john dean is a cnn contributor and commentator and david axelrod. so if there is been some sort of, presidential kind of rumbling or presidential bribery scheme, what would it mean legally? i am not clear this means if somebody had given donations in the past or someone given a pardon or somebody giving donations, what do you make of this? >> well, i read the largely redacted argument and as evan says it is hard to glean much from it. they did get a lot of information from a raid that they were authorized. they got several digital materials from iphones and ipads and hard drive from what have you. in that material were e-mails correspondent between the party involved and an attorney. they apparently had to breach or break that privilege and went to court to get an order that they could confront the people that were involved in the investigation with the fact they had the information and not breaking the privilege. they did so. they did that based on the fact, information that were not attorneys and breaching the attorney client privilege. so this is

. >>> joining us now david axelrod and toluse olorunnipa, white house reporter for the "washington postavid axelrod i want to start with you because i think your blood pressure runs lower than most of ours when it comes to all of the developments that we're seeing. one of the things you consistently said about president trump is are we really surprised he is doing this out in public, trying to overturn the results of the election, he told us a all along he was going to do. i'm not saying it doesn't bother you, you are not surprised. you say you are surprised, though, that these 106 members of congress have signed on to this legally vacuous lawsuit this morning trying to overturn the results of the election and literally undermine democracy. why does that surprise you? >> i'm not terribly surprised by that pause they have been following his lead for four years. i thought it was really interesting that mike johnson the congressman from louisiana sent an email out to his colleagues saying the president is anxiously awaiting the list of who joins. and they still are in fear of him and more

our dana bash and kelly cordero and david axelrod.iously this is not a normal time, what happens next? >> the president is likely to keep on kicking and screaming and he tried to bully the supreme court really for the past month or so. especially when he was speaking today at the white house, actually calling out the supreme court and pennsylvania legislatures wi legislatur legislatures, challenging their man and womanhood and the feedback that the supreme court slapped it down with no decent, even the three nominees from this president didn't think it was worthy of even saying you know what i agree with the president or anything at all tells you everything that you need to know. he's trying to push and fly in the face of basic facts. in these swing states, pennsylvania included that the president did not win and there is no wide fraud spread. >> i want to play what the president was saying before the election. >> i think it will end up in the supreme court and it is important that we have nine justices. it is better if you go before

and more we have cnn political correspondent abby phillip and cnn senior political commentator david axelrod. great to have both of you. abby, cnn's reporting is that president trump wants to see the appointment of special counsels for his own sort of, you know, pet issues or projects here and it sounded yesterday as if senator lindsey graham agreed with his logic. so listen to this. >> if you believe a special counsel is needed to look at the trump world regarding russia how can you say that there is no need for a special counsel regarding hunter biden? >> is that a good comparison, abby? >> well, i mean, for starters, you know, there's been so much misinformation on the republican side about why the russia investigation began in the first place, but let's remember that it was the conclusion of the united states intelligence community that russia interfered in the 2016 election and there were concerns within the fbi about what kind of connections might have existed between the trump campaign and that effort. now, the issue at hand was something of -- i think most people would agree -- urgen

david axelrod, do you see this as -- is it possible to turn the page right now? >> look. hope, we will see. he has a history of relationships across the aisle. hopefully, those will make a difference. but there is something -- there is something very foul in our political environment right now and the president has stirred the pot even more. remember, this president, president trump, spent five years calling essentially calling barack obama an illegitimate president and questioning his citizenship. he announced even months before the election that if he lost, that he would consider it a fraudulent election based on mail-in votes. he advertised in advance. we said it many times. either he wins or the process was fraudulent. the problem is that people believe it, they echo it. these -- i agree with all of the tributes to republicans and democrats across the country have stood up to political and physical threats in order to do their duty, but we may not have seen faithless electors today but seen a lot of faithless elected particularly in the u.s. congress who put the -- fr

