joining us josh miller and barbara mcquad and eugene robertson. and josh, i want to go to you on managing stories like this. i have known of situations in government where someone was actually planning to leave and then some kind of cloudy situation developed involving a hint of scandal of some sort and those people decided to stay a decent interval extending their stay a matter of months if necessary in order to make it clear their leaving had nothing to do with that controversy that had suddenly erupted. when you see this departure today after her testimony yesterday and -- with the special prosecutor investigating, is it easy for you to believe that this is something that had been long planned and there's nothing sudden about it? >> lawrence, i think it's probably -- it's at least possible, maybe even likely that both things are true. she had been contemplating and thinking about for several months t leaving the white house but after her experience before the committee yesterday and the way her testimony was reported publically that was essenti

. >> joining us now, barbara mcquade an nbc news contributor, david k. johnston, journalist, the author of the book "it's worse than you think" and michael michael isikoff, coauthor of the new book, "russian roulette" and michael, i'd like you to respond what you just heard from the latest member, the newest member of the trump legal team that all of this is a violation of the president's civil rights. >> seems inzisync with the president's tweets. no surprise. the way i interpret this, everybody looked at this is he going to fire mueller, john dowd says yes and ty cobb comes up with no we intend to cooperate. you could take all of this, and reach the conclusion that the real strategy is to put down these conditions for the interview. say we the lawyers will write the answers, mueller's not going to accept that. he's a plos cue orosecutor. he's not going to accept what the defense lawyers write out. so he will push. at that point trump says, no, my lawyers have told you what they're going to say. take it or leave it. what's mueller's option, subpoena. wh

attorney and now an msnbc contributor, barbara mcquade.e first get you to respond to neil's theory, sources close to neil says he has no proof for, it's simply a legal and prosecutorial theory. >> yeah, it's a little bit speculative, but, you know, i do share his observation that they make the announcement one day that digenova is joining the team and a few days later say, no, they're not and nothing seemed to happen at that time. mark corallo already waived the conflict. there could be many things. one theory is the one neil posits, this is a gene you knui conflict. technically we have conflict, everybody is fine. if there's a true adverse interest where mark corallo may be testifying against president trump, this becomes a much more serious conflict and prosecutors do have an interest in avoiding those conflicts not just to be nice guys because they don't want to ruin the investigation in some way, creation an issue for appeal that could cause a problem down the road. prosecutors are sometimes proactive in alerting parties to a potential

joining us now jean robins, nicholas christophe, and barbara mcquade. and gene, i want to go to you on this reasoning we're seeing in the nbc report about why we never hear a word about vladimir putin that isn't positive and it's that apparently he just doesn't want to give us that. >> yeah. >> he feels that would somehow be a victory for his critics. >> step back for a second. this is clinically insane. this makes no sense. we're talking about foreign policy between the united states and russia. huge issue, complicated -- anyhow, it makes no sense. but in the context of donald trump, it's probably true. that's probably a big part of the reason he doesn't want to be seen to give in to the likes of you and me. >> nick, any other politician under suspicion of being too close to russia would -- and to putin, would look for every chance to get in the way of putin. every possible chance to create the counter image. donald trump clearly doesn't want to do that. and he's telling his people that it would be too much of a concession to his critics. but he could

attorney barbara mcquade. barbara, interesting part. mr. if robert mueller were looking for things unrelated to russia, we don't know what's in the subpoena. we don't know whats a p unrelated to russia. we also know robert mueller is looking for things that could be involved in the obstruction of justice. so, i think the president is saying he doesn't want robert mueller on a fishing expedition but we don't know whether this is a fishing expedition. >> no, and i would suggest that it's not. i think robert mueller is taking a broad view of his mandate which is to look for links between russia and the trump campaign and also any matter that arose or might arise in connection with that investigation. and to do a thorough investigation in a complex case like this, it's absolutely necessary to look into financial transactions because you want to see where money is coming or money is going. you want to look for links between individuals. you want to look for motivations and you want to look for potential sources of leverage. so, i think looking a

. >> joining us now barbara mcquad, former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal contributor.back with us ron klain. barbara mcquad, as a former prosecutor can you answer his question can, is he going to jail? >> if he continues to defy the subpoena, the answer is yes. the grand jury has the right to ever man's evidence and there are a few exceptions to that. what i hear mr. nunberg to be saying he wants to protect his mentor roger stone from criminal charges. you have a fifth amendment right from self-incrimination. you can decline to answer the questions if it incriminates you. but the key word is self. so i've not heard the assertion of any legitimate privilege here. so i think robert mueller can and likely will file a motion for contempt and the penalty for that is jail up to 18 months in an effort to induce compliance if at the end of 18 months a person won't comply you can be charged criminally and punished for an additional 18 months. >> let's listen to what he said about his attempt, basically, to protect roger stone talking to ari. >> they're trying to set up a perjur

peter nicholas, matt apuzzo and barbara mcquade, our thanks. >>> coming up for us a key detail in the e-mails regarding payment to stormy daniels. >>> and later, is the meeting between president trump and kim jong-un on or off exactly? some confusion today at the white house. the president himself tried to clean it up just tonight. "the 11th hour" on a friday night getting under way now. you know what's awesome? gig-speed internet. you know what's not awesome? when only certain people can get it. let's fix that. let's give this guy gig- really? and these kids, and these guys, him, ah. oh hello. that lady, these houses! yes, yes and yes. and don't forget about them. uh huh, sure. still yes! xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. now you can get it, too. welcome to the party. >>> new revelations in the stormy daniels case could mean more legal trouble for president trump. nbc news first reported today that, quote, president donald trump's personal attorney uses his trump organization e-mail to transfer money into an account in a manhattan bank before wiring $130,000 to ad

>> sam nunberg, barbara mcquade, thank you for -- ( laughter ) >> trevor: that's the face of someoneho suddenly realizes he's screwed. he's, like, i'm not going to jail! oh, wait, i'm going to jail! i don't want to drink toilet wine! and, so, after five hours, after five hours of giving interview after interview about how he would never cooperated are mueller, something clicked and by the end of the night nunberg was sing ago completely different tune. >> you know what i was thinking about today, by the way? i was thinking to save time, i have been advised against this, maybe i'll just give them my email password, because -- >> trevor: so then you're going to comply? >> then i would comply, yes. >> trevor: wow. so after five hours of a verbal car chase, it just ended with nunberg offering mueller his password, yeah, which, let's be honest, it's either password 123 or nunberg 69. one of the two. ( laughter ) and i'm sure mueller appreciates nunberg might finally be willing to cooperate but i'm not sure it's necessary. nunberg's going to walk into mueller's office and says i'm ready to

. >> barbara mcquad from the great state of michigan.you for being with us. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. stay with us. rage, rage against the dying of the light. do not go gentle into that good night. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ dinner date...meeting his parents dinner date. why did i want a crest 3d white smile? so i used crest. crest 3d white removes... ...95% of surface stains in just 3 days... ...for a whiter smile... that will win them over. crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection

joining us now is barbara mcquade, a contributor, a profession or the at the university of michigan andaver, director of national security law program at george mason university and former senior adviser to bob corker. let's start with the piece in "the new york times" this morning and headline mueller's focus on adviser to uae indicates broader inquiry. how does this change the contours of that investigation? >> yeah, well, it's an interesting take for the mueller investigation to be looking at these advisers to the family. lebanese-american who may be advising the qataris. how does it get back to the administration? we have heard previously looking at potential of influence and the president is strident against the qataris so it's interesting to see what happens with this piece of the mueller investigation and it's now expanding well beyond the original mandate and so, of course, that's a concern of people with special prosecutors and so we'll how it plays out. >> barbara, want your take, as well. focusing on the final three words in the headline there. indicates broader inkawhily. wh

barbara mcquade, jonathan allen, our thanks, appreciate it. >>> tonight, coming up, high stakes and highxpectations ahead of this meeting between donald trump and ken jong-un. kim jong-un. "the 11th hour" back after this. whoooo. when it comes to travel, i sweat the details. when it comes to travel, i sweat ...down-alternative pillows... ...and of course, price. tripadvisor helps you book a... ...hotel without breaking a sweat. because we now instantly... ...search over 200 booking sites ...to find you the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. don't sweat your booking. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices. [thud] ming & crying] ♪ [screaming & crying] ♪ [screaming & crying] [phone ping] with esurance photo claims, you could have money for repairs within a day... wow! that was really fast. huh. ...so it doesn't have to hurt for long. hmm. that's insurance for the modern world. esurance. an allstate company. click or call. you know what's not awesome? gig-speed internet. when only certain people can get it. let's fix that. let's give this guy gig- really? and these kids, a

i want to bring in barbara mcquade. what jumped out to you as someone who reports on though? this. this is the first time i've heard questions about potential payments to women that may or may not be involved with the president. >> same here. i would be surprised if robert mu mueller and his team want to focus on payments to women. this seems quite far afield, but i spoice there could be relevance here to the extent they're looking into obstruction of justice, if there is a common scheme or plan of paying hush money to people then that concept could be important >>> i know mr. nunberg does not want to reveal the questions and answers. he's trying not to undermine the investigation and the integrity of it. but it could be broader in the sense of making payments to others that could be part of a scheme to obstruct justice. >> that dove tails with another news item reported by bloomberg, which is an obstruction piece on the side comes later if at all. your view of that when we hear that maybe they've found what they need on obstruction, whatever that may be. we don't prejudge. b

barbara mcquade, jonathan allen, our thanks, appreciate it. >>> tonight, coming up, high stakes and highxpectations ahead of this meeting between donald trump and ken jong-un. "the 11th hour" back after this. ♪ ♪ ♪ the smoother the skin, the more comfortable you are in it. and now there's a new way to smooth. introducing new venus platinum. a premium metal handle boosts control... to reveal up to 100% smooth skin. venus burning, pins-and-needles of beforediabetic nerve pain, these feet... grew into a free-wheeling a kid... loved every step of fatherhood... and made old cars good as new. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer, so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is fda approved to treat this pain, from moderate to even severe diabetic nerve pain. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fev

attorney barbara mcquade, also an msnbc contributor. ashley, let me start with you if i can quickly. the one real triumph seems all he has done in the course of lashing out the last several weeks and months frankly most of the last year, the president's attorneys for most of that time convinced him to back off robert mueller, not go directly at robert mueller himself. obviously that changed. what led to it? >> well, they sure had. and a lot of that was to his credit, at least until recently, was ty cobb, reassuring the president saying, i agree with you, this probe is a witch hunt, but it will be over soon. it will be over. we all remember he said by thanksgiving. then by the holidays. then by the first of the year. and then when it wasn't over, the president grew increasingly frustrated, increasingly enraged and you have a legal team that is often at times sort of at war with itself in feuding. and you have a lawyer, the president's personal attorney john dowd, who it was explained to me recently, feeds the president's worst impulses.

. >> as promised, hang with me, i want to bring in a former federal prosecutor, barbara mcquade. i want to bring a point that sam raised. have you ever seen anything quite like this? >> no, i haven't. typically, people comply with grand jury subpoenas. there are two bases a witness could raise, one is if they have a fifth amendment right against self-incrimination, a spousal request or they believe the request is unduly burdensome. and the recommemedy is to file motion with the court. a prosecutor might say weel aask you for fewer documents. but other than those circumstances, if a witness refuses, then i do think they face contempt of court and possible jail. >> and contempt of court as we discussing earlier can bring jail. >> i'm not going to jail, come on, ari. do i look like i'm going to jail? >> let me put it to the federal prosecutor. and you're still here, but barbara, if we take mr. nunberg's argument in the best possible light, as a legal argument, it would be something that you just referred to, maybe this is an overbroad request and it should be narrowed. typically as

. >> you were probably listening to the discussion with barbara mcquade.our reflection on the statement she was making about why the legal team is in flux, since we're talking about the two cabinet secretaries which seems also to be in question here? >> well, i think the legal team is in flux because of their client, right? i mean, donald trump is unpredictable. i think dowd left because he realized that trump was not going to listen to him. that the decision to attack mueller explicitly went against his counsel. i think the debacle around the two lawyers who were supposed to join his team reflects in some ways the chaos. i think trump realizes that mueller is closing in on him and he's panicking and i think the interview tonight with stormy daniels will just simply be another aspect to the chaos around this presidency and the chaos around trump. let's not forget, it's not simply ben carson, not simply secretary shulkin. there are questions about don mcgahn, questions around john kelly then there's all that turnover underneath it all. underneath those cabi

. >> let me bring in barbara ma mcquade of all of they'd open threads of an investigation in the house intel committee. truly remarkable the republicans would shut it down without tying up the loose ends, if for nothing else, the optics of leaving these questions unanswered. do you see this as anything other than a move to cover up for the president? we just heard from the congressman that it was exactly that. what possible explanation exists for not following these threads of an investigation? >> i can't think of one. you used a very appropriate word when you said abrupt, that it just ended when there are all these other issues still hanging out there, all of these other witnesses who haven't been interviewed. i can't think of another reason. i don't want to speculate as to what the reason is, but i can't understand why you would stop an investigation before you have at least chased those things down to the end. it may be you find no conclusion in the end, but you at least want to complete the interviews of the witnesses outstanding, review the documents and out standling issues. i ca