back with us now, david chalian jeffrey toobin, and bianna golodryga. ining us david gregory. the president cleared something up after before tweeting, raising questions whether whether or not russia helped him get elected he asked that directly. he said russia did not help me get elected president, i got me elected. didn't help me at all. david gregory, the president also called robert mueller a true never trumper, which is the first time i believe i've heard donald trump say that about the special counsel. >> well, you've got a sad contrast between somebody in robert mueller who has conducted himself professionally and with integrity as a patriot, and the president who in his pet u lens i think is doing more to move the needle toward getting congress to initiate impeachment proceedings than anyone else. we have to refined ourselves there wouldn't have been a special counsel if the president hadn't brought this on himself. so that is this lack of self-control that our president of the united states displays on a near daily basis. again, the notion -- it

elie honig also joins us along with david chalian, laura jarrett. laura, if you could just tick through for us, i think you were in the middle of answering when we jumped back in there, what no you? you heard the democrats say we are pushing our chairman jerry nadler to proceed with contempt, you know, holding the attorney general in contempt. what would that look like if it happens? >> so assuming that they are successful with that contempt vote, they have a couple different options. some more realistic than the others. they can try to use what are their inherent contempt powers and get the sergeant-at-arms to go arrest bill barr. that seems like a long shot. they could try to get a u.s. attorney to prosecute him for criminal contempt. given that bill barr oversees all of the u.s. attorneys across the country, again, doesn't seem like that's going to happen. >> not likely. >> the third option i think is if this he want to pursue this and press it is the most likely, which is to go into court and to try to get a civil contempt order from a federal j

. >> cnn political director david chalian is with me. we hear the chairman's response and manu raju said it best, it is a clash that continues to escalate and one side versus the other until poof, potentially impeachment proceedings. >> and they are not talking about the substance. they are questioning each other's motives at this point. something that you know you get to a new level in politics when you are just so distrustful of the other guy. we've seen president trump say a blanket policy. the democrats are not getting anything. this letter goes so much more to the core of this claiming that jerry nadler doesn't have jurisdiction which does seem like a far-fetched claim. i don't know that they are thinking that president trump is a king as jerry nadler said but there is no doubt that it is the purview of the house judiciary committee -- >> their job. >> yeah, to follow up on potential obstruction of justice that jerry nadler laid out in the mueller report and i can't think of anything more under the jurisdiction of the judiciary comm

david chalian, thank you so much.atching, please tune in tonight to watch former congressman and democratic presidential hopeful beto o'rourke. tonight dana bash will moderate. it is live in des moines. they'll be taking questions from iowa voters this evening at 10:00 eastern only here on cnn. >>> we are learning more about president trump's plan for a new round of pardons. he's said to be considering pardons for u.s. military members accused of murder and other crimes and now we know who may have given him this idea. i didn't have to run for help. i didn't have to call 911. and i didn't have to come get you. because you didn't have another heart attack. not today. you took our conversation about your chronic coronary artery disease to heart. even with a stent procedure, your condition can get worse over time and keep you at risk of blood clots. so you added xarelto® to help keep you protected. xarelto® - a blood thinner approved by the fda - when taken with low-dose aspirin is proven to further reduce the risk of bl

and cnn political director david chalian is on the scene for us at the town hall site. eto o'rourke need to accomplish tonight? >> well, i think mission number one for o'rourke, wolf, is to reenergize his campaign, capture some of the enthusiasm that existed when he first got into this race back in march. he has slipped a bit since then. so reintroduce himself in some way or introduce himself for those just tuning in. why he is the best democrat equipped to take on donald trump in this field of 23, get that energy going, bring in those adoptions, of course, sign up those volunteers. i think that's sort of mission critical for beto o'rourke tonight. >> listen to what beto o'rourke said last night in iowa about playing nice with republicans. >> i'm not naive about the forces that we face. it is not just donald trump. there is no more, i'm trying to use polite language here, but you know what i'm talking about when i talk about mitch mcconnell. if we play nicely by the set rules, we're going to end up with the same results. >> interesting, because we almost heard an opposit

i want to bring in david chalian. extraordinary exchange if sometimes you think you're living on another planet. this is the president of the united states referring to the speaker of the house as crazy, which she is not. and also this total obsession on the president's part to line up his staff. he's the president of the united states. one of the most powerful people on earth. he's lining up his staff, his advisers, deputy press secretary to attest to the fact that he was calm. that's not even the point. the point was it doesn't matter what his demeanor was, he walked out of a meeting and said we're not going to legislate on the american people's priorities, his priority, infrastructure, trade, his own agenda item, i'm not moving forward with that until you stop investigating me. that's not how the constitution works. >> so what is going to happen now? i mean, this exchange was so bitter, so nasty, what happens? >> well, what is clear is that nancy pelosi is getting under the president's skin. no doubt about that and

cnn political director david chalian joins me here now.a for a reason here, and pennsylvania will be key to deciding the 2020 race. >> there's no doubt, and it's why joe biden is book ending his sort of three-week rollout, his first public appearance was in pittsburgh. he's going to wrap up this weekend with a big speech on the theme of unifying the country in philadelphia. he's putting his headquarters there. clearly, this was one of the states we call the blue wall that trump busted through to win the white house, and if indeed as you just looked at that early poll there, joe biden is making the case he's better equipped than anyone to make sure that state flips back to the blue column. >> i'm sure he'll mention it a few times that he's originally from scranton. scranton joe. the other issue that struck me, and this is also in the quinnipiac poll. we don't have it up on screen, but i think the number was 68% of voters believed biden had the best chance of beating trump. and the next one down was way down in the low digits, bernie sanders

that to me is an interesting middle ground. >> agreed. >> david chalian, thank you very much. >>> it id of democrats who are calling on house speaker nancy pelosi to begin the impeachment inquiry against the president. "newsroom" picks up our coverage right now. >>> good morning, i'm jim sciutto, nice to be back shoulder to shoulder with poppy in new york. >> i'm poppy harlow, nothing says defines like an empty chair. once again that is exactly what we're expecting to see one hour from now when the house judiciary committee meets for what was meant to be an illuminating day of testimony from the former white house counsel, don mcgahn. just like the attorney general, less than a month ago, mcgahn intends to defy the panel's subpoena which will very likely earn him a contempt citation and a court fight and thereby add to the

eastern. >>> coming up for us, we should keep david chalian around.ork city mayor bill de blasio joined the crowded presidential race. not everyone in his hometown is cheering and applauding that news, how far. if that's the reception, and we'll show you the "new york post" cover that he's getting from new york city, can he win over the rest of the country? that's next. ♪ i think i found my dream car. it turns out they want me to start next month. she can stay with you to finish her senior year? of course she can! [ laughter ] [ groaning ] hey! want to drive? really? [ engine revs ] do you think we can do this, rob? things will be tight, but we can make this work. that's great. ♪ [ laughing ] okay... here we go. now... [ gasps ] wait... grandpa, what about your dream car? this is my dream now. [ laughs ] ♪ principle. we can help you plan for that. rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis

let me bring back in political director david chalian on this one.i found it really fascinating, it's very clear that nancy pelosi is in no way, are democrats going to be backing down from -- let me know if she's still talking on camera. i saw she stopped once again, which actually she rarely does. anyway, we'll continue. democrats are definitely not backing down on their investigations, not that there was a question in that, of course, but she also declared that the democratic caucus is not on a path to impeachment, and that is where he wants us to be, david. >> that was crystal clear. she has now emerged from meeting with her caucus and she's saying the caucus is not on a path to impeachment. manu asked the right question, of course. how do you square that with saying that he veryimpeachment offenses? the nub of that is are you just taking a pure political position that you don't think impeachment works for you and your party politically, but you do actually think that the facts lead up to it? and what she went through was a slowdown process again.

. >> david chalian, thank you very much.oming up, new details emerging about a bizarre attack on north korea's embassy? spain and the u.s. based activist accused of organizing it. when you start with a better that's no way to treat a dog... ...you can do no wrong. where did you learn that? the internet... yeah? mmm! with no artificial preservatives or added nitrates or nitrites, it's all for the love of hot dogs. be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious aller

david chalian is standing by. tarted off with huge fanfare, huge fund-raising haul. lots of attention, and all the talk is about beto o'rourke and his need to reboot his campaign. where does he stand right now as he's about to go into this town hall? >> yeah, as you just pointed out with that clip from "the view" kate, that talk isn't coming from some far away place. it's coming from beto o'rourke himself who is out there talking about the need to regroup here and try a different approach. you know, he clearly, and his team around him, are trying to have him be a little less free wheeling and a little more focused on policy prescriptions, a little more presidential, if you will, in how he presents himself. but there's no doubt he lost some steam from where he was as you said in that very anticipated entrance, but you know, we should also caution, there's a long time from now until the iowa caucuses. i think some 258 days to be exact. and to write him off or anyone off at this point would be a fool's errand. >> what

david chalian is in des moines where the town hall is taking place. g, david? >> reporter: anderson, this brand new quinnipiac poll, you're right, lapping the field. biden up at 35%. then you've got sanders, warren, harris, buttigieg rounding out the top five. everyone below 5%. this is jid's race right now. it's what makes what the president said about him so interesting. >> it's at 38%. trump is clearly feeling the pressure in a state like pennsylvania with joe biden riding high right now and what is so fascinating anderson is if you ask the question about how americans think about the economy right now, look at the top two numbers, the excellent and the good. that's 71%. that is an 18 year high where 71% of americans are saying the economy is excellent or good. so it begs the question if the president is at 38% approval is it not the economy this time around. >> as we mentioned the o'rourke town hall starts in about an hour. he's hoping to reenergize his campaign. >> no doubt about it. you remember all the anticipation that many democrats had about

. >> joining me right now cnn political director david chalian, and shan wu, legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. david, since it all comes down to politics, from the contempt vote to the president trying to block release from anything with executive privilege with regard to the mueller report, now the threat of subpoena to subpoena mueller if they must to get him to testify, now don jr. what are people watching play out right now on capitol hill? >> well, i think they're watching two things here, kate. i think the first thing they're watching, and you heard from speaker pelosi, there seems to be a new red line here that may trigger an escalation which is whether or not bob mueller gets to testify. it seemed to me that speaker pelosi was making clear that if there is a real attempt to not allow mueller to testify, i think things from the house democrats could escalate pretty quickly, even though as you know, she's been trying to completely tamp down because she understands impeachment to be a total political loser in our mind, that's her assessment of what it would be for her

. >> tucker: it's just thought okay for them to criticize barack obama david chalian cnn political director the only one by the way the senate intel committee released a statement suggesting trump was lying, too. keep in mind the chairman is a republican from north carolina. and then every bland clueless person in washington consensusville near d.c. lined up to denounce the big orange liar. watch. >> president trump has a new favorite word and every time he uses it he is lying. and that is the word spy. >> these baseless claims of spies. >> this is the president of the united states telling people don't believe what this federal government is doing and that has very, very dangerous consequences. >> the notion that somehow the fbi implanted, planted someone inside the campaign to spy on the campaign is just not true. >> there is absolutely no evidence there was a spy. >> he wants you to believe that his campaign was spied on and it's one of the worst things that we have ever seen from government. >> tucker: one of the worst things we have ever seen. not the spying. people talking about the s

. >> cnn political director david chalian is here now, and back with us is former federal prosecutor tackle this one. he says this all the time. about obama and the election, that obama did nothing about russian interference in the 2016 election. he's not correct, but it is complicated. >> it is complicated. there's some fair criticism. of everything you're going through today, this is probably the most serious part of what the president is saying. this is the national security threat to the united states, to our fundamental democracy. this is the ongoing piece of this, not just looking back to 2016. >> what about mueller began and ended talking about. >> that's how he bookended his remarks yesterday. the president, there was an internal debate inside the obama administration in the late summer of 2016. how much to go public or not. the president, of course, lets mitch mcconnell off the hook because he was briefed on this and he said to the democrats if we go public with that, we'll consider that partisan politics. president obama in a one on one conversation with putin said hey, knoc

because david chalian last hour mentioned our brand-new cnn polling. it does show something that should be a warning to democrats. 44% of americans say democrats are doing too much in terms of investigating the president. and this is all wrapped up in that, right? too much. 28% say they're doing enough. 25% say they're doing too little. is that a sort of a blinking red light for democrats here? yes, the majority of americans in this poll do want them to get the full unredacted mueller report. they do want them to investigate if the president obstructed justice. but they think overall, dems are maybe doing too much here. >> there's a reezb we were talking about a $2 trillion infrastructure bill earlier this week. democrats know, particularly speaker nancy pelosi knows, that particularly democrats that were the majority makers, those from trump districts that elected trump, need something else to take home. they're not as entrenched in the mueller report, in the mueller investigation. so yeah, they need to be able to walk and chew gum and, you know, get

. >> david chalian, thank you very much. >>> it does sound like the end game for democrats has changed. there is this growing list as david just said of democrats who are calling on house speaker nancy pelosi to begin the impeachment inquiry against the president. "newsroom" picks up our coverage right now. >>> good morning, i'm jim sciutto, nice to be back shoulder to shoulder with poppy in new york. >> i'm poppy harlow, nothing says defines like an empty chair. once again that is exactly what we're expecting to see one hour from now when the house judiciary committee meets for what was meant to be an illuminating day of testimony from the former white house counsel, don mcgahn. just like the attorney general, less than a month ago, mcgahn intends to defy the panel's subpoena which will very likely earn him a contempt citation and a court fight and thereby add to the pressure facing house speaker nancy pelosi from democrats in her own party, democrats eager to start impeachment proceedings against this president. for now she is standing firmly against that. >> i know you've heard this

let me bring in david chalian.d of jump off where caitlyn left off, the president was also asked if he knew, i actually didn't hear exactly the question he was asked but something to the effect of did you know that bill barr was going to launch the investigation into the origins of the russia investigation or if you asked him to, and he said i didn't ask him to launch the investigation. into how the russia investigation was launched. can we be honest that that strains credulity considering how many times he said we should investigate the investigators. >> he doesn't have to necessarily. i think bill barr is glean the president's intentions and what would make the president happy. >> just like i could glean your intentions if you went on national television and said i wish kate could turn her hair brunette. i would know you wanted that. >> he has talked about it publicly many times, tweeted about. there's no secrecy about what president trump wanted his department to do as it relates to the origins of the investigat

david chalian, elizabeth warren quickly if we can.'s not going to do a fox news town hall and the reason she says is she doesn't want to be as involved as she puts it in the hate for profit machine. that was an interesting way of saying no, david. >> yeah, it's a way that works really well this grassroots fundraising emails to supporters. it's a way that works really well to energize that part of the base of the democratic party that she so desperately needs. she needs to keep slicing away from bernie sanders support, a natural fit there for her, and this is -- it's a no-brainer. and, by the way, it's just as a no-brainer for some other candidates running who want to do the fox news town hall and reach out to some voters, but for elizabeth warren's strategy who is not doing big fundraisers, living off these email grassroots foundation, trying to build a list of supporters, i think this makes perfect sense for her. >> we have to go. thank you both very much. >>> so if there's a new york knicks fan in your life they probably need a hug

want to bring in my friend, cnn's political director david chalian. okay.s nothing transparent about this. it is about as overt as it gets for these candidates who are like-minded with this congresswoman. clearly desperate for her endorsement. i mean, that's pretty stunning to think about the fact she's not even 30, a freshman member of congress. >> but she's got a ton of star power inside that progressive wing, and they want some of their shine. they have some star power their own. you put out the sanders video on predatory lending and showed up together, bernie sanders did with aoc at a green new deal event, an issue that she's drawn contrast with joe biden on, right. the two people that aoc has mentioned when she's asked about 2020 and if she will endorse are sanders and warren. makes perfect sense ideologically. remember, she worked for bernie sanders' 2016 campaign, and she says she's going to hold off on an endorsement for a while, but i don't think you'll stop seeing these 2020 candidates looking for opportunities to seidel up when it makes sense for

. >> joining me -- again, what she said is just not true -- gloria borger, david chalian, paul begalablican u.s. senator and cnn senior political commentator, rick santorum. senator santorum, sarah sanders, you know, continuing to claim the president is kporexonerated. mueller made it very clear today, he's not. the president tweeted out, well, it's insufficient evidence and in this country it means not guilty. mueller didn't say there's insufficient evidence. >> well, i thought mueller was a little twisted when it came to that whole issue, because before he talked about the president not being, you know, proven, that he wasn't convinced the president was innocent, he said that the russians who were charged were presumed innocent. but then he goes on and says, well, we can't presume the president innocent, because we didn't find him innocent. and then he goes on and says, it wouldn't be fair to charge him, because you couldn't true him. yet he basically lays out a charge. he says, we didn't find him innocent, and he lays out all of these things and sort of gives the impression, i agre

former prosecutor paul callan, and cnn political director david chalian. start with you, paul, on what this means on the legal front in terms of this negotiation. here's a subpoena for this unredacted report. we're not going to -- we're not going to hand it over, and now this. what does it mean? >> well, the backdrop on this is first of all, only one cabinet secretary in american history has ever been held in contempt of congress. that was eric holder. that case went eventually into the federal courts and the federal courts threw out the contempt citation. you have to lay a very clear foundation before you hold somebody like a cabinet secretary in contempt. that's exactly what chairman nadler is trying to do. he's trying to go through the negotiating process now to say congress is willing to compromise on some of these issues, but you're going to have to produce the material. so that he's in a more defensible position if he winds up in front of a federal judge to enforce a contempt subpoena. >> fascinating. david, in the tennis match of back and forth, the