller. the only person who can fire mr. mueller is the deputy attorney general, he's the person who appointed mr. mueller and last year at a hearing i questioned him at length on this issue and he was adamant that he would never give in to any white house pressure to remove mr. mueller. i think what happened here is the president had a bad idea. he talked with his counsel who explained to an angry and frustrated president why it was a bad idea and that was sepp months ago and the white house counsel is still on the job and mr. mueller is still aggressively investigating and that's as it should be. >> sources tell cnn the president has been talking about firing rod rosen stein because of this frustration. >> well, if that's true, that obviously would be a terrible mistake. we've seen what happened back in the nixon administration when president nixon on the saturday night massacre kept going down the line until he would find someone who would fire the special counsel and that didn't end very well. >> beyond whether or not the

mr. mueller now. i don't know what happened last year. ear to me everybody in the white house knows it would be the end of president trump's presidency if he fired mr. mulvan mueller. >> we will just continue this investigation to see where it goes. >> i don't think there is a need for electilegislation. >> joe manchin tells jake tapper is he not ready to back that legislation yet. >> i believe in the rule of law. it per tachb tains to all of us. you know, people from new york have a different way of talking and speaking and i take that, you know, literally. okay. he blew off about some things. >> manchin very supportive of president trump. the latest justice department official in the cross-hairs is rod rosenstein. that's according to four sources. two of whom tell cnn trump vented about removing rosenstein after the russia probe. his advisers stating that is a bad idea. firing rosenstein is the only way to get rid of the special counsel. >> "new york times" reporting that rosenstein approved an application to extend surve surveillance on

mr. mueller now. i don't know what happened last year, but it is clear to me that everybody in the white house knows it would be the end of mr. trump's presidency if i fired mr. mueller. >> the president and his staff cooperated. we will continue this investigation to see where it goes. >> i don't think there is a need for legislation to protect mueller. >> joe manchin of west virginia tells jake tapper he is not ready to back legislation yet. he believes the president was blowing off steam. >> i believe in the rule of law as it pertains to all of us. we are all treated the same. people from new york have a different way of talking and speaking. i that i, you know, literally. i say okay. he blew off about some things. >> the latest justice department official to find himself in president trump's cross-hairs is rod rosenstein. according to four sources. trump has vented at times about removing rosenstein from overseeing the russia probe. the president's advisers convincing him that is a disaster. >> let

mr. mueller, so i think we're in a good spot with mr. ndsey graham warning of the stark contrast were president trump to fire robert mueller. this comes after reports revealing president trump did want to fire mueller last summer, obviously, he didn't act on that. now, some bipartisan lawmakers do want to pass this bill to protect mueller from being terminated. will that happen? joining us pete sessions of texas. first of all, i know you were working very late and you were traveling. thank you for doing this. i really want to talk to you about immigration but i need you on the record about this congressman, do you think this is a law you would back because it is necessary? >> what i would say to you, chris, is the entire process is still unfolding unfortunately in front of us rather than where it needs to take place as a full investigation. what happened originally was the president saw the team that mr. mueller assembled and that team did not appear to be completely fair. there appeared to be some bias with them. now, what should we do w

mr. mueller. again, that is something the president would likely have had to do that very day or night if this order had been done. if he told him to fire mueller for no good reason. i don't know why they were considering pulling out rosenstein, the elevating brand in the first place but that is another option the president kicked around but didn't pull the trigger on. joining us is michael schmidt. the co-author of this very interesting new report. mr. schmidt, i wish you lots more sleep in your next life. >> thanks for having me. >> let me ask if i've correctly conveyed what is in your piece and if i've left out anything you think is important. >> yeah, i think that don mcgahn is a central figure in this, that the american public may not apprecia appreciate. don mcgahn was involved in lobbying not to recuse himself from the russia investigation. he was asked by the president in june to fire mueller. he's a central player in all these things and it's an ir remarkable part of the story that gives

mr. mueller should be able to complete liz investigation. i say that now. i think the president feels that now. he indicated recently or sometime last month he feels mr. mueller will be fair and he would like to see the investigation complete and move forward. i don't know. let's see if i could respond to something you said. maybe we can agree disagree. there's proof here that this means the president wanted to interfere with mr. mueller and the investigation. >> i said that's a question for investigators. >> yeah, okay. maybe i misunderstood. it's too early to draw conclusions from one press report. we know sometimes we have it wrong and some other stories. i'd love to see the white house response. and mccain's response. and get information. >> let's do this. let's look at what we know. literally. please check it any way you want. i'm happy to have you here. you've always be candid. it matter right now more than the past. this is not just one report. there are four sources. ty cobb the president's lawyer didn't back off of this. other than to say the presi

