he has good attorneys to guide him through this thicket. >> chuck rosenberg gets tonight's last word.th hour" with brian williams starts now. >>> and the democrats just released transcripts of their own. they tell a remarkable story of our ambassador to ukraine realizingss rudy was conducting foreign policy, realizing she was being drummed out with no support from her boss, feeling threatened on the job and amazed to hear the president talking about her with a foreign leader on the phone. >>> also tonight, the increasing evidence that the ukraine corruption conspiracy theory dates back to paul manafort, who is now in prison.ck >>> and a big

chuck rosenberg is back with us.uiry? how does a witness say -- not witness, but a defendant in a criminal case say i'm willing to testify as a witness in this same matter to congress while i'm awaiting trial in this criminal case? >> precisely the right question, lawrence. so it's perilous, right? until he resolves his criminal case in the southern district of new york, either by pleading guilty or going to trial and being acquitted or convicted, he has a huge problem. anything he says publicly could be used against him in that trial. so maybe it means he's trying to resolve the criminal case, perhaps by pleading guilty, but we don't know that yet, or perhaps he wants to help congress but can't do that just now because he's limited in what he can say. he has a couple of gates he needs to get through. but i will say this. most defendants become convicted felons, and most convicted felons look for a way to cooperate in order to reduce their sentence. >> and he still has the fifth amount available to him. his lawyer ma

to chuck rosenberg.t is what i was saying. he is a former fbi official. so mild-mannered i once called him human xanax. on friday he was so disgusted by what he is seeing from secretary of state mike pompeo looking the other way as life-long, career-long professionals at the state department like marie yovanovitch face smears attacks, threats, intimidation by donald trump. all the while, mike pompeo stands by as the president of the united states attacks him. it seems his silence isn't even working though on its intended audience. trump wants him to pile on the life-long career diplomats. according to new reporting from msnbc news, trump has fumed for weeks. that's according to four current and former senior administration officials. the president confronted pompeo about the officials in what he believed was a lackluster effort by the secretary of state to block their testimony during lunch at the white house on october 29th. trump particularly blames pompeo for tapping ambassador bill taylor in june to

chuck rosenberg is still with us. elise for curt volker who had a reputation before he got embroiled with donald trump and his "looney tunes" foreign policy apparatus, had a representation as a person of integrity. but once he was on board, he was making a doing all of the unsavory things you had to do to survive in the world. >> there have been so many public servants who joined to help further our national security and they get drawn into it, just like rick wilson says, everything trump touches manages to die. you have something like ambassador volker who i have held in high regard and had a really great reputation for being an effective diplomat, you see where he was trying to dissuade but got pulled in. and so this is where you wonder who can survive unscathed in this administration. >> i keep thinking about the trump inauguration speech about human carnage. who thought it would be the entire -- the brain drain. it's the entire national security apparatus, sort of like the band formally known as the republican par

. >> wow, okay, let me bring in chuck rosenberg, former u.s. attorney and former senior fbi official and msnbc contributor. i want you to weigh in on this at the end of the day what do you think is the president going to have to turn over his taxes? >> probably so, chris, first of all, and pete alluded to this and he's absolutely right there's no requirement that the supreme court take this case. the parties can ask the supreme court to review it. but they can decline it and whether or not they decline it will turn in part how the second circuit, the federal appellate court blow it wrote its opinion. it seems to be a rather narrow opinion that a subpoena to a third party, in this case the trump accounting firm, maizers, has to turn over records relevant to mr. trump. the subpoena wasn't served on president trump. the supreme court -- i'm sorry, second circuit isn't saying a president can be charged. they're just saying the organization, the accounting firm that received the subpoena has to turn the stuff over to a district attorney who has a le

chuck rosenberg is here with us tonight. we've got a lot to get to. stay with us. to get to.tay with us as soon as the homeowners arrive, we'll inform them that liberty mutual customizes home insurance, so they'll only pay for what they need. your turn to keep watch, limu. wake me up if you see anything. [ snoring ] [ loud squawking and siren blaring ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ ♪ the calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. laundry isn't done until it's done with downy. hi honey, we got in early. yeah, and we brought steve and mark. ♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. billions of problems. dry mouth? parched mouth? cotton mouth? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath oral rinse and lozenges. help relieve dry mouth using natural enzymes to soothe and moisturize. so you can... breathe easy, there's therabreath at walmart. that couldllow hackers devices into your home.ys

with us in the studio is doj and fbi veteran chuck rosenberg., one of the things i'm looking for, brian -- and it's not an easy thing to do -- is the cross examination. let me tell you why. direct examination's sort of the friendly questioning of witnesses, has to be linear and thorough and complete, and you can prepare for those in a way that helps you present the evidence, the information to people, to the jury, to the public. cross examinations have to be a little bit more reactive. and the best cross examinations go after a theme or two, and they're short and they're quick, and then you sit down and you be quiet. and that's really hard for lawyers to do. so, one of the things i'm looking for is what is the theme of the cross examination, and is it executed in a way where you make your point and you stop. >> and nicole, we should probably talk about dan goldman, who viewers of this network will recognize. >> our own dan goldman is one of the staff lawyers doing the questioning. and if you read the transcripts that have been released -- and i

chuck rosenberg, you and i have been watching this all day and all week. chairman schiff really underscoring there the case that democrats feel that they have made brick by brick by brick. and it's fair and irrefutable that today two more bricks in the wall in terms of fact witnesses to what became clear to everyone was a quid pro quo, the conditioning of military aid and a meeting for the new leader of ukraine on those investigations that in the words of fiona hill were domestic politics squarely, investigations that would damage the bidens, investigations into what ambassador mcfaul called cockamaney. >> i know we are going to talk about the details. but so is the context. so for people who are watching pieces of this or may not know a little bit of the history, may i? >> please. >> so in 2014 russia invades ukraine. they are still there. we learned from ambassador taylor a couple of days ago last week. >> last wednesday. >> that russia occupies about 7% of ukrainian territory, an area the size of turkey. imagine if russia held 7% of american territory.

. >> that part was too much for our own chuck rosenberg. ttorney at the department of justice, at the fbi. so, he took it personally today while on the air with nicole wallace that ambassador yovanovitch who was trolled and attacked today by her commander in chief has received no air support from her boss, the secretary of state. >> let me say something about that, nicole, because this makes me very, very angry. secretary of state is mike pompeo. like any leader, i think he has three obligations. first, to the public, the american people. second, to the mission of his agency. and third, just as important to the men and women who serve in that agency. his silence is deafening. it is an act of abject cowardice. i am astonished that someone who went to west point and was an army officer does not have the spine to stand up for the people in his organization who are being denigrated by this president. this silence, as i said, is deafening and it is disgusting. >> does it suggest more than weakness? does it suggest he's a complicit actor? >> compl

chuck rosenberg. >> yes, sir. >> our thanks for your service to us on this friday night. we appreciate it as always. >>> coming up for us this evening, mike bloomberg picked up a trump nickname already, and he's not yet officially in the race. we're back with more on him and what he may be up to after this. if you have medicare, listen up. the medicare enrollment deadline is only weeks away. with so many changes, do you know if your plan is still the right fit? having the wrong plan may cost you thousands of dollars out of pocket. and that's why i love healthmarkets, your insurance marketplace. with their new fitscore, they compare thousands of plans from national insurance companies to find the right medicare plan that fits you. call or visit health markets to find your fitscore today. in minutes, you can find out if your current plan is the right fit or if there's another one that can get you extra coverage or help save you money. best of all, their service is completely free. does your plan have $0 copays, $0 deductibles, and $0 premiums? if not, maybe it's not the rig

back with us tonight, is chuck rosenberg, former senior official at the fbi. also happens to host our popular podcast called, for good reason, the oath. all right, chuck. what specific portion of the written testimony already submitted is raising flags now after the fact. subset question, is this a makeable case? >> yeah. so the portion we should focus on is president trump's denials that he knew about the connections with wikileaks that he was soliciting information about it, really that he had any knowledge that wikileaks had played a role in, you know, sort of exposing stolen emails to the public. and, you know, is it a makeable case? gosh, brian, that's a much more difficult question. perjury is a hard charge to bring, and normally what you need to make a successful perjury case is a rather precise question and a rather emphatic answer. and i've watched a lot of congressional hearings, but i haven't seen a lot of precise questions. and so is it makeable? yes. is it easy? no. and also the president couched so many of his answers in the following way. to the

joining us now is chuck rosenberg, former u.s. attorney from the eastern district of virginia.epartment and fbi. thanks for being here. >> my pleasure. >> i am allergic to roger stone so i find it hard to talk about him as a character. but what's important of this trial is we learned a lot about the trump campaign and indeed the president and their interactions around the russian documents that were stolen and the russian efforts to interfere in the election. >> of course. of course they're in a state of happiness. this is big deal. the russians hacked into the dnc and d triple c computers and stole stuff that would be helpful to the president -- well, then candidate trump and the campaign. of course they're happy about that. >> in term of the president's, the testimony from rick gates today suggests when the president told mueller in written answers i didn't have a conversation with roger stone about wikileaks, i done remember anyone else talking about wikileaks, let alone the advance knowledge of the timing, gates is saying i released information where that's exactly what the

i'm joined by jonah goose of colorado whose a member of the house judiciary committee, chuck rosenberg, a former u.s. attorney and senior fbi official. let me go to the congressman first. i think you're on course to center the public hearings this month, perhaps articles of impeachment as early as next month. how do you see it? >> well, it's good to see you, chris. i couldn't say it better than the speaker did. i think ultimately what we're talking about is a betrayal of the constitutional oath and power of the president. and it's like ely the public hearing public hearing of the impeachment process will begin this month. and we'll follow the facts ultimately where they lead us. and your description at the beginning of the program of a reckoning brewing is such an apt one. and really it's a reckoning for my republican colleagues of the house. i was on the floor yesterday for that solemn and serious vote we took with respect to codifying the procedures for the impeachment process and ultimately the impeachment inquiry. and i will just tell you i was really aghast at the republican argum

chuck rosenberg, as always. aiesha ras coe. >>> coming up, my colleague rachel maddow joins me in this next segment to talk about the sobering lessons from this momentous week from the impeachment inquiry. >>> plus, will trump follow through with his proposal for that fireside chat, i can't wait, about his ukraine phone call? >>> and we're going to talk about rachel's fabulous best-selling book on the corrupting power of oil. >>> plus, it's a big night in iowa for the democratic presidential candidates. a new poll shows the battle out there is wide open and looks like elizabeth warren is rising still, joe biden is falling still and the big surprise could be mayor pete winning the whole thing in iowa. we'll see more. we'll be right back. ♪ limu emu & doug and now for their service to the community, we present limu emu & doug with this key to the city. [ applause ] it's an honor to tell you that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. and now we need to get back to work. [ a

attorney as well as former fbi chief of staff, msnbc contributor, chuck rosenberg also joins us. former democratic senator from missouri, and our political analyst, we are lucky to say our msnbc and nbc, claire mccaskill, politics editor and msnbc political contributor jason johnson is here and who served as russian ambassador to the obama administration is here. he too is now an msnbc international affairs analyst. let me start with you, ambassador, your reaction to chris's observation of what is obviously the news of the hour, real-time witness tampering, witness intimidation by the president into the testimony, live testimony of former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch? >> the first thing i want to say is i think she's doing a fantastic job. i know ambassador yovanovitch. cool and calm. sticking to the facts. under very difficult circumstances. but that tweet was just outrageous. i don't know what the legal implications are. you have a lot of legal people there that can talk about it. but as somebody who has served this country and somebody who knows what the state

chuck rosenberg, former senior official at the justice department.or your time tonight. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> we will be right back. stay with us. k you. >> we will be right back stay with us hi honey, we got in early. yeah, and we brought steve and mark. ♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. i am totally blind. and non-24 can make me show up too early... or too late. or make me feel like i'm not really "there." talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424. you ever wish you weren't a motaur? sure. sometimes i wish i had legs like you. yeah, like a regular person. no. still half bike/half man, just the opposite. oh, so the legs on the bottom and motorcycle on the top? yeah. yeah, i could see that. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. yeah, i could see that. [sneeare you ok?fles] yah, it's just a cold. it's not just a cold if you have high blood pressure. most cold medicines may

i want to bring in chuck rosenberg, former fbi chief of staff who is now a msnbc contributor. signal from the judge? >> she's expressed some skepticism at the hearing so i imagine she's going to rule that this thing they're asserting, absolutely immunity, that the witness doesn't have to show up at all, isn't going to fly. >> if she does end up ruling in favor of house democrats, can it be appealed? >> it sure can be appealed. can i back up a little bit? i think sometimes we tend to conflate the two things that are at issue. there's a thing called absolute immunity, meaning you don't even have to go to court. you're immune from testifying. and then a second thing, executive privilege. you do have to go to court. >> but you don't have to tell me anything? >> you can still assert the privilege and not answer certain questions. the issue before the judge is absolutely immunity, whether you have to show up at all. so i imagine she's going to rule that this absolute immunity thing is not a thing and that the witness has to go testify. >> but then could executive privilege still be

chuck rosenberg, let's start at the end and work our way back. that lest revelation, an e-mail comes into her staff. the date should stick in peoples minds by now. this proves the ukrainians were aware of what? >> well, it shows that the ukrainians knew or at least suspected, brian, that there been been a hold put on the security assistance they so desperately needed. one of the interesting things from today, we learned again in this case from david hale, the third ranking person at the state department, how important security assistance was for ukraine. they were invaded in 2014 by russia. 14,000 ukrainians have died since then in that conflict. and the president of the united states, according to mr. sondland who testified earlier, is conditioning receipt of security assistance on the ukrainia ukrainians making a political announcement to benefit the president. >> ari melber, as a practical political matter where it comes to messaging on the part of the democrats, you asked this evening on the air why this wasn't being billed as the plot agains

. >> that part right there was too much for our own chuck rosenberg. he's taken the oath more than once as a u.s. attorney at the department of justice and the fbi. so he took it personally today that ambassador yovanovitch who was trolled and attacked by her commander and chief has received no air support from her boss, the secretary of state. >> secretary of state is mike pompeii oo. like any leader i think he has three obligations. first the public, the american people, second to the mission of ohis agency and third, just as important to the men and women who serve in the agency. his silence is deafening. it's an act of abject cowards. i'm astonished someone who went to west point and an army officer does not have the spine to stand up for the people in his organization being denigrated by this president. that silence, as i said is deafening and disgusting. >> does it suggest more than weakness? does it suggest he's a complicit actor? >> complicity will be can determined down the road. i know what i see and what i see is a complete failure of leader

. >> chuck rosenberg gets tonight's last word. thanks for joining us, chuck. really appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> that is tonight's "last word." "the 11th hour" with brian williams starts now. >>> and the democrats just released transcripts of their own. they tell a remarkable story of our ambassador to ukraine realizingss rudy was conducting foreign policy, realizing she was being drummed out with no support from her boss, feeling threatened on the job and amazed to hear the president talking about her with a foreign leader on the phone. >>> also tonight, the increasing evidence that the ukraine corruption conspiracy theory dates back to paul manafort, who is now in prison.ck >>> and a big loss for trump today as an important federal court weighs in on his taxes, and tonight the experts weigh ig on where they think this is headed as "the 11th hour" gets t under way on a monday night. well, good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. n day 1,019 of the trump administration, and as the president takes his fight against impeachme

that is how i got on the radar and then i had the opportunity to -- we were at an event with chuck rosenberg who was the acting head of the dea. you will see him on msnbc talking about legal issues, he issuescommittee was the chief of staff with director and went too the head of the bea. so they were at an even better -- i think that it was on opioid abuse. so he was running very late and we are there at the event, and i found myself in this room i was there for public affairs with the director, and he just i guess this was the norm he would interview peopl people and start talking to them, who are you and what do you do, that sort of thing. i knew he called me about the tweet but i didn't realize it was a bit of a job interview, said he asked msohe asked me hog in the fbi. then he asked how am i doing. and i remember pausing and felt okay so the ceo is asking how i think that he's doing. the beauty there is i was a week and a half ending my headquarters assignment going back to the field, so i thought this happened in a split second but if you'll click in eternity. i'm leaving the headquart

joining us is chuck rosenberg. former u.s. attorney.really appreciate you making the time after such a marathon day. >> nice to see you. thank you for having me. >> we saw ambassador volker revise his testimony on a number of fronts. we've seen ambassador sondland do the same thing in writing and now he's going to be testifying in open session tomorrow and you believe that he will probably have to make some other revisions to his testimony. is this just unfortunate in their credibility? are they in trouble for continually revising what they are saying? >> yes and yes. it is unfortunate although i've seen it as a federal prosecutor. sometimes it's genuine. people remember things at a later date, sometimes it's disingenuous. they remember things conveniently and they sort of get caught not remembering things. yeah, while mr. volker's amendments were concerning but relatively minor, it seems like the ones from ambassador sondland will be a little bit more dramatic. i imagine he and his attorney are going to have one or two serious discussi

chuck rosenberg, we appreciate it as always. >>> coming up for us this evening, mike bloomberg pickeda trump nickname already and he's not yet officially in the race. we're back with more on him and what he may be up to after this. i'm your 70lb st. bernard puppy, and my lack of impulse control, is about to become your problem. ahh no, come on. i saw you eating poop earlier. hey! my focus is on the road, and that's saving me cash with drivewise. who's the dummy now? whoof! whoof! so get allstate where good drivers save 40% for avoiding mayhem, like me. sorry! he's a baby! hi. maria ramirez! mom! maria! maria ramirez... mcdonald's is committing 150 million dollars in tuition assistance, education, and career advising programs... prof: maria ramirez mom and dad: maria ramirez!!! to help more employees achieve their dreams. wshe looked at me and..that wast sit.t. mom and dad: maria ramirez!!! we had this instant trust. she helps me see the beauty in the world. adopt love at our national adoption event. this weekend at your local petsmart®. dana-farber cancer institute discovered the pd-l

attorney chuck rosenberg and msnbc contributor. let me start with you as a former federal district judge, what the law says about absolute immunity, compelling testimony f from people from various of mick mulvaney to pompeo in the light of yesterday's decision by a federal judge saying mcgahn does have to testify. >> there was nothing surprising about that decision. every other witness that is ever subpoenaed to a court or to congress has to appear, then they can make their claims about this privilege or that privilege, but they have to appear. they have to work in the door and sit at the table and describe -- you know, and answer the questions they can answer, raise issues with respect to questions they can answer and have decision makers say, yes, that's privileged or not.is no one -- i just can't imagine the claim that you don't even have so respond and justify what you cap answer and what you can't. so it wasn't surprising. what was surprising that the judge felt she needed 120 pages to say it, which says something about her co

attorneys office and in the southern district of new york, former senior fbi official, chuck rosenberg. also an msnbc legal analyst and for good measure, a former democratic united states senator from the great state of missouri, current msnbc political analyst claire mccaskill. your reaction? >> we are hearing from the white house already that trying to hang their hat on sondland does not say he heard the president say all this. that it was in fact rudy giuliani. so you're going to see now this bus has run over a lot of people. looks like to me that giuliani is the next one up to -- for the white house to try to distant the president from him. but what's really clear in this testimony is that everyone knew that giuliani had been tasked with accomplishing this dirty political op. that giuliani's job was to go over there and talk to a corrupt prosecutor and get this corrupt prosecutor to help them forward this theory that joe biden's character was less than stellar. and, you know, it's obvious and now we have a witness who says, yes, giuliani was speaking for the president. yes, giulian

. >> chuck rosenberg talking about mike pompeo who famously graduated first in his class from the u.s. military akacadem west .in 1986. that is our broadcast. thank you so much for being here with us. have a good weekend and good night from nbc headquarters here in new york. >>> thanks to you at home for joining us at home on this friday night. there are a bunch of moving parts right now, and we're going to take it one piece at a time, one step at a time with the full and full hearted expectation that more news will break over the course of this hour. you know it will, right? i mean, that has generally been our experience on friday nights over the course of the trump administration. but today and tonight already it has just been relentless. so let's just jump in. we've got a whole show prepared. i'm sure it's all about to go out the window. obviously today was the second public hearing of the impeachment proceedings against president trump. we're going to talk about that in detail tonight. in terms of the latest news, though, i do need to mention as soon as the public hearing wrapped

there were two people arrested who came into the united states, according to chuck rosenberg who has said this publicly, there were two russians arrested because they were trying to interfere with u.s. elections. this testimony is so powerful because of its specificity. if they are going to try to -- they obviously are, the republicans are going to try to go after her, she's going to come back strong with how damaging this is. her warning is we have to protect that 2020 election. she's a former intelligence official on russia. and that is her oath to the united states, that is her career. she wants to protect the u.s. election in 2020, that it does not happen again. she says it's already under way. that could not have been a more clear and present warning of imminent danger to national security. >> i'm sure you have it in front of you, i imagine you're prepared like you always prepare for trial. i would like to look again at what is the transcript. there is evidence, and it's been reported that donald trump's mind had been poisoned. and it seemed her testimony today in indicting the

chuck rosenberg. >> senator mccain's former colleague, jeff flake, retired senator from arizona, surmised that if a secret impeachment vote were held, 30-35 of the senate republican members would vote to impeach. and i thought how sad, how sad, that it takes a secret vote to make a courageous vote. it should be 30-35 if they believe that's the right thing to do. i know i'm sounding naive, but i remember being saddened by that. >> i feel the same way. and we're about to hear from ambassador bill taylor and i remember when his 15-page opening statement was released less than a week ago, it was marked by some coverage about standing on ukraine's border and looking across at the enemy, russia. it used to be a common enemy, not a democratic enemy, not a republican enemy, but america's enemy. >> i think we're nearing the time here where we're going to hear from the chairman. is there any -- are the mics up in the room? can we sample any of this? not yet, i'm told by the control room. there's dan goldman on the left. >> msnbc former legal analyst, now serving his country. >> he left our employ,

i will bring in chuck rosenberg. he knows me the best.e's the lawyer to whom i can ask my dumb questions. have we not proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of public opinion, based on the release of the white house's own release of the transcript where donald trump says to president zelensky, i need a favor though, the testimony of a dozen witnesses, i think every single one of them having worked for more republicans than democrats, that donald trump conditioned, held up, withheld, sought to deny military aid until he had a promise of investigations into burisma in 2016? >> not a dumb question, nicole. to paraphrase the movie query mcgwim jerry mcgwire. you had me at the transcript. when the judge instructs the jury -- we talked about jury instructions the other day. the judge always tells the jury never abandon your logic, your common sense, and your experience. so we spend a lot of time -- i think appropriately so -- talking about the details of the case, the timeline, who said what to whom who heard it what did they do with it al

. >> joining our conversation just in time former senior fbi official chuck rosenberg.our thoughts? >> she asked a haunting question, nicole. her testimony was compelling and dignified. but she asked how could our system fail like this. here's the answer, i think. our system is the rule of law system that we love and have worked for most of our professional lives is a construct, right? it only exists because people of good will, men and women of good will ensure that it exists and flourishes and perseveres. when if i were to drop the pen, it would hit the ground anywhere i dropped it. but the rule of law doesn't work like the law of gravity. it depends on the good will of people to preserve it. so when there is leadership at the top that is corrupt and craven and crass, the rule of law is threatened. how could our system fail like this? because the leadership at the top failed. >> and that includes mike pompeo? >> oh, my goodness, yes. the leader of any organization has an obligation i think that you can think of it in three ways. one to the american public. that's our

chuck rosenberg, we appreciate it as always. >>> coming up for us this evening, mike bloomberg pickednickname already and he's not yet officially in the race. we're back with more on him and what he may be up to after this. what he may be up to after this. some farms grow food. this one grows fuel. ♪ exxonmobil is growing algae for biofuels. that could one day power planes, propel ships, and fuel trucks... and cut their greenhouse gas emissions in half. algae. its potential just keeps growing. ♪ only one thing's more exciting than getting a lexus... ahhhh! giving one. the lexus december to rembember sales event lease the 2020 nx 300 for $329 a month for 27 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. 25 cent boneless wings at for $329 applebee's. 27 months. ♪ born to be wild... born to be wild...♪ get 'em while they're hot. mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis for whom met

attorney and former senior fbi official, nbc news and msnbc legal analyst, chuck rosenberg. politics editor for the root and msnbc political contributor, jason johnson. we are also joined by former u.s. ambassador to russia and msnbc international affairs analyst michael mcfaul. paul butler, georgetown school of law professor. former federal prosecutor and an nbc news and msnbc legal analyst. let me start with you, ari melber. we've been staring at the trees. there's a instinct to sometimes look at the trees and skip over the forest. but what do we see when we look at the whole picture today? >> when you look at the whole picture today, you have the star witness to a bribery plot and he's also now made himself new today the star witness to obstruction article of impeachment against president trump. i have not seen testimony like this to date in the trump era. not comey, not the diplomats last week who were impressive in their own way. i have never seen a day in the trump presidency like this ever. and like you, i live and breathe this, like it or not. this was a complete and

chuck rosenberg is here. neil is here. claire mccaskill is here. and george conway. yes, george conway is here. that george conway. starting with you, george, what have we just witnessed? >> well, i -- i don't think the republicans made much headway there and i think it's exactly as nicolle expressed it. you saw some non-partisan professionals basically just tell us the facts. and the facts are quite damning. and the defenses that were put up by the republicans were fundamentally illlogical and incoherent. i mean, one defense was, hey, they actually got the money. the ukrainians got the money and zelensky didn't make a statement. but the fact of the matter is, it was the ask that was illegal. the second point they tried to make was that the -- these witnesses didn't have firsthand communications with the president of the united states. well, the reason why we don't have testimony of firsthand communications with the president of the united states is because the white house has been blocking that. and other than that, there were just a lot of irrelevancies. >> claire

and then she sets the scene as we turn to our panel, chuck rosenberg on the set with us here, she sets the scene in this dramatic july 10th meeting. now, we've heard about this from various parties who were there. and in some ways, some of the accounts differ but essentially, they don't. that there comes a time in this meeting where gordon sondland, the eu ambassador, leans over and says to the ukrainians. look, if you're going to do these investigations, you can get the white house meeting and ambassador john bolton, the national security advisor at the time, according to fiona hill, stiffens up in his chair she says. >> her testimony was very compelling. as you said, context and color, lester. i mean, this notion that she was taking account of where people are sitting, his body language. she looked at the clock. she looked at his wrist. she saw all these things going on and her. look, stories always differ in some detail in the retelling. different people have different perceptions that come in and out of meetings. they don't listen to every word. we should expect that. but where it

in some ways, even keel is chuck rosenberg on this network received pompeo, that he was a coward, thathe had turned his back on what he had learned at west point. what we see here in some ways, joe, is -- we're at the bottom of leadership in our country on so many different levels. >> we've been there for a while, haven't we? >> we've been there for a while. >> we just keep getting lower, don't we? we see donald trump going lower and lower. again, at this point, i think everybody's saying we know who donald trump is. donald trump does not surprise us anymore. he is a man without -- who has a rotted moral core. he say man who will go as low as he needs to go to win. i stopped being shocked by donald trump about six months ago. it is the republicans that still have the capacity to just shock me to my core that they will trash an iraqi war hero in defense of this man who coward in front of an ex-kgb agent, who coward before white supremacists in charlottesville, did not want to offend them and had david duke saying how inspired he was by donald trump's actions in charlottesville. this is

neil kotial, claire mccaskill, michael mcfall, veteran of the justice department and the fbi, chuck rosenberg