peter baker, you recognize him. longtime "new york times" hand. he has circulated a reminder from something that he wrote about in a book a bunch of years ago called "days of fire." it's a big, 800-page overview of the bush/cheney administration and what things were like in the bush/cheney white house. one of the things peter baker wrote in that book that he has recently reminded us he wrote about, was something that happened right after barack obama was elected to be the next president of the united states. it was just before christmastime in the presidential transition. george w. bushes folks were leaving office. the obama folks were about to come in. on the 23rd of december of that year, 2008, president bush released a list of people who he wanted to pardon or commute their sentences. it was a christmas pardon list. but then a remarkable thing happened. after george w. bush announced that list of pardons, a press release went out. people who were getting the pardons and commutations were notified. formal paperwork got processes. it was going to

peter baker you recognize him long time "the new york times" hand. he has circulated a reminder from something he wrote about in a book a bunch of years ago called "days of fire." it's a big 800 page overview of the bush-cheney administration. and one of the things peter baker wrote about in that book he has recently reminded us all he wrote about was something that happened right after barack obama was elected to be the next president of the united states. it was just before christmastime, the presidential tra transition. and on the 23rd of december that year, 2008, president bush released a list of people he wanted to pardon or commute their sentences, like a christmas pardon list. but a remarkable thing happened. after george w. bush released that list of pardons, formal paperwork for the commutations got processed, going to the right lawyers offices, that goes out on december 23rd. on december 24th the very next day after all these pardons had been announced and all been set in motion president george w. bush took one of his pardons back, which i

peter baker, mr. figliuzzi says nothing casually. he dismissed all of washington, d.c. in this. let's think of the centrist national security, as we used to call them, republicans, like blunt, like portman, like collins. are you expecting anything from them? will tonight be any different for them, having read this journalism than yesterday was, than tomorrow will be? >> that's a great question. republicans, of course, have been in this awkward position in which their traditional skepticism of russia, something that has been a foundation of the party going back decades, has been challenged by the leader of their party. the leader of enter party, of course, has spoken of putin in very friendly terms and never challenged him in a personal way whenever the two of them are together. president trump will tell you he has a very tough policy on russia. it is true the administration has taken a number of actions that would be considered to be tough on russia including sanctions, including expelling diplomats and so forth, arming the ukrainians. but the message comes from the top, and the

joining me now is peter alexander, peter baker, barb mcquade and andrew weissman. peter, first to you, the president on a tirade, going after mike bloomberg. for the first time, john kelly speaking out against his former boss and the president wasted no time going after him. >> reporter: you're right on that. the president going after his former chief of staff, the retired marine general, the longest-serving chief of staff in the president's tenure. they did clash at times privately, but the president is lashing out today, frustrated by john kelly's latest statements, ones that he made last night at an event that took place on the west coast. kelly was critical of the president's policies on ukraine, on immigration, and he was particularly critical of the president's handling of lieutenant colonel alexander vindman who said -- who was on that call and said the president's call with the ukrainian president was inappropriate. john kelly said that alexander vindman did exactly what you're supposed to do. he did his job. he did what we train them to do from cradle to gr

our thanks again on this consequential thursday night to peter baker, to philip rucker, to shannon pettypiece, to frank figliuzzi. >>> coming up for us after another break, the former lead prosecutor in the mueller effort responds to tonight's breaking news that russia is at it again. where's the truck? what? parked it right there. male voice: what did i tell you, boys? tonight we eat like kings! (chuckling) you're a genius, gordon! brake! hit the brake! uh, which one's the brake? (crash, bottles smashing) stop! stop! sto-o-op! (brakes squealing) what's happening? what? there's a half of cheesesteak back there. with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. raccoon: i got the cheesesteak! ♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ all we needed somebody to lean on ♪ the new xc90 plug-in hybrid electric. xc90. recharged. a new kind of investor is changing t

anita kumar at politico, and peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times," also happens to be coauthor of the timely book, impeachment and american history. peter, i'd like to begin with where the day started and your account of what it was like in the room at the national prayer breakfast. >> yeah, you know, brian, you and i have covered these prayer breakfasts going back a long time. they've been going on in washington i think since 1953. and they're traditionally a pretty sedate affair. they're meant to be bipartisan. usually you hear talk of common ground and faith and issues that might be somewhat provocative or usually along the lines of religious questions. you don't normally hear partisan attacks. you don't normally hear attacks of people who are literally sitting 10 feet away. it's pretty striking to have him do that. even more so in some ways than his later rambling monologue at the east room. that was almost predictable. but the prayer breakfast is usually immune from that kind of rhetoric and conversation. but the president felt very strongly obviousl

peter baker, first to you.erik, such close connections, he was even in business with rudy giuliani in recent years. let's talk about that and how he gets to the president and why he got to the president for this pardon. >> right, i think that's one of the things you see is the commonality of most of these recipients yesterday is they had a connection to the president, one way or the other, they had an in. and the in for bernard kerik was rudy giuliani. rudy giuliani is also the one who got him appointed or nominated at one point to prosecute bush's cabinet until the vetting process came along and determined that he wasn't appropriate. he had to back out because of some ties to unsavory business characters. that didn't stop him from being, you know, on president trump's list for clemency when the time came and one of the things that certainly helped him aside from his friendship with rudy giuliani is his own advocacy for president trump on fox. he's been a regular come me commentator on behalf of the president.

. >> on that note, here for our lead off discussion on a thursday night peter baker chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." he's among the uh thoerz of the book currently in wide circulation, impeachment, an american history. also with us nancy cook, white house reporter for politico. and robert costa, national political reporter for the washington post and moderator of "washington week" on pbs. good evening and welcome to you all. robert, i'd like to begin with you. if you tell people often enough, don't believe what you see, they start to take your word on it. having established that, can you, please, give a pass at interpreting the attorney general's words for us? >> the attorney general for months has been frustrated with the president's tweets, but he has not articulated it that publicly. the washington post reported deeply on that tonight. you can read it online. based on my reporting today and conversations with white house officials, the president feels unbound at this moment. post acquittal, this is a new phase of the presidency. he is someone who is now bri

i'm joined right now by peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the "new york times," and paulrothers, a former federal prosecutor. peter, the dangling of these pardons right in the face of roger stone-s that to keep him quiet? >> well, it's certainly intended to send a signal that he thinks law enforcement has gone too far, which is the same signal he's sending when he makes these tweets about the roger stone case, right? he has said the judge in the roger stone case should order a new trial, that the jury forewoman was biased, the prosecutors were excessive, and that's in effect the same message he's sending with the pardon. so it wouldn't be surprising to see roger stone interpret that message that way. you know, the question may be not until the election, something like that. but if roger stone interprets that as being the president is on his side, he can wait it out perhaps until november. >> is there any evidence, paul, is there any evidence that president trump, donald trump, donald j. trump, the person, actually believes in white-collar crime? does he believe you can co

the lee mike i stand behind it, so does peter baker from "the new york times." next up, hollywood is furious after being called out by president trump. oh, hi, samantha. you look more like a heather. do you ever get that? it's nice to finally meet you in person. you're pete nocchio? oh, the pic? that was actually a professional headshot. i'm sure that's it, yeah. i, uh, i think i've lost a few pounds recently too. i'm actually doing a juice cleanse. wait! you don't... (glass breaking) (gasp) ah! oh...! with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. it's either the assucertification process. or it isn't. it's either testing an array of advanced safety systems. or it isn't. it's either the peace of mind of a standard unlimited mileage warranty. or it isn't. for those who never settle, it's either mercedes-benz certified pre-owned. or it isn't. the mercedes-benz certified pre-owned sales event. now through march 2nd. only at your authorized mercedes-benz dealer. stay two nights and get a free ni

the lee mike i stand behind it, so does peter baker from "the new york times."ak out next up, hollywood is furious after being called out by president trump. fifteen perct or more on car insurance? do woodchucks chuck wood? hey you dang woodchucks, quit chucking my wood! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. there's a company that's talked than me: jd power.people 448,134 to be exact. they answered 410 questions in 8 categories about vehicle quality. and when they were done, chevy earned more j.d. power quality awards across cars, trucks and suvs than any other brand over the last four years. so on behalf of chevrolet, i want to say "thank you, real people." you're welcome. we're gonna need a bigger room. (sensei) beautiful. but support the leg! when i started cobra kai, the lack of control over my business made me a little intense. but now

. >> for more i'm joined by senator tina smith, democrat from minnesota and peter baker, chief white house correspondent. i want to go to peter, you have to write the story for the times tomorrow. is this the last hara of the dieing group of independent governments? >> it feels like the mitt romney, george bush era of republicans is signaling its last gasp with that vote today. this is a party right now, with that exception, is firmly behind president trump, firmly in his command. some republicans would say it's out of loyalty, devotion, believing in the things he's doing. others say it's an understanding he commands the base they need in order to win their own re-election. the polls this week show approval ratings among republicans is among 90%, that's a daunting number if you're a republican who wants another election while the president is on the balance this fall. but mitt romney decided that was not going to decide his vote, and that's a rare thing in washington these days. >> senator smith, you're new to the senate but there's a tradition for years of two wings to the republican

let's bring in peter baker and republicans strategist susan del percio. ter, let me get your take on this. forgive and forget does not seem to be in the president's post-impeachment plans. you write choosing retaliation over reconciliation, mr. trump lashed out on democrat and the one republican who voted for his convince. the white house press secretary declared that democrats should, quote, pay for impeaching the president. what might that look like, peter? >> it's a great question. obviously you saw some of it yesterday in the sense of the president lashing out in a very public way calling nancy pelosi, adam schiff, mitt romney various nails going after them in a personal way as well as a political way. but there's also all sorts of other pos anltsibilitiepossibil. action dr vindman, we have reporting that he may be moved out of the national security council staff as early as today. that he really generated a great deal of ire among president trump and his associates who castigated him for being a interest ra traitor in their view. colonel vindman came

but for the very latest we are joined by telephone with peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the "new york times." peter, let's take on mr. sondland first. he would be forgiven for saying, for my million dollars this is what i got now, the inability to have dinner in a restaurant unrecognized and an asterisk next to my time as u.s. ambassador to the e.u. >> well, that's right. of course, gordon sondland, one of the key witnesses in the impeachment hearings back in november. he testified that everybody involved was taking orders from the president and everyone was in the loop. today he was told he has to give up his post as european ambassador. he had been interested in leaving anyway for a few weeks. today they called him you have to leave today. they didn't want to do that on the same day that colonel vindman had been fired but they didn't want him to look the same. fine, we're basically they fired him according to our people that he was told he had to come back now as the ambassador. in his case he made a gracious statement thanking the president for the opportunity to s

peter baker. we just quoted you from the times. i'd like to take it to you.esident, even though he is on trial must be feeling relatively bulletproof, he's going to be acquitted it seems on wednesday. his approval rating is high, how will that be reflected in the speech tonight? >> i think you're going to see a confident president trump tonight. it will be a moment where he will seem triumphant. he seems likely, almost certainly to be acquitted tomorrow. he looks at this disarray in iowa as a good thing. he's chortling about it on twitter. not only that to kind of encourage conspiracy theory about reading the process against bernie sanders. >> he's been mired in the mid-40s. he has a 49% approval rating. it's higher than president obama was at this point going into his election year. and higher than bill clinton was in 1996 going into his re-election year. so he can take some solace for that. it's a good day for president trump. he has a way of making new issues for himself that step on good days, and we shouldn't assume that the good news for him will last a

glen kerchner thank you and peter baker thank you for your reporting. we appreciate everything.ule of law but the president just undercut a war veteran and raised the a.g. for intervening in the case of trump's felonious friend. will we hear anything from conservatives? you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ no. uh uh, no way. ♪ come on. no. no. n... ni ni, no no! only discover has no annual fee on any card. (howling wind) n... n(howling wind) but when i started seeing i knew aboutthings,emors. i didn't know what was happening... so i kept it in. he started believing things that weren't true. i knew something was wrong... but i didn't say a word. during the course of their disease around 50% of people with parkinson's may experience hallucinations or delusions. but now, doctors are prescribing nupla

. >> we do have peter baker and natasha bertrand joining me. thanks, guys. the ins and outs are detailed. peter baker, the democrats were worri worried that when they decided not to remove president trump from office, not to even censure him in impeachment, joyce vauns is here with us as well, that he would be unbound, do whatever he wanted without fear of any reprisal, consequence from the senate. what are you seeing now about what's happening within the house? >> that's what you're seeing, a president who has a feeling -- he's feeling emboldened after the acquittal. he's victorious and would like to now clear the decks and the scales, if you will. he's pushed out people who were witnesses. jessy k. lieu will no longer have the nomination she was going to. the pentagon official who spoke out might lose the nomination to another top post. the security council top security official is said to be on the edge of possibly being pushed out. you're seeing a president who feels emboldened and wants to weigh in to rights the wrongs as he sees it. he believes he has

peter baker, thank you much. we are talking much more about this, including the stage craft moments from president trump. but how this all plays out ahead of the impeachment vote today. by we're following other big political news. not necessarily new hampshire but iowa. we don't have the final results. pete buttigieg with the two-point lead over bernie sanders. only 71% of the precincts reporting. steve kornacki is here and man, you have had a day. i feel for you, my friend. because i want to talk about what we're watching with less than 30% of the precincts to go. >> it was more than a day. i think we're on caucus week we're going to call this one ultimately. but yes, 29% still to report. we hope that's going to come today. we'll be able to get you a final result. buttigieg is leading right now in the state delegates that's been used in iowa. but of course in iowa this year they said we're going to give you other data. we're going to give you the first preference, what this is is folks who go out to caucus state

but for the very latest, we are joined by telephone with peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." peter, let's take on mr. sondland first. he would be forgiven for saying for my million dollars, this is what i got now, the inability to have dinner in a restaurant unrecognized and an asterisk next to my time as u.s. ambassador to the eu. >> well, that's right. of course gordon sondland is one of the key witnesses in the impeachment hearings back in november. he testified that everybody involved was taking orders from the president and everyone was in the loop. but of course today he was told he has to give up his post as european union ambassador. now, he had been interested in leaving anyway for a few weeks. today they called him and said, you have to leave today. they didn't want to do that on the same day that colonel vindman had been fired because they didn't want to look like he was somehow the same and being purged. they said fine, and they fired him according to our people. he was told he had to come back now as the ambassador, and he put out a stat

welker at the white house as well, and we have "new york times" chief white house correspondent peter baker. usa today washington bureau chief susan page, and chief correspondent dan balz. peter, take us to the room right there in the east room where they have a formal setup and we're no told no questions anticipated from reporters. >> i think that's exactly right. it's a jovial mood in her. to me it feels as if the celebration that happened at trump tower or trump hotel we should say here in d.c. yesterday evening has moved over to the east room of the white house. and the front row, the president will be seeing the faces staring at him of some of his favorites in congress, mitch mcconnell, many members of the house as well. those fierce advocates who we've seen on television defending him and what he says i think will be striking. i anticipate this will be a rallying type atmosphere ahead of the 2020 election. it will be celebratory but also filled with spite based on what we've seen him say. the white house press secretary this morning on fox news saying, quote, that democrats should be

peter: mr. baker, another thing in the news is the foreign intelligence surveillance act court system. is it working? james: fisa, foreign intelligence surveillance act, is definitely in need of modifications and reform in a lot of different ways. there are two different things to think about. there's the law and the process by which the government implements the law. and as the inspector general report recently revealed, there were significant mistakes, omissions, errors, in particular that the fbi committed, that i am not going to defend, and are not acceptable. and so the inspector general, the fisa court, the fbi, the justice department, are focused intently on that right now. i think that is a good thing, and if changes need to be made to the process, then so be it. that would be a good and helpful thing because the american people need to have confidence that that system works, because it is critical to protecting their privacy and security. stepping back from that though, in the current digital

chief white house correspondent for the "new york times," peter baker.nbc contributor shanna thomas. we're going to begin with the new information and why the president forced out the nation's top spy chief. a former intel official tells nbc news that acting director of national intelligence, joseph maguire, who was under considering to be permanent dni, was pushed aside because the president was angry lawmakers were briefed on russia's plans to help him get re-elected. news of the briefing, which was held last thursday, was first reported by the "new york times." sources tell both the "times" and the "washington post" that the president erupted at maguire the very next day. concerns that democrats would use the information against him. a former official tells nbc news that the office of the director of national intelligence is, quote, nearing a meltdown over magui maguire's removal and the reason behind it. as our colleagues, ken dilanian and andrea mitchell report, the episode has raised a specter that trump is punishing officials for providing accurat

and peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." and from icago, yasmeen abutaleb, health policy reporter for "the washington post." president trump named vice president mike pence as the point person forst the admition's response. this move is being questioned by democrats and health experts. and the administration's early decisions are alrey under scrutiny as yasmeen and her colleagues wrote in the post a istleblower is alleging the department of health and human services ment, quote than a dozen workers to receive the first americans evacuated from wuhan, china. the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak without proper traing for infection control or appropriate otective gear. yasmeen, was the u.s. government prepared for this crisis? >> i think a lot of criticism has come from the moves that the u.s. government made a couple of years preceding this crisis. john bolton the former national security advisor had disband a unit in the white house set up to prepare for this kind of thing backn 2018. hen this came there was no immediate

peter baker noticing that the president in his first term is on his third chief of staff, fourth defense secretary, fifth deputy and seventh communications director. without even making it a full term in office. as the coronavirus systematizes, one of the positions is the position that's supposed to take point. there used to be someone in that job. the president em tird that job. >> don't worry though. the president has appointed a coronavirus task force. ellie went online to ask if any of his twitter fellows could get behind. he was just googling around. turns out some of these sites you need to pay to get in. anybody who follow me on twitter know how to get to the maps of where the coronavirus is? he is on the government's task force. he is one of the senior people running that. direct appointment from president trump. meanwhile, the crisis in the justice department continues including some fascinating new "new york times" reporting. flushes out what's been going on and one federal prosecutor's office and i'm not sure if that's the word. it's certainly been at least partially taken ove

joining me now, peter baker chief white house correspondent at the "new york times" and nbc news political analyst. welcome, peter. i want to get to the tweet, it was written by the president, quoting from your article it reads ralph waldo emerson seemed to foresee the lesson of the senate impeachment trial of president trump, when you strike at a king, emerson famously said you must kill him. the president clearly emboldened by his impeachment trial, how much is that emboldening his behavior? >> in a way he embraces the idea he's been emboldened since the trial and he's now lashing out. he's expressing and venting his frustration, grievance, and acor. you're seeing it in a day in, day out basis with people being pushed out, ambassador sondland recalled, lashing out at the justice department, the judge, the jury fore woman. in a way he has a chance now to make clear how unfairly he believes he's been treated and a little bit of evening the scales. you know, mccabe, the decision on andrew mccabe not to prosecute him, really angered the president. that's somebody he's had in his sights for a

he was quoting this story about peter baker where they were saying you know when you strike the king you must kill him. that was a quote that the president liked. clearly he was likening that to this impeachment taemt thattempw from democrats. though it was pretty clear back during the house impeachment inquiry they were not going to remove this president from office. but it speak tuesday the mind set the president has right now and how aides are describing him, how he feels newly empowered and vindicated in this opinion. and you're seeing him not just revel in that and not just take a victory lap, but he's also taking steps to right the wrongs he feels he's experienced over this last several years that he's been in office. and the question that people around him have is whether or not that's a pattern you're going to see continue over the next 8 months or so. >> well, i think we all know the answer to that one. likening himself to a king, frank, shocking. >> yeah, no, it never occurred to me he might think of himself that way. ever occurred to you, don? >> no, not at all. that would

that quote from the peter baker column as a boast. joining me now former trump campaign advisor. justice correspondent at the nation and former federal prosecutor. i'm going to start with you at the table. what we now have is an attorney general who shortly after and they would claim coincidentally moved for a lighter sentence for roger stone after donald trump tweeted that he should get a lighter sentence who's now investigating the investigators of donald trump's collusion with russia. essentially putting on notice people who used to work for the fbi and the cia, that they are now subject to investigation and who's now intervening in the michael flynn case. you as a federal prosecutor, have you ever seen anything like this and is there any reason we should trust what william barr said on abc news? >> no, when he went on tv and said i'm pleased to report the president has never asked me to investigate anybody or intervene in any case all i could think of was michael cohen's testimony when he said the president doesn't have to ask us to do his dirty bidding, we know what he wants

according to "the new york times" peter baker, there's a key national council -- and career officialsransferred out may be gone by the end of the week. senate republicans said they hoped that president trump learned a lesson of impeachment. obviously everybody perceives lessons learned different ways. he did learn a lesson. perhaps not the lesson susan collins wanted him to learn. >> what message did you learn from the impeachment? >> that the democrats are crooked, they've got a lot of crooked things going, they're vicious and shouldn't have brought impeachment. >> with me now, our own kelly o'donnell at the white house, ken dilanian at the justice department for nbc news. kelly, let me start with you. none of the president's comments are a surprise. i guess the surprise is how comfortable he is while he doesn't directly say it, he implies that, yes indeed, he did intervene in this. >> reporter: he denies any direct conversation with bill barr, for example, but by virtue of being asked and responding, you could argue that that in and of itself is a form of intervention, he had tweete

attorney, assistant director for the fbi office of congressional affairs, peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "new york times," chris lu, managed president obama's cabinet, is senior fellow at the university of virginia miller center. and elise jordan, former aide to the white house and state department under president george w. bush. let's go around the horn. greg, to you first. do you believe this, do you believe bill barr is he cross with the president, doesn't want him tweeting any more? >> there's a lot of cynicism in washington this morning about that question. to take the ag at face value, he was right, he was correct in what he said. as i said, many people doubt his sincerity. what he didn't do in the interview, stephanie, he did not explain why he apparently directed the second filing, effectively reversing the first sentencing memorandum that his handpicked u.s. attorney in d.c. approved the filing of. it was a sound filing legally, comported with sentencing guidelines. there doesn't appear to be good reason for the second filing. he hasn't explained that yet. >> e

since he was acquitted by the senate in that impeachment trial is his tweet quoting our colleague peter baker'sry saying if you shoot at the king, you best not miss. that showed that the president was likening himself to a king. they missed, and he's going to speak out and act where he can. and the question is is anybody going to restrain him? and as ranado accurately pointed out, bill barr, other than complaining about public remarks, has not shown any evidence of wanting to restrain him and, in fact, to add to the list that was cited. before he became attorney general, he was writing about the raising questions about the legitimacy of the mueller probe. so i think we've got two members of a team right now, and there's a little bit of choreography about what the public posture, the public facing remarks are going to be. but not the fundamental places of these two men in alliance with one another. >> and john, to jim's point on the president's method of this big group of pardons and commutations coming yesterday, especially for those who have fundraised, big donors, et cetera, it's not the firs

peter baker is an msnbc contributor, a correspondent for the "new york times" who contributed to that new reporting. he joins us from d.c. peter i want to say nbc hasn't yet reviewed a draft of this book. when the chairman of the intelligence committee adam schiff stood in that well of the senate yesterday thrks is what he brought up first, this piece that was in your newspaper written by your colleagues in the "new york times." yes, peter just the import of it if you would, peter. >> sorry, i thought we were -- my bad. so adam schiff, the lead manager gets up and the first thing he says yesterday, of course, is this information tells us a couple of things. one, it tells us there's information out there about the pressure campaign we hadn't had public before. he used that to try to argue for witnesses, argue for calling john bolton to testify. he brought up pat cipollone was in that meeting. pat cipollone was standing about 10 or 15 feet away from adam schiff as he made that comment in the well of the senate yesterday and his point being that pat cipollone is both a fact witness it se

in a new piece on the president's score settling, "the new york times" peter baker reports more axesure to fall, writing a key national security official is said by colleagues to face dismissals and dozens of career officials transferring out of the white house may be gone by this week. >> senate republicans reacted to the remarks on twitter that appeared to influence the justice department's handling of the roger stone case. >> should the president stay out of cases, yeah, absolutely, he should not be commenting on cases in the system. i have said that a bunch, and if i thought he had done something that changed the outcome inappropriately, i would be the first to say. i don't think any of us should tweet about an ongoing case, having said that, i appreciate the department of justice making sure their recommendations to the court seek justice consistent with the law as it's written, and i was briefed this morning from the department of justice about this case that sentenci sentencing guidelines called for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2, it's certainly up to the discretion of the judge, and sentenci

bush was so concerned about any perception of political influence that peter baker reminds us he haded a pardon to someone his father had given money to the republican party bush rescinded that pardon before it went out. >> he refused to give a pardon to scooter libby. what strikes you about this? these are pardons being given via fox news, not official channels, and also there's some campaign contribution elements to some of these as well? >> some to say the least. we have in at least one case somebody whose family gave close to half a million dollars to the trump campaign and various republican political action committees. it makes it seem as if they simply purchased their pardon. to do that in a political campaign season, is appalling. by the bush standard this would be unthinkable. but this is a new standard we have here. >> they're pushing the criminal message, a legitimate bipartisan achievement the trump administration can point to. during the super bowl they took out an ad highlighting an example as an attempt to reach the african-american community, white supporters who want

the president tweeted and modified a section of the "new york times" reporter peter baker story aboutralph waldo emerson, when you strike at the king, emerson famously said, you must kill him. mr. trump's foes struck at him but did not take him down. the triumphant mr. trump emerges from the biggest test of his presidency, emboldened, ready to claim exoneration and take his case of grievance, persecution and resentment to the campaign trail. the greatest witch hunt in american history. >> you have to love when the president is bashing "the new york times" and when somehow suits him a little bit, he will easily quote from it. >> happy to take it. >> the use of exclamation point sg . >>> let's bring in meteorologist janessa webb. feels like spring out there. >> different story for the midwest. we have a small disturbance this morning that's going to cause some early morning fog as you step out this morning, and look at this, it's making its way across omaha right now. there's a dividing line in these temperatures, south and southeast, above normal. upper midwest, we are well below avera

peter baker at "the new york times" this weekend notiing tha the president in his first term is on his third chief of staff, his fourth national security adviser, his fourth defense secretary, his fifth secretary of homeland security, his secretary deputy national security adviser, and his seventh communications director without even making it a full term in office. but as the coronavirus threat rises and rises and rises, it's starting to seem particularly important that one of the national security jobs the president emptied and never bothered to refill is the position at the national security council that's supposed to take point on all global health security matters. there used to be somebody in that job. the president emptied that job two years ago and never filled it. don't worry, though. the president has appointed a coronavirus task force. today a leading member of that task force, a fox news regular and failed virginia gubernatorial candidate named ken cuccinelli. mr. cuccinelli went online today to ask if any of his twitter followers could help him get behind the paywall so he

mark leebvich, you have just published an article in the "new york times" about this with peter baker about the decision and how mitt romney came to it. he actually laid the argument out quite well. he seemed to be choking up and holding back tears in saying this. but he was making the case about why he understands the consequence of this. he understands that he will bear the president's abuse as a result-but he mentioned god. he mentioned his faith. he mentioned his trust in the political system, as his justification for doing this. >> yeah. i mean, to reiterate what garret said, this is historic, but it's historic not just because, you know, he is a republican senator voting against the president in this case. this is also the republican nominee from eight years ago and it does give you an indication of where the republican party has evolved from in eight short years. mitt romney was the last nontrump nominee of the donald trump republican peter. so i think that itself is a marker. clearly, and i was impressed with this earlier when i talked to sflart romney in his office, very emot

and let's go to peter baker and harry litman and in the studio is carol lee, and our politics reporterm "the daily beast" betsy flots. and there is so many possible motives. so is this to send a signal to roger stone, sit tight, i'll get to you, baby? >> well, whether it is intended to or not, it could be intere-- interpreted that way. he thinks what happened to roger stone is unfair and unjust and also michael flynn his former national security adviser who faces sentencing and i think you could interpret this as it may be interpreted on the receiving end as this is somebody who takes care of his friends. president said somebody has to speak up for these people and he made clear that is going to be him even if the attorney general doesn't want him to. >> i wonder how much of this -- my first instinct watching it is political. i think there is a lot of people from eastern europe and ethnic people and white working people around the chicago area and the suburbs, is it sending a signal with regard to this guy. we've had so many governors of illinois that have gone to prison. it is ridicul

peter: jim baker has been our guest. thank you for your time. just a reminder, this "communicators was good program and all others are available as andcommunicators" program all others are available as podcasts. >> join us saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern for the results of the nevada caucuses. precinct results, candidate speeches from joe biden, senators bernie sanders, elizabeth warren and amy klobuchar. pete buttigieg and tom steyer. and your calls about campaign 2020. live coverage on c-span, on demand at sea stand out of work, or listen live on the free c-span radio app. sunday night on "q&a," we discussed notable speakers of the house with matthew green. >> we've come a long way from the days of sam rayburn and dwight eisenhower, the idea that you work together even if you're in separate elected institutions, the idea that the speaker in particular should be deferential to the president, that's not what we are seeing now. there is a way in which that is a sign of a healthy, vigorous policy -- party differences but what troubles me, and i have

. >> joining me now peter baker, white house correspondent at the "new york times" and sonham chef. come to you both. peter give me a sense of the mood in the white house in this post acquittal purge, as you write in your piece. >> i think there's a mood of, you know, pay back. we heard the white house press secretary say it on tv that the people who hurt the president and the country should have to pay for that. that's what you're seeing right now. alexander vindman was one of the impeachment witnesses who most aggravated the president with his testimony. they thought him wearing his uniform at the hearing and some of the statements he made were, in their view, over the top. alexander vindman's lawyer pointed out he testified because he was subpoenaed. he didn't step forward of his own volition. he responded to the legal demands he was required to respond to. there's been a back and forth today the president on twitter attacking colonel vindman again. his lawyer putting out a statement a few moments ago decrying the most powerful man in the world taking vengeance in his view. so you

the president citing peter baker of the names who is referencing a wall of walralph waldo emerso saying when you strike at the king, you must kill him. mr. trump's foes struck at him but did not take him down. a triumphant trump emerges from the biggest test of his presidency, emboldened, ready to take exoneration and take his kaz of grievance to the campaign trail. aside from the fact that maybe the wire version, you come at the king you best not miss, may be my preferred one, but this is a president who is emboldened because of how vindicates he says he feels. while he hasn't weighed in much on the mccabe case apart from quoting a fox news message and tweet earlier today, we might hear from him later on. he's expected to speak at a very high dollar fundraiser. that's behind closed doors. those comments somehow have a way of getting out. i think we'll hear a little bit more from him on that as the weekend continues and as the golf visit continues. >> the president just getting around to reading that piece of peter bake published on the 1st of february. let me ask you about the rest of

host: the quinnipiac poll we talked about this morning, peter baker tweeting their latest saying theng in new hampshire, bernie sanders 26%, 8%.igieg 20%, klobuchar as the cochair of the buttigieg campaign, are you happy with what your campaign polling is showing? guest: we are just not that focused on poles. -- polls. i think we will have a really good day. the crowds coming out our nashua,reaking, 1800 in which is the largest single -- hundreds in an exeter gym. that is what we are focused on. pete is here. he is not from new england. there are two senators from our neighboring states in this race, but we have been working hard. we have been on the ground early. we set up 15 offices throughout the state within the 10 counties in new hampshire, and pete has gone to places other candidates have not gone he has done five events in sullivan county, five in carroll county, talking to voters in places that trump won but also obama won. we have been consistently doing that over most of the last year. this is not something that started recently. consistency, that is why we are feeling like

the police modified a section of peter a baker's spore about trump's impeachment posting.son seemed to foresee when you strike at the king you must kill him. mr. trump's foes struck at him but did not take him down. he emerges from the biggest test of his presidency emboldened, ready to claim exoneration and take his case of grievance, persecution and resentment to the campaign trail. he ended his commentary to the end of the tweet, the greatest witch-hunt in american history. >>> still ahead the latest on the campaign trail as democrats up their attacks on mike bloomberg. >>> we will go to nevada ahead of saturday's caucuses. >>> with his numbers rising in the polls former new york city michael bloomberg is feeling the heat from his fellow democratic presidential contenders. we will show what you his rivals are saying. >>> plus attorney general william barr is facing calls to step down. more than 1,100 former prosecutors and department of justice officials say he needs to resign. >>> and the very latest on the growing coronavirus outbreak. more than a dozen americans who

and the way peter remembers it is that he just-- we went into a room at-- in baker, baker street, which at that point. and he just-- peter leaned out of the door into the hallway ane house?" ( laughter ) and-- and, it-- it turned out there were two beatles? ( laughter ). >> stephen: sure, that's enough. >> but peter said, "listen, i've got this guy here. i'd like to sign him to the label, but-- so let's take a listen." and i played "something in the way she moves," to george and paul. and i-- i don't actually remember the-- the-- anything about it. ( laughter ) i mean -- >> stephen: does paul remember the moment? >> yeah, paul does remember tvaguely, you know, because, you know, it was -- >> stephen: they had a lot going on. >> yeah, they had a lot going on, that's right. >> stephen: they were recording the "the white album at the time." did you really record your first album with them-- was that "sweet baby james" or "james taylor." >> "james taylor." >> stephen: did you do that while they were recording the white album at the time. >> yes. they used to record at abby road, but abby ro