mr. mueller has been compromised for his investigation. i think he's beyond reproach. >> i have a lot of admiration and respect for director mueller. >> you've got somebody who, by all accounts, is an independent person. somebody who's got lots of integrity. >> he enjoys very broad support in the senate both among republicans and democrats because of his long service as the fbi director, because of his record of respectable leadership as a senior federal prosecutor. >> laura: in other words, president trump, don't you dare even think about coming close, even sort of maybe kind of firing mueller. a few months later congress rushed into propose legislation to insulate the special counsel from executive branch interference or termination. republican pro-amnesty center tom tillis, along with liberal delaware senator chris coons introduced a bill that would allow mueller to challenge any removal in court. senator lindsey graham and cory booker, wonder twin powers activate, they went even further. they sponsored a bill that would prevent the firi

mueller. watch this. >> mr. president, you've sought or thought about, considered leading to the dismissal of special counsel. is there anything bob mueller could do to send you in that direction? >> i haven't given it any thought. i've been reading about it from you people saying oh, i'm going dismiss him. no i'm not dismissing anybody. i want them to get on with the task. but i also want the senate and the house to come out with their findings. >> a quick follow-up on an earlier question to sarah. you discussed the special counsel and the investigation currently. are you considering firing robert mueller? >> no, not at all. >> are you considering firing mueller? >> no, i'm not. >> so, john, his staff and his attorneys also denied it at least five other times. yet we know now that's not true. >> it is not true. and this all will be used or could be used against him at some point. it's going to come up when he is questioned by mueller, asking him how could he make a public statement that is 180 degrees from the t

mr. mueller.elieve, as you suggested, that he's going to know that he can't lie about that, and he's going to be pressed on these. i will tell you that what you describe is the number one problem we face in the house investigation. i mean mr. sessions just for example. clearly the most forgetful person to ever serve in his position. i don't recall, i don't remember, not to the best of my recollection. i don't know if he would have known how he got to the capitol that day if he was asked that. and worse than that, when we asked for a subpoena to force these questions, our republican colleagues refused to do that. especially when he was asked the most pertinent question by my colleague, adam schiff, the ranking democrat. did the president ever ask you to do anything that would impair this investigation? mr. sessions refused to answer that question. >> on what grounds? >> he just refused to answer that question. >> i thought it was on executive privilege. wasn't it on a potential exercise of executiv

mr. mueller would have a catastrophic effect on mr. trump's presidency and would incite more questions about whether the white house was trying to obstruct the russia investigation. mr. mcghan also told white house officials that mr. trump would not follow through on the dismissal on his own. the president then backed off. we want to remind you now of what the president said when he was asked about mueller back in august. >> mr. president, have you thought about, considered leading the dismissal of the special counsel? is there anything bob mueller could do that would send you in that direction? >> i haven't thought anything about it. i've been reading about it from you people. i'm not dismissing anybody. >> and it comes after expressing his willingness bordering on eagerness to speak to the special counsel. here was the president just last night. >> are you going to talk to mueller? >> i'm looking forward to it. i would do it under oath, absolutely. >> do you think robert mueller will be fair to you in this larger investigation? >> we

mr. mueller is the perfect guy to get to the bottom of all of this and he will.nk my job, among others, is to give him the space to do it. i intend to do that. i've got legislation protecting mr. mueller, and i'll be glad to pass it tomorrow. >> it would certainly wouldn't hurt to put that extra safeguard in place given the latest stories. >> do you still trust after all you've heard, do you still trust special counsel robert mueller to conduct a fair and unbiased investigation? >> 100%, particularly if he's given the time, the resources and the independence to do his job. >> i mean trey gowdy, no friend of democrats. why are you on a different side of this? you said you have about 35 supporters in the house on this. >> sure. there are 35 republicans that have sent letters to get the memo released. that's a different question. we have a different group that's assembled concerning the robert mueller matter. but look, the republican party is a big tent. i'm presenting the evidence that i think presents bias. if other folks are pleased with mr. mueller, they're enti

mr. mueller in june. >> i'm not aware the president ever intimating he ever wanted to fire robert muellerkeep in mind a couple things. robert mueller is still the special counsel. don mcgahn is still head of white house counsel office. taxpayers have spent millions and millions of dollars on a investigation that has not proven any collusion thus far with russia. >> it all comes as some lawmakers urge republican leadership to take up legislation protecting mueller from being fired. but there seems to be some disagreement within the gop about whether that's even necessary. >> i've got legislation protecting mr. mueller and i'll be glad to pass it tomorrow. >> it would certainly -- wouldn't hurt to put that extra safeguard in place given the latest stories. >> i don't think there is ray need for legislation right now to protect mueller. if there is an issue that arise, we'll take it up at that time. but right now there is not an issue. so why create one when there isn't a place for it? >> the white house made sure to point out that mueller remains at his job as special counsel and has no int

mr. mueller. i think we're in good spot with mr. mueller. >> as you know, there is a big push to release the memos by devin nunes that would call into credibility mueller's credibility. maybe give trump some credibility in firing him. we don't know what is in that memo but we'll continue to watchful. >> thanks. and of course, scott is track go all the new developments coming out of washington and the white house. you can watch him every morning in his checks & balances segment. >>> had it will be a pretty good looking week in the weather department. >> a live look outside. you can see the sun -- well, not quite shine. it's somewhere. you told us it's coming so we're waiting. >> it will be warm but not a lot of sunshine. we have a weather disturbance to our north that's bringing clouds and rain. we're just seeing clouds and the temperature at 54 degrees as we get a lye look outside from mt. hamilton. we see the clouds rolling on by and we will only get a few weeks of sun here and there. we're in the low 50s in parts of the north bay.

mr. mueller's office. two people have pled and one of them was general flynn, the other was pop lop douse who some people think may have been wired and gone back into the trump cam ban evidence that now mr. mueller has. do you have any knowledge of that at all? >> no. there is a theory that the drinking time in a london pub with an australian diplomat was the start of the investigation. but that seems far less likely than the investigation being started as a consequence of the fusion gps dossier because the fbi had become so politicized in the obama administration and the fusion gps company hired the spouse of a senior justice department official. that's the far more credible circumstance that led an investigation. david: you're referring to bruce orr whose wife worked for fusion gps which was the group that was hired by the democratic committee, by the hillary campaign and then they put together this trump dossier, part of which came from russian intel as dysfunction nal as it t was. but my question is wh

mueller. now "the washington post" reports mr.ecently considered firing his deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. the man who appointed the special counsel. lawmakers are divided on whether more protections are needed. for the investigation. >> it probably wouldn't hurt for us to pass one of those bills. >> i don't think there is a need for the legislation to protect mr. mueller. >> nerve the white house knows it would be the end of president trump's presidency if he fired mr. mueller. >> reporter: the president avoided the topic. former "celebrity apprentice" winner and british journalist piers morgan and mr. trump discussing a range of issues. like tweeting. >> perhaps sometimes in bed. at breakfast, lunch, whatever. >> reporter: to the economy. >> a lot of the global economy is because of how well we're doing. >> reporter: one of the topics expected as he addresses congress and the american people on tuesday. focusing on infrastructure and immigration. the president planning to further outline his plan for those so called d.r

mr. mueller. >> i haven't been giving it any thought. i've been reading about it. no, i'm not dismissing anybody. >> are you considering firing robert mueller? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: but friends have acknowledged that he has. >> i think he's considering perhaps preventing the special counsel. >> reporter: in july the president told "the new york times" that mueller would cross a red line if he looked to mr. trump's family finances. mr. trump said wednesday he looks forward to sitting down in an interview with special counsel. >> i would do it under oath. >> reporter: but worried mueller could be zeroing in on an obstruction of justice case, mr. trump's allies are warning him, if he testifies, mueller could catch him in a lie. >> it's a very clear perjury trap. >> perjury trap. >> do you have any fear of a perjury trap? >> no, but i think it would be -- i think it would be foolish to, you know, not proceed without considering that possibility. >> reporter: and ahead of the president's potential testimony, mr. trump's defenders on capitol hill and in the medi

mr. mueller can do his job. we're a rule of law nation.e're going to be a rule of law nation after trump. i haven't yet seen evidence of collusion between president trump and the russians, but the investigation needs to go forth without dplit political interference. we're not going to stop looking at the president because he claim "the new york times" was fake news. we're not going to convict him based on a news article. i u think mr. mueller is the perfect guy to get to the bottom of all this and he will. i think my job among others is to give him the space to do it. i intend to do that. i have legislation protecting mr. mueller and i'll be glad to pass it tomorrow. >> the panel is joining me. good to see you all. so there are two bipartisan senate bills out there that would make it more difficult perhaps for the president to fire robert mueller. so ryan, do either of these bills really have a chance into making it into law. >> i mean, maybe. there are budget negotiations required democratic votes to pass the senate and perhaps even the h

mr. mueller. and i'll be glad to pass it tomorrow. >> i don't think there is a need to protect mueller. right now there is not an issue. >> to those who would dare try to silence us, we offer you two words, time's up. >> any immigrant who seeks refuge. >> this country was built by d.r.e.a.m.ers, for d.r.e.a.m.ers, chasing the american dream. >> he had a long-time fear of being poisoned. one reason he liked to eat at mcdonald's. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> surprise, surprise, there at the grammys. we will talk about those. welcome to the viewers in the united states and around the world. this is your "new day". as you can see, alisyn is off. poppy harlow joins me. always nice because i get you twice. there is two of you. it is amazing how you are working and doing everything perfectly. >> glad you see it that way, my friend. >> i don't want to have to jump in any different mode this morning. take it easy. president trump looks to reset his presidency in his first state of the union address tomorrow night. the president faces a tough task. he is expected

mueller? is it a warning to him to not do it or was this a trial balloon to see if he can? and most important, will republicans in congress who once urged mr. trump to not do this continue to hold firm on this issue? in other words, are the president's allies in congress more eager to protect robert mueller or president trump? >> fake news, folks. fake news. >> reporter: president trump with a predictable defense of yet another russia related allegation. mr. trump reportedly backed down only when white house counsel don mcgahn threatened to quit saying the move would be catastrophic. they want to include legislation protecting mueller in budget negotiations. >> this president has continued to say there's no there there. well, he is acting in absolutely the opposite way of someone who had nothing to hide. >> reporter: publicly mr. trump has repeatedly denied that he has considered firing mr. mueller. >> i haven't been giving it any thought. i've been reading about it from you people. you say i'm going to dismiss him. no, i'm not dismissing anybody. >> are you considering firing robert mueller? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: but friends hav

mr. mueller issued the subpoena after mr. bannon was criticizing mr. trump. ave any idea that the subpoena was sparked by the book? >> we don't know. at the end of the day, we don't know a lot about why mueller did this. sometimes grand jury subpoenas can be used as ways to force witnesses to agree to an interview. was that the case? we don't know. the book has very explosive things in it that come from bannon. he thinks bannon's book will end in money laundering. if you're mueller, you want to know why steve bannon believes that. why does he think that will happen? and we don't know the depth and breath of everything mueller will ask him but stuff about the russian collusion and the stuff that's gone on in the white house. >> do you know if there is a relationship between the subpoena today and the subpoena issued to mr. bannon today inside the closed-door meeting room of the house intelligence committee? do we know if there's any legal or strategic einteraction going on between these two investigations and these two subpoenas given to him today? >> it seemed

mr. mueller has to say.e bill of particulars that he's going to bring to the american people. you have to remember he's already turned seven people? there singing his heart out. i think what we have to keep in mind is exactly that. let's deal with the facts as they come before us and what we're able to find out from mr. mueller and all this other speculation, we can do that until the cows come home as they say in the rural part of america, but the fact is let us hear what, in fact, the special prosecutor has to say about what he's found. >> that was west virginia talk there. >> was that? >> yeah. >> i have to get your guys reaction to the joe manchin interview. you had a stinging reaction? >> it was a strange moment. you were asking basic guess his opinions and he was being elusive saying it was new york talk. the fundamental question about the issues around the presidency. democrats particularly, but all members of congress and the elected leaders of the country need to have coverage and politician -- >> yo

mr. mueller. so i think we're in a good spot with mr. mueller. >> senator lindsey graham explicitly warning the president against what he has been repeatedly threatening to do, and that is of course fire special counsel robert mueller. tried to get rid of him last year, but backed off when white house counsel threatened to quit. that squares with what trump pal chris ruddy said in june. the president was at least considering firing mueller. it also squares with what "fire and fury" author michael wolff says he heard last summer, although wolfe add context for my colleague lawrence o'donnell. >> the firing of robert mueller was talked about by trump, especially in this june-july period before his legal team really got in and took over. this became an obsession with the president. he had to get rid of mueller. now an obsession with this president becomes instead of an order, it becomes kind of like wallpaper. it just goes on and on and on. he repeats and repeats and repeats. and is it serious? is it just him spouting off? ultimately, that's

if you recall mr mueller had already summoned a number of people who worked in the white house.ose interviews were conducted outside of the grand jury process. much more informal, no transcript. using the subpoenaed tends to indicate that he is trying to get steve bannon to attend one of these sit down meetings and putting more pressure on him are —— on him in a formal setting to try to get information from him that he has been reluctant to talk about. i'm sure we will have more on that later. now time for a look at the weather forecast. it is going to be a bumpy ride, plenty of whether to talk about. the met office has issued an amber warning and be prepared for some disruption because of snow and ice. we've seen snow showers throughout the day across scotland and northern ireland. this is where that weather warning is but elsewhere we have some wintry showers. some of that could settle especially with any elevation. so windy night, showers for many and cold further north. leading to some issues first thing tomorrow morning. temperatures through northern england, scotland and n