jeremy peters, ashley parker, david jolly. this first election coverage in our first group of guests tonight. >>> coming up for us, deputy attorney general rosenstein in the hot seat today while the war on robert mueller was fought all around him. and not far from there, donald trump, jr. making his third appearance before a congressional committee. the topic there, too, the russia investigation. that and more when "the 11th hour," the wednesday edition, continues. whoooo. going somewhere? here's some advice. tripadvisor now searches more... ...than 200 booking sites - to find the hotel you want and save you up to 30%. trust this bird's words. tripadvisor. anif you've got a lifee. you gotta swiffer >>> have you seen good coause t fire special consul mueller? >> no. >> thank you. if you were ordered today to fire him what would you do? >> if there were could cause i would act. if there were no good cause, i would not. >> that say deputy attorney general rob rosenstein on capitol hill today defending special counsel robert muell

first let me just say i agree with david jolly on the on the a.b.c. matter larry you and i have known brian ross for a long time he's a great guy he's been an excellent reporter but he really screwed up this one he i think deserved to be suspended and i think a.b.c. missed a step when they first of all they said well we're going to investigate this they didn't act right away they didn't apologize they issued a clarification not an apology they got it wrong and they should've fessed up right away and then moved on but as far as what chris reddy says if i understand you correctly i believe robert mueller is investigation does represent an existential threat to the trump of ministration look it's certainly not a witch hunt it's not fake news and it's not going away any time soon which is what the white house keeps telling us this is a serious criminal investigation for people very close to donald trump so far have been in charge three of them campaign officials but now with michael flynn you go from the campaign into the white house and clearly as dianne

jeremy peters, ashley parker, david jolly. this first election coverage in our first group of guests tonight. >>> coming up for us, deputy attorney general rosenstein in the hot seat today while the war on robert mueller was fought all around him. and not far from there, donald trump, jr. making his third appearance before a congressional committee. the topic there, too, the russia investigation. that and more when "the 11th hour," the wednesday edition, continