andrew weissmann and barbara mcquade are gonna start us off tonight, but also getting to nikki haley. i saw your coverage of nikki haley in the last hour. just a little before you started that. in new hampshire tonight. she was asked a pretty simple question. what was the cause of the civil war? she managed to give an answer that did not include the words slavery. we're going to show you that later in this hour, and explain why she gave that answer. >> lawrence, i'm looking forward to that because i saw also that same comment after we did our segment so i'm glad you're covering it. >> thank you, jonathan. >> thanks, lawrence. >> on christmas day a 77-year-old criminal defendant facing racketeering charges and other felonies in four jurisdictions said that his prosecutors should rot in hell. and unlike every other criminal defendant who has said that, he didn't mumble it to himself bitterly, alone in his jail cell, awaiting trial. he dn't say it angrily to a cell mate. he said it through the reach of social media to the world, and while he was at it, he said the president of the united

professor laurence tribe and andrew weissmann are back with us.ee what is the essence, or what will be the essence of jack smith's argument to the supreme court on the merits of this appeal. we will get the first hint of what the trump team response to this on wednesday morning when they actually have to respond to the court of appeals on this very same question. this is one of those documents that i read and i struggle to imagine any response by the trump lawyers. >> well, i can't imagine any coherent response, especially since the argument that is central in this case, the argument that is central in this motion for expedited consideration is not a one-sided ideological argument. it is the argument that says, because no one is above the law, or below the law, it is vital that the american people before voting for the next president of the united states have an answer to whether a jury of his peers designs that donald trump committed this grave crime. if he is innocent, the people deserve to know that. he deserves a bill of good health. if he is

andrew weissmann, barbara mcquade are back with us.rew, needless to say none of us have ever seen anything like rudolph giuliani, and there he is doing on the courthouse steps but he is charged with in the courtroom. >> so this is a man who used to be a senior official of the justice department. he used to be the u.s. attorney in the southern district of new york. he was the mayor of this city. it is a real sign, almost an example, an illustration of what has happened in this country when you see me in terms of how he has changed in terms of his conduct. this is one also where i was thinking the rudy giuliani apple did not fall from the donald trump victory because donald trump, if you recall, did just this after he was found liable for sexual assault of e. jean carroll. he then went out the next day and do the same thing again. that is in fact going to be the subject of an upcoming trial in the southern district of new york against donald trump. and here it happens in realtime, where the plaintiffs, who have been found to have been in

joining me now is former fbi general counsel andrew weissmann and anthony michael krise. thank you for being with me. andrew, what is your reaction to the court's very short denial here? >> there's no question that as you said the supreme court did give donald trump a victory in a sense that he wanted the court to not take this sort of out of

joining us now is andrew weissmann, former fbi general counsel of former chief of the criminal division of eastern district of new york. he is the co-host of the msnbc podcast prosecuting donald trump. also with us, neal katyal, former acting u.s. solicitor general and host of the podcast courtside we have neal katyal.

and andrew weissmann is here to knock me off that limb in a minute, if he feels like it. i am now predicting a unanimous opinion by the supreme court against donald trump on both counts of his appeal. the immunity, double jeopardy, unanimous. i don't see any other way. if clarence thomas doesn't recuse himself and hangs in there, i don't even see how he's gonna be able to find his way toward ruling in donald trump's favor on any of this. this view now comes from this almost equivalent, almost equivalent of the alito late, one of the supreme court justices will decide this, it's going to be aggrieved disappointed for donald trump because this is the supreme court justice appointed by donald trump, who could not be more solidly against donald trump based on what we have already seen him right about exactly this. >> wow. smith, some of it all? >> very close to that. yes. >> this is explosive, lawrence. i am very eager to hear what you have to say, and eager to see what andrew weissmann has said about. it neal katyal said he didn't get was a question that scotus would reject

andrew weissmann, when i grabbed the federal definite definition of sex throughout the the fact and apply it to what i heard the speaker of the house say, one just has to wonder how far his words are from potential criminal prosecution here. >> i unfortunately have to say that you have to add his statements of conduct to a lot of other people in congress. on january six. and after that who enabled what donald trump did in here you're talking about something that they all live through and on january six as where the capital police and capitol police you. think he would have some respect as well as some sense of obligation and he would honor his oath of on us office in terms of doing the right thing. in this case there's actually no harm because, in addition to the statements he made, it is also abundantly clear that the government already has those tapes. so he is demonstrating heel will but in fact it will have no effect on the government and their ability to prosecute the january six case or donald trump. >> but, barbara, the government has all this video, but the public doesn't have all

neal katyal and andrew weissmann will join us to discuss that historic ruling later in the hour, but we begin tonight as we promised you a week ago, with the vice president of the united states and an exclusive interview. i met kamala harris when she was district journey of san francisco, and an actor friend who was wiser than most of us about politics or to be one day, would you like to meet the first black woman president? the next day i found myself in a gathering of lawyers in century city in los angeles, listening to an impromptu lecture by the wisest district attorney i had ever heard in all my years of covering criminal cases. her name was kamala harris. her top didn't feel like a lecture, it felt like a conversation, even though she was the only person speaking for quite awhile. and she took questions, of course, from a challenging audience of lawyers, who seemed as impressed with her answers as i was. we just attorney harris first appeared on this program 13 years ago, i introduced her as someone who could go all the way to the white house, which she has done in the number t

>> it's great to see you. >>> let's bring in some of our panel, from department of justice, andrew weissmann editor-at-large for the bulwark, charlie sykes and former adviser to the attorney general anthony coley. andrew, we have to go back to the chesebro story, how can the information be helpful to special counsel jack smith? how does that work? >> i'm really glad you asked, the thing that i think people are jumping too quickly to embrace is the idea that he may be fully cooperating. i do think that there's reason to believe that he is cooperating down in that in other words, he's giving information about what he knows about electors in the states. when i say down, it's because he would have been a sort of central cog. and this scheme was being orchestrated from washington into the various states. and i do think he's talking about what will he knows there. and the difference between fake electors and contingent electors. contingent electors would be legal. that is electors who thought that they would sign up, if and only if, the state courts said that trump had won. and otherwise, they wou

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joining me now is andrew weissmann, former senior member of robert mueller's special counsel and co-host of the indispensable msnbc podcast prosecuting donald trump. andrew, thank you for being here. i see the names bill barr, i see the names mike pence, steve bannon and my first question is, how realistic is it that we are actually gonna see these folks on the witness stand out in georgia? >>, while i am less interested in georgia because there is no trial date. so it is realistic that they would be called when there is a trial date and if there is a trial date before the election. if it is after the election -- >> there is no chance. >> it's really a question of who is going to win that election. but i do think the real question for those three is whether they will be called in the federal case. and there mike pence for sure will be a witness. i think like bill barr as well will be a witness. regardless of the baggage and they do have significant baggage in terms of their toeing the line for the trump administration, in many ways that makes them better witnesses in terms of their credi

andrew weissmann, it's always a pleasure.. >>> more good news on inflation today. but what about greed-flation? corporations lying about their costs to pad their own profit margins. any relief from that on the horizon? maybe in your stocking? we'll find out next. l dual actin fights pain two ways. advil targets pain at the source, acetaminophen blocks pain signals. advil dual action. (christmas music) ( ♪♪ ) weathertech gift cards have the power to wow everyone on your holiday list. offering a variety of american made products... weathertech! nice! like floorliners... cargo liner... seat protector... boot tray... cupfone... sink mat... pet feeding system... anti-fatigue comfortmat...and more. order the weathertech gift card instantly for the perfect gift at weathertech.com. - "best thing i've ever done." that's what freddie told me. - it was the best thing i've ever done, and- - really? - yes, without a doubt! - i don't have any anxiety about money anymore. - great people. different people, that's for sure, and all of them ha

andrew weissmann and melissa murray, you are free to go about the rest of your evening. thank you both very, very much. we've got much more on tonight tonight's bombshell breaking news out of the state of colorado where trump is now, as of tonight, disqualified from the ballot. more when "the reidout" continues. (singing )i'll be home for christmas you can plan on me. please have snow and mistletoe. and presents on the tree. kids at shriner's hospitals for children are able to go home and be with their families for the holidays. and that's only possible because of the monthly donations from people like you. thanks to a generous donor every dollar you give can help twice as many kids like me and have double the impact. with your gift of just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. we'll send you this adorable love to the rescue blanket as a thank you. >>> for more on the stunning breaking news tonight that colorado supreme court has disqualified donald trump from the ballot based on his participation in insurrection, let's bring in msnbc correspondent von hillyard. give us a backg

not for discussion tonight is andrew weissmann, former fbi general counsel, former chief of criminal vision of the eastern district of new york, the coastal host of msnbc's podcast prosecuting donald trump. also with us, glenn kershner, former federal prosecutor and host of the justice matters podcast. they are both msnbc legal analysts. andrew weissmann, we learned a little more about jeffrey clark today in his moment of self doubt about being worthy to be acting attorney general. what is your reading about what this adds to our information about the case against jeffrey clark? >> it was very interesting way in which this became public. there has been a skirmish where senator perry was trying to block the special counsel jack smith from getting full access to information on his phone. then chief judge, beryl howell, and ruled in a way that was favorable to the government and in a really magisterial decision. that was then appealed. the court of appeals issued a decision that was much more favorable to mr. perry. a lot of the decisions were redacted and partially under seal. well, to

joining me now is andrew weissmann, he's the former general counsel of the fbi and a senior member of special counsel robert mueller's team. you are also special. andrew, thank you so much for joining me. [laughter] i think it is so important for people to think about how this would actually work, because you hear so much rhetoric, but you worked in the department of justice. you're very familiar with what can happen there. so when we envision trump being back in the white house, which i know it's hard to put our minds there, but for a moment, how exactly could he direct the doj to go after people he perceives to be his enemies. >> this is such an important topic for people to really focus on what is going to happen, not what could happen, but what is going to happen. and the way that i look at it is let's look at what he did when he was the president. so first, if you are thinking that they are going to be investigations into corruption within his administration, that is a nonstarter. why? because he is not going to be appointing anyone like special counsel mueller. he's not going to

we'll see if they're able to be successful on that front. >> andrew weissmann, let me ask you about thesements. how do you hear them as somebody who investigated the president with regard to his ties to russia, and as somebody who's seen the last eight years unfold? >> i don't really see this about a debate of whether he's going to use these powers and sort of is he or is he not, i think that this is a debate about is it a good thing to have a democracy and the rule of law or not. as shocking as that is, if you just look at the area that i was involved in, the use and abuse of the pardon power, donald trump abused it when he was in office the first time, and he has already said that he would abuse it again, for instance, suggesting that he would pardon everybody involved in the january 6th insurrection. and so that is a given. he is clearly going to weaponize the department of justice in the way that he did in his prior term where he said, i want to use it to go after my enemies and i don't want to go after my friends. he put enormous pressure on the department to not go after and to get

it is not andrew weissmann. who is it? what do you know? >> this is unfortunately something that i was not prepared to talk about but -- our friend andrew weissmann. [laughter] so, i'm sorry, then stephanie. but if you would like to pass the question on to one of our other panelists, that would be fine. >> well, let's move on. because there's another topic that i find -- i'm not gonna say more exciting than andrew weissmann. but certainly, and you're saying, george santos. mr. santos -- former congressman santos was off cameo for a few hours today, and in court. his lawyers and federal prosecutors seemed to be trying to work out a plea deal. this guy is facing all sorts of counts. what could be the heart of the issue? >> the heart of the issue is fraud, whether or not he defrauded the government in several different ways. lying about whether or not -- you know, stealing from his own campaign coffers, lying about his job, lying about employment, a filing for unemployment and collecting while he worked. there are a variety of ways that the go

andrew weissmann, mary mccord and david jolly. thanks for being with us this afternoon."prosecuting donald trump," msnbc legal analysts andrew weissmann and mary mccord break down what the former president's thanksgiving rant could mean as judges in new york and d.c. decide whether to reinstate his gag orders. scan the qr code on your screen to listen now. all right. ahead for us, journalist tim alberta will join us here at the table. his new book is called "the kingdom the power and the glory," and it examines a critical question, why so many evangelical christians in this country seemingly reject the tenets of their faith to embrace someone like donald trump. tim alberta will try to make sense of that after a short break. sense of that after a short break. know your glucose level and where it's headed without fingersticks. manage your diabetes with more confidence and lower your a1c. it's covered by medicare for those who qualify. ask your doctor about the freestyle libre 2 system. when i was diagnosed with h-i-v, i didn't know who i would be. but here i am... being me

just put it out there. >> good to know. >> andrew weissmann, thank you my friend. andrew weizmann joining us. joining us now the congressman congressman robert garcia from california. he's in nbc news presidential historian. welcome to both of you. representative garcia, immigrant to immigrants. this top, it really bothers you. you are sort of the definition of intersectionality. you've got a lot of ways which you identify, as a member of congress, as an american, as again, as a politician and has an immigrant. this hatred talk of immigrants is getting under your skin? >> it's infuriating. i am so sick of donald trump and his anti immigrant rhetoric, the way he attacks us over and over and over again. i came to the country as a young child. i was an educator, a teacher in the classroom for ten years. i became a member of congress, i became a citizen in my early twenties, i'm a patriot, i love this country. my family are immigrants. this idea that immigrants helped build this country is a warped reality that donald trump loves. and he is doing this to get to his base

solicitor general, andrew weissmann is the former general counsel of the fbi, and a senior member of l counsel robert mueller's team. it's great to be back with both of you. so andrew, i want to start with you. i mean, there is a real question here, which i think any of us know the answer to, as to how much money giuliani actually has, what he'll be able to pay for. were you surprised by the judgment? and, what are the options for figuring out the money to these women. >> well, regardless of whether there is any money, in terms of his its deterrent effect on rudy giuliani and his ilk, it is important judgment. and as you mentioned, the bravery of these two women, like the bravery of e. jean carroll to not be just victims, but to seek legal accountability, is important, regardless of whether they ever see a dime of judgment. but, mr. gottlieb is going to be just as tenacious in terms of finding any assets of mr. giuliani. and remember, even if he goes into bankruptcy, this kind of the judgment is not wiped out by bankruptcy. so, they are entitled to continue looking, and to take deposi

andrew weissmann and joyce vance, always appreciate you. coming up, is a new cease-fire finally incited a months-long war between israel and hamas? the latest on that. plus, who both israelis and hamas need palestinians need to lead or governments when this war finally ends. ayman moye dean joins me next. >>> dean joins me next. >>> dean joins me next. >> it's comeback season. theo's nose was cause for alarm, so dad brought puffs plus lotion to save it from harm. puffs has 50% more lotion and brings soothing relief. don't get burned by winter nose. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. only at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, a n you're an owner.ves puffs indeed. our financial planning tools and advice can help you prepare for today's longer retirement. hi mom. that's the value of ownership. hmmm... kind of needs to be more, squiggly? perfect! so now, do you have a driver's license? oh. what did you get us? [ chuckling ] with the click of a pen, you can a new volkswagen at the sign, then drive event.

let's bring in msnbc legal analyst andrew weissmann. he's the co-host of the msnbc podcast "prosecuting donald trump." also with us, former u.s. attorney and msnbc contributor barbara mcquade. she is, of course, the co-host of "the sisters-in-law" podcast. barb, let's start with you. mika asked since this verdict came down, is this going to stop him? is he going to stop rudy giuliani from lying? >> and others. >> what are the consequences? right now, there don't appear to be any consequences because rudy just keeps on lying. >> yeah, that's why i think this particular lawsuit is really clever. they've already got $148 million as a judgment, so they're not looking for more money. what they really want is for rudy to shut the hell up. by seeking a court order, an injunction to stop spreading these lies, one of the things that the parties could do if he continues to do it is to seek a contempt order. once they've got that injunction demanding that he stop, ordering him to stop, if he fails to do so, he could be held in contempt of court an

andrew weissmann and andrew mcquade are gonna start us off tonight but also getting it to nikki haleyst hour. just a little before you started that. in new hampshire tonight. she

neil, i was listening to andrew weissmann and just the last hour and gave what i thought was a very interestingprising opinion about jack smith's opinion today. watch this. >> this is sort of a win win no matter what the supreme court does in terms of -- >> wow! a win win. how big a deal to think this is by jack smith? >> i think it is a win-win. so look, there is a procedure in the supreme court rules and i've used it myself which allows you to bypass the court of appeals and just go straight to the supreme court if a case is of sufficient gravity and importance. and that's what happened stephanie in the president nixon investigation in 1974. the prosecutor wanted to subpoena nixon and the tapes and went on a fast track to the supreme court, by past the court of appeals. so that's what jack smith has asked the supreme court to do again today. essentially he is like pulling in -- criminal defendant trump's favorite move is to use higher courts to delay his trial proceedings and what jack smith did today's use the high court to achieve the opposite goal, to try and speed up the process as oppose

and with me at the table, the other co-host of the prosecuting donald trump andrew weissmann is backnk of this filing? >> well, you know, one of the things that i think is useful for people to note is that was trying to be very even handed. it said regardless of what happens at the trial, whether it is a conviction or acquittal, regardless of what you rule on absolute immunity or not, it needs to be decided both of those issues need to be decided, both of those issues are important to the country and to the election. and so it was saying look, even if you are going to rule against us, even if ultimately the jury were to say that the government hasn't proven its case, it is very much like we were talking about half an hour ago that is what the rule of law is and that obviously is important to the country. i would also say there is some irony in the position of donald trump because here he is saying slow everything down, no reason to rush, but, you know, in other cases where he is like i need to be on the ballot, he will be saying no, let's speed it up. so two different positions to th

andrew weissmann and barbara mcquade are gonna start us off

mary i hope you are ready to fire up the microphone with andrew weissmann given this very much brng sense that i think it caught all of us off-guard. what is your initial reaction to the state supreme court's decision here? >> well, i am not hugely surprised mostly because the lower court decision as you just indicated had really made every single finding up until the very end. the lower court had found that mr. trump engaged in an insurrection, had found that she could make that ruling and section three is something she could make a decision about how it applied under colorado law, the election code there provides for bringing a cause of action by the voters of colorado to basically force the secretary of state to keep someone off the ballot. she made all these decisions and at the very end she just said but mr. trump, you will not -- were not in office under section three of the 14th amendment, the presidency is not an office, and you were not an officer because the presidency is not an officer. which seemed like a pretty odd ruling, that went against the plain text and went against a l

and that is where we start this hour with former top official at the department of justice, andrew weissmannom "the new york times," congressional reporter luke broadwater is here. and former chairman at the rnc, michael steele. friends, it is good to see you all. andrew, help us understand this new ruling, the impact it could have on trump's myriad legal cases. >> well, everyone's eye is not so much on this case, but on the criminal case in washington, d.c., because the allegations in that case revolve around what the former president did in his last days in office. so, it's unrelated, for instance, to the florida case where it deals with conduct after he was in office. so, everyone's focusing on whether there was presidential immunity for the d.c. criminal case, and alicia, as you said, the case today came up in connection with a civil case and by its terms, it says it does not deal with a claim with respect to criminal immunity, but having said that, the tea leaves reading here seems pretty strong that the former president is going to not prevail either in the district court or in the cou

. >> andrew weissmann, briefly, the giuliani case, the defamation case, a jury of eight has been seateds liable. this is the two women in georgia, mother and daughter, seeking over $400 million in damages. >> this is a defamation case where liability has been found, and the jury is going to start hearing evidence at 1:30 today, is going to decide damages. whether they're compensatory damaged, out-of-pocket loss and punitive damages. they will decide the amount. this is a civil case. it's worth remembering that what happened to them is also part of the criminal case in jack smith's d.c. federal criminal trial and also fani willis' state criminal trial where rudy giuliani himself faces criminal exposure with respect to these allegations and others. but this is a civil trial. rudy giuliani fought the case being heard by a jury. that was rejected. that's why you have this jury of eight having been impaneled this morning, about to hear evidence starting at 1:30 today. >> busy time in the courts. thank you very much. thanks suzanne and andrew. >>> class dismissed. the university of pennsylvan

solicitor general, and andrew weissmann, former council of the fbi and a member of special counsel robert mueller's team. so andrew, this was quite a ruling on friday night. i want to start with you, because in her ruling she references history, she kind of reminds us of core principles relating to equal justice, or that's how i read it. as a non lawyer. but how do you read it, and what does it say about where we are as a country, that a judge even needs to put this in writing? >> i think there are two points. one is this really is an example of the judiciary standing up for the rule of law. and her opinion on friday was magisterial in doing that. in terms of the history of where we are as a country, i think judge chutkan's evoking george washington's farewell speech, i thought, was brilliant. i'm just going to take a moment just to read a little portion of that, because it's just so telling that george washington, as our first president, saw this coming and said with respect to the idea of a president not being subject to the rule of law, being exempt from criminal prosecution, would lea

jill, about 24 hours ago, i was talking to andrew weissmann. that this ruling from chutkan was imminent. a few hours later, he said, even he did not have a sense of just how imminent it was. and how impactful it would be, right? >> it's a very powerful, as is the civil case one. there is no immunity in the civil case and there's no immunity in the criminal case. and that it's consistent with the law and the background, and it seems like the right thing, in terms of justice. just because your president does not mean that everything you do is presidential, and therefore, you only get immunity if you are acting within the scope of your job. there was a nixon case in the civil side that said, when he does something as president, he's immune from civil suits and the united states represents him, it's over. there was never won in the criminal area but it makes total sense that you can say similarly, if you commit a crime, while your president, it doesn't get you out of jail if you are doing it as a different thing than the president, but as a candida

joining us is andrew weissmann former fbi general counsel and former chief of the criminal division in the eastern district of new york, and, the co-host of the msnbc podcast prosecuting donald trump. joyce vance is joining us as well. she's a former united states attorney and professor at the university of alabama school of law. she's co-host of the podcast sisters in law. they're both msnbc legal analysts. i want to discuss the two supreme court matters with you. let's start andrew with you and the jack smith matter. jack smith's case that has gone to the supreme court. you and i were together when jack smith asked the supreme court to take this up in an expedited matter manner. they asked for a response from the trump team which they got on the 20th. they have now another response back from jack smith's team. where does that stand? >> as you pointed out, this may be just a matter of fighting it over a few days because the d. c. circuit has truly expedited its review with oral argument on january 9th. it's true we don't know when it will issue its decision but presumably because it i

joining me now is former fbi general counsel andrew weissmann and anthony michael krise. thank you for being with me. andrew, what is your reaction to the court's very short denial here? >> there's no question that as you said the supreme court did give donald trump a victory in a sense that he wanted the court to not take this sort of out of turn review. he wanted the normal procedures to apply. some irony there since it's under his administration that there have been an enormous number of requests to leapfrog the circuit courts. i wasn't surprised. people should take a deep breath. the issue here is that the d.c. circuit moved so quickly because jack smith had asked that court to expedite its review, and it has granted that. both sides are briefing that over the holidays and the new year. full briefing on january 2nd and oral argument is going to be heard on january 9th. the import of which is that if you are on the supreme court, you are really talking about a matter of what's likely to be a couple weeks of delay, not months and months, because of the d.c. circuit actin

joining our conversation now is a former top official at the department of justice, andrew weissmann.id is also back with us. andrew, i mean, look, at some point we have to give an award to mark meadow for really trying. i mean he really has tried literally everything in the book, but there are two salient local points here. one, he is not a current federal officer. two is that the things that he was charged for he would like to claim was part of -- i think the language he used was trying to land the plane in the transition from donald trump to joe biden, but it didn't seem like official chief of staff-ish kind of work. >> yeah. so he lost on two separate grounds as you noted. so the court said that the statute, the removal statute only applies to current federal officers. why? the court looked at the statute, the language of the statute and the purpose of the statute, and said it only really makes sense in terms of interference with the current administration, and there's nothing that interferes with the current administration if you remove or don't remove a case of a federal -- a fo