. >>> gloria borges and david axelrod and john dean. david, what do you make of his speech tonight? >> look, i think he's rather strained in the face of everything that gone on. it has been clear that he won this race weeks and weeks, there is a barrage of disinformation across the country that had no foundation and the president calling it illinoegitimate and having won the same number that donald trump won in 2016. he had the right reason to be irritated. there is a lot of heroism and a lot of beauty in what happened which is our democracy held. all across the country people did their job sometimes in the face of enormous pressure and sometimes in the face of threats to their lives. that's something we should all be concerned about but democracy held. he's eager to level the indictment on trump and his enablers for what's going on in the last few weeks and continues which is an assault democracy. he finished a plea with unity, let us build a house on a rock that can never be washed away. li we are a divided country tonight and donald trump has done everything he can to continue th

. >> i think david axelrod mentioned this, he says he's running in 2024 and there is all sorts of reasons him to dangle it out there. keeping his potential voters but also his potential done eors engaged but also allows him to raise more money from overseas. he's not going to be able to borrow money from traditional banks here but perhaps from countries overseas who wants to do business with once again a future president. >> it keeps competitors out of the way as well. it makes it difficult for the republican party. >> trump won't be able to simply use this money to pay off his business loans. he has about a billion dollars in debt, $400 million of that is coming due relatively soon. he's possibly going to be squeezed in order to pay that money down. he can't just dip into these packed funds to use it to pay business loans. the guidelines around this require him to use it for political purposes. it could be political travel. he can pay salaries to himself to his children and friends to work for the pact and he can give money to other candidates. it has to have a political purpose. the mon

now a former top obama advisor, david axelrod and cnn's legal analyst. normally it would give a politician and his allies real pause, time for reflection. obviously this is not a normal time. what happens next? >> the president is likely to keep kicking and screaming. he tried to bully even the supreme court for the past month or so. especially when he was speaking today at the white house. actually calling out the supreme court and pennsylvania legislato legislators challenging the vote. the fact that the supreme court slapped it down with no dissents, meaning even the three nominees from this president. saying i am with the president or anything at all. that tells you everything that you need to know. this is a lost cause and it has been for some kind. trying to push in the face of basic facts. the president did not win. >> i want to tell you a little bit about what the president was saying before the election back in december. >> i think this will end up in the supreme court and it is important that we have nine justices. it is better that you go befo

correspondent abby phillip, also with us cnn political commentator and most of "the axe files" david axelrod. you just did a whole podcast together. it's like reuniting the team here. >> it's called promo, john. >> i knew i blew something. david, i want to start with you, the william barr thing is one thing but it's part and parcel of something much larger here which is just how detached from reality and frankly democracy the president is. he spent 46 minutes yesterday in this facebook rant which was a string of lies, i mean, a word salad of lies about the election he lost. you couple that with what his former national security adviser michael flynn is doing, the guy he just pardoned, michael flynn is publicizing this call to declare martial law and hold a revote. this is not small stuff. i just don't think we can get numb to what's going on here and i get maybe the president is doing it for money, but even then what is actually being said out loud is the type of thing that i really do think should make americans shake right now. >> we should note the recently pardoned and very grateful mich

gloria borger and david axelrod are here. i love it. the a plus team on the perfect night on the perfect subject. good evening to both of you. gloria, let's start with you. >> hi. >> president-elect biden was asked about his optimism of republicans who haven't even acknowledged he's the president-elect. listen to this. >> there have been more than several sitting republican senators who have privately called me and congratulated me. and i understand the situation they find themselves in. and until the election the clearly decided in the minds when the electoral college votes, they get put in a very tough position. that's number one. number two -- >> so, you think the fever of that will break after the electoral college meets. >> at least a significant portion of the leadership. i don't know that it's going to break across the board. >> gloria, we'll see. we know the times we're living in right now. he says he gets the position they're in. but the fact he is getting calls from republicans, do you think some are relieved that trump is out

. >> i think it was david axelrod who mentioned this to me. it might have been something else, but the notion that he says he's considering running in 2024. there's all sorts of reasons to keep that dangling that out there, and keep his power over the rnc, the republican party. it keeps his potential -- his voters but also his potential donors engaged. but it also, perhaps, allows him to raise even more money from overseas. he's not going to be able to borrow money. he needs a lot of money. he's not going to be able to borrow money from traditional banks, probably, here, but perhaps from countries overseas who might want to do business with somebody who might be a future president. >> it also keeps competitors out of the way, as well. makes it hard for the republican party to put other people in play. trump won't be able to simply use this money to pay off his business loans. he has about $1 billion in debt. $400 million of that is coming due -- more than $400 million is coming due relatively soon, and he's possibly going to be squeezed in ord

i want to bring in our senior political commentator david axelrod and our senior correspondent arlette saenz is back with us as well. the president-elect is urging congress to act now on a covid-19 relief bill with hundreds of billions of dollars and more to come after he takes office after january 20th. how far does that go with leaders up on capitol hill? >> well, i think it's helpful and it's important but i think what is pushing them along are events here. this jobs report today was kind of a disaster just 245,000 new jobs that slowed down every month in recent months. that big recovery that we first saw from the pandemic recession has stalled out. and, you know, the thing about this report was that it included the fact that hundreds and hundreds of thousands of americans have quit looking for jobs because they can't find them and they have been discouraged. this virus is wreaking havoc on the economy and it may improve later but not good news for people now. you hear larry kudlow sounds like maria antoinette there talking about how things really aren't that bad. if you own a small

david axelrod. also, former nixon white house counsel, john dean. david, you know president-elect biden well. what do you make of his speech tonight? and does this now feel like the biden era is much closer at hand? >> oh, there's no doubt about it. look. i think he's been rather -- rather restrained, in the face of everything that's gone on over the last several weeks. it's been clear that he's won this race, for weeks and weeks and weeks. there's been this barrage of disinformation. you know, nuisance lawsuits, across the country, that had no foundation, in fact. and a president calling him illegitimate. having won by 7 million votes and the same number of electoral votes that donald trump claimed, in 2016. so, he had every reason to be irritated. but i thought he hit right tone, anderson, because the fact is there -- there is a lot of heroism in what happened. there's a lot of beauty in what happened, which is that our democracy held. and all across the country, people did their job. sometimes, in the face of enormous pressure. sometimes, in the f

. >>> let's discuss what's going on, chief analyst gloria borgeer and david axelrod is with us. nearly 4,000 americans died just yesterday, in one day. the government just suffered a major cyber attack, yet president trump is nowhere to be seen on these critically important issues. what is going on? >> well, you kind of have to wonder, wolf, why the president is so much time saying he should remain in office when he is in office and he is not doing his job. he is not talking to the american public about covid. he tweeted today, bragging about the stock market a little bit. he is not telling the american public, showing the american public how he can get a shot in his arm, at least not yet. that would really help a lot of people. they look to him for leadership. he should be doing that. most important is what jim was talking about, this cyber attack on the american government. let me just quote mitt romney to you. not exactly the president's best friend, but he said i think the white house needs to say something aggressive about what happened. and this is interesting. he said thi

let's bring in david axelrod and john casey. john, i start with you. this is your party. not since the red scare have once good men and women been dragged into this kind of sabotage of our democracy and social norms. what do you say to these attorneys general? >> chris, driving over here tonight i was trying to figure out what i could say because i can't believe what i am seeing in our country. these republican leaders -- and think about this. 18 attorney generals across our country, members of congress. you were just talking about the republican leader. you know, i've just become convinced that these leaders are morally and ethically bankrupt. i don't know how they can look in the mirror. i don't. i'm flabbergasted about this. i mean, these are attorney generals. these are people who are in a position to be able to uphold the law. and for them to be joining in to something like this, i'm glad to see that the attorney general of ohio did not join this, this amicus brief. and, you know, it's the leadership that's just lost it. like i say, they're bankrupt. and, chris, the

david kessler thank you so much and adrian axelrod as well.arness personal connections. thank you, adrian. always great to see you and while at the site knowyourvalue.com, you can also nominate a woman over 50 who has found success later in life, and is also paying it forward. it's part of no your value's partnership with forbes. 50 over 50 list. it comes out next year. again, go to knowyourvalue.com for more. >>> coming up, we'll speak with two former u.s. attorneys general about the pandemic's impact on america's justice system. former u.s. attorneys general alberto gonzalez and loretta lynch will be our guests on that and their takes on how the election challenges played out in the past month. >>> "morning joe" is back in a moment. my nunormal: fewer asthma attacks. less oral steroids. taking my treatment at home. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections t