joining me now, criminal defense attorney danny cevallos and ashley merchant. danny, you first. evidence here that has had the authorities turn the tables on this investigation. how did things turn? what do they have now? >> it would be very difficult in the modern era to stage an attack like this, because you would have to do it without ever using your cell phone, without using e-mail, any other communication that we've all become so reliant on. so, what police do in investigating something like this and trying to determine whether or not someone played a role in their own attack is search all of their communications. and if there's any obvious communication to the folks that apparently or allegedly attacked him, that's going to be a real problem for someone like smollett. in a case like this, giving a false report in illinois is a class four felony, even though it's within the disorderly conduct statute, and it exposes a defendant to up to three years incarceration. so, this is a very serious potential crime. >> okay. so, ashley, lots of political connotations to this story si

earlier, danny cevallos was on here, we were speaking to the attorney general of maryland. the question he had, i'm going to paraphrase it, what's the standing of somebody in new jersey or maryland about a border wall on the southern border and a national security issue? >> that's a great question. and a lot of this will be borne out in the l itigation. primarily as state attorneys general we have an obligation to push back against the administration when they violate the rule of law, when they violate our constitution and in this case over a manufactured crisis which the president said he didn't need to do. that hurts new jersey because the min being pulled for this border wall, which is unnecessary, is being pulled from money we could use for public safety in new jersey, which we would use for drug interdiction in new jersey. that's the potential harm to new jersey residents. we intend to use the litigation to find out exactly where the funding will be pulled from. >> i want to play you what the president said on friday which a lot of legal experts are saying may have bee

. >> i know you'll be standing by, rehema, as is danny cevallos, thanks very much. >>> let's bring insnbc political analyst robert costa, national political reporter at "the washington post" and moderator of "washington week." robert, from what we're surmising from what's taking place in the cabinet room, we'll have that tape playback momentarily, the president says there's not going to be another government shutdown, i think they've learned their lesson, but they have other options, one is an emergency action to move funds around. the other option is for mick mulvaney who can shift unspent monies for the military, for flood relief in california and puerto rico, without congressional action. what are you hearing in terms of what richard shelby and others are telling you about this deal and whether the president will ignore the cable cancophony on the right, if you will, and accept it? >> what you just laid outlines up with my reporting. senator cornyn was on air force one traveling with the president to and from el paso. he said the president is keeping his options open for executive

tom winters and danny cevallos and barbara mcquade, thank you. >> we'll see what will happen as michael cohen testifies this week on capitol hill. so in this commercial we see two travelers at a comfort inn with a glow around them, so people watching will be like, "wow, maybe i'll glow too if i book direct at choicehotels.com". who glows? just say, badda book. badda boom. nobody glows. he gets it. always the lowest price, guaranteed. book now at choicehotels.com >>> donald trump's former fixer is heading to capitol hill. michael cohen is scheduled to appear before three separate committees this week. only one of those hearings are public. cohen agreed to cover a whole host of conflict that could be of interests of his former boss and lawmakers as well. the last time he appeared before congress to trump's finances, conflicts of interests and business practices. joining me now, national security >>> and back with me, barbara mcquaid. give us a preview of what we should expect this week. >> i think it should be a riveting hearing. he has access to documents and i'm told he will bring docum

danny cevallos, were you surprised judge berman didn't send roger stone to jail?happens when you threaten a judge? >> i wasn't surprised because the gag or was separate from the pretrial conditions. he violates his pretrial release if something happens that threatens the safety of the community. even though the judge found he may have violated the gag order and wasn't credible on the stand, it was fair to give him one more chance. she could have sent him to jail if she found he violated his pretrial conditions. in this case it was a close call between whether or not this was a true threat or just an ill-advised photograph, it plus phone stone's apology, she gave him one more chance. >> during roger stone's -- when he was on the stand, what kind of ludicrous excuses did he have for the judge with regard to what he thought the cross hairs were? >> well, this photo comes from a right-wing conspiracy theory blog, and those of us who have covered stone for a long time, we all know he has young people around him that create the graphics but he's the one who hits post. s

garrett haake joining us, dana milbank, here in new york msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos and maya wiley. and from los angeles greg brower, friends with matthew whitaker. worked when he was at fbi. gar e, we'll sta garrett, we'll start with you on the hill. when they reconvene we'll rejoin the hearing in progress. garrett, we'll start with you. just summarize what we have heard so far. >> sure. so far, craig, it's been a confrontational, combative and apparently sometimes comedic hearing as matthew whitaker has tried to slow walk his answers to the committee on their questions, particularly about the mueller probe. that is what democratic members of this committee very much want to hear. we have gotten some information. first, the acting attorney general says he has not briefed the president on what he knows about the probe and that he told members he has largely stayed out of it. take a listen to his answer to that key question. >> we have followed the special counsel's regulations to a t. there has been no event, no decision that has required me to take any action, and i have not

joining me now is legal analyst danny cevallos. danny, the definition of federal extortion.this conduct from what we know about it fit into that? >> it could, but not easily. the traditional view of extortion is a demand for property or money or bag of cash in exchange for not hurting the person or physical harm. modern statutes expand that to damaging someone's reputation. you look at the thing demanded. ami did not demand a bag of cash. they essentially demanded and to be specific, ami demand bezos or "the washington post" coverage of how ami covered bezos. if you are not confused, you don't understand what is going on here. what was the thing demanded? the favorable coverage a thing of value defined under federal law? probably. it is not easy analysis. it is not as easily detailed like a bar of gold. it doesn't do so easily. it is not a slam dunk. >> let's go with something we know already is in existence. ami is under a non prosecution agreement with the southern district of new york. could this be a breach of contract? >> it is standard language in non prosecution agree

and joining us is a msnbc contributor and former assistant watergate special prosecutor danny cevallosand jill, let's start with you. you are seeing all of the filings that took place this week involving manafort, and how much trouble is he in? >> he is in a lot of trouble, but this is a troubling week for the entire white house staff. there are so many tentacles of this investigation out there now. we have to look at all of them combine and try to figure out what is the safest way to protect america right now. >> and meantime, danny, we have received the trsealed transscris of the hearing, and most of it redacted and what is standing out? >> well, it first of all should be redacted, because it is going with the ongoing investigation, so we should not be surprised by that, but what we should be surprised is that not more of it is redacted. the biggest take away is that the defense here always conceded that the government had the right to withdraw that cooperation agreement, and just on their own good faith determination that manafort violated the cooperation agreement, and so this hear

joining me now, nbc legal contributor danny cevallos from new york. danny, as you heard just now from kerry sanders, there have been multiple people spotted going in and out of this facility. this involves human trafficking. can you give us any details? >> right now what we've seen is that kraft is apparently charged along with other folks who had been soliciting, allegedly, prostitution at this location. but solicitation of prostitution in florida is a misdemeanor with a 60-day potential jail time as punishment. and of course fines. so it is in the grand scheme at this time. he is charged with only what is considered a lower level crime in florida. that's not to say charges couldn't be amended based on investigation going forward. but at this time all we really know is that robert kraft is charged with a second degree misdemeanor in florida for solicitation ofprostitution, two counts. >> of course there's a reputational issue as well, this is a very high profile case now because of his alleged involvement. mimi rocah joins us, former u.s. attorney who

joining me now, nbc legal contributor danny cevallos from new york. danny, as you heard just now from kerry sanders, there have been multiple people spotted going in and out of this facility. this involves human trafficking.

. >>> let's bring in danny cevallos. it's an explosive story in "new york times."e this to be there was ample public evidence that mr. trump had the corrupt intent to try to derail the mueller investigation, the legal standard for an obstruction of justice case. we're not sure whether it happened or didn't happen. if the president called matthew whitaker to ask him to have a judge unrecuse himself in a case that is peripherally connected to the president -- >> a u.s. attorney, not a judge. >> sorry, a u.s. attorney. thank you. that would be a very, very serious matter. >> it could be a serious matter. it all depends on how you view executive power. this goes back to a discussion we've had many times over the last year. is it obstruction or is it the president using his executive power as the head of the doj to reallocate resources, make personnel decisions, hire and fire whomever he likes. there is a case to be made for obstruction. it could be derailing an investigation by reassigning some kind of loyalist or some perceived loyalist and of course whitaker apparent

. >> danny cevallos, good to see you. >>> all right. get a check of your weather with meteorologist bill karins. you warned ayman he wouldn't make it back. it's all part of his plan not to be here. >> yeah. poor guy, right? yeah. he was like, can i get back on my flight? i'm like what time is your flight. 6:00. that's right when the worst is. oh, well. winter weather advisories are up still. we're getting rid of the ice and snow. just a little left in areas of maine and boston. but overnight, the freezing rain put a coating of ice on everything from central pennsylvania, hudson valley, through central new england, northern jersey. even if you shovelled last night, there's a glaze of ice now on top of what you shovelled yesterday. so that's gone. just a little snow left in maine. now our next topic which will be this great warm-up. already in the 30s. notice we're still below freezing in hartford. that's where some of the ice is still left. but look at this this afternoon. 53 in new york. boston 48. d.c. 55. even up into the mid-40s in c

. >> danny cevallos, thank you for joining us this morning. >>> still ahead, yes, it is winter, but partsthe west coast are seeing a rare sight, snow, freezing rain, and sleet. we'll get a full check of the forecast coming up next. coming. you should be mad at forced camaraderie. and you should be mad at tech that makes things worse. but you're not mad, because you have e*trade, who's tech makes life easier by automatically adding technical patterns on charts and helping you understand what they mean. don't get mad. get e*trade's simplified technical analysis. audible members know listening has the power to change us make us better parents, better leaders, better people. and there's no better place to listen than audible. with audible you get a credit good for any audiobook and exclusive fitness and wellness programs. and now, you'll also get two audible originals: titles exclusively produced for audible. automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you don't use them, and if you don't like a book just swap it for free. enjoy 100% ad free listening in the car, on your phone o

ken delaney broke this story for us, also with me danny cevallos. and a.b. stoddard, associate editor for real clear politics. we'll get to the panel in just a moment. what has their investigation uncovered? >> both republicans and democrats are telling us they found no direct evidence of a conspiracy between the trump campaign and russia. which after all was the big question everyone was asking. it's important to note they're not exonerating the president either. what they found is a pattern of contacts between trump associations and the russians. he may end up with a report that says american public use your judgment. here are the contacts, here's what happened. we don't have really the evidence to suggest what was going on here. that's not going to be a very satisfying report, i would submit for the american public. another point to make is that once they finish interviewing the witnesses it will be another six to seven months before they write the thing. >> six to seven months? >> that's right. >> anything here about obstruction? >> that was not part of

ken delaney broke this story for us, also with me danny cevallos. and a.b. editor for real clear politics. we'll get to the panel in just a moment. what has their investigation uncovered? >> both republicans and democrats are telling us they found no direct evidence of a conspiracy between the trump campaign and russia. which after all was the big question everyone was asking. it's important to note they're not exonerating the president either. what they found is a pattern of contacts between trump associations and the russians. he may end up with a report that says american public use your judgment. here are the contacts, here's what happened. we don't have really the

joined now by msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos and political white house reporter gabby orr is also's remind folks who have been under a rock perhaps over the past few days what the president said last week. >> i could do the wall over a longer period of time. i didn't need to do this. i'd rather do it much faster. >> mr. cevallos, you recently wrote an article for nbc news.com. you said the president's words may be used against him in court. what words? >> his own words are all that's needed to create this national emergency. by virtue of saying national emergency, that is the only requirement. there's no other showing required by the president. so if his own words create the emergency situation, then a court macy spacy conclude his o words may surround the national emergency. when the president said, i department ne didn't need to do this, that subtracts from the need or the national emergency that he says exists. on the other hand, a court may also conclude that because there are so few requirements on the declaration of a national emergency, it really doesn't matter what he says

want to bring in now state attorney for palm beach county dave aaronburg and msnbc legal analyst danny cevalloslike he sent his people out to do this? >> for ami of course. again, the arrogance is pretty remarkable. let's just dive right in here. we've got the guy who is the prosecutor in the county where the national enquirer used to be established. let's start with you. what is ami's criminal exposure here? >> they've got significant criminal exposure. they signed a nonprosecution agreement. it's supposed to last at least three years. they're supposed to be choir boys for three years and they barely make it three months. all the expression and the agreement is up to a prosecutor. they're at the mercy of the prosecutor's. >> so i guess that's the next question. how concerned should ami be? >> be very concerned. this is up to the discretion of prosecutors. they could potentially serve some criminal time in federal prison. this is more than just a federal crime. this could be a violation of state law. people who say that for example the federal law of extortion is too limited, well, it could be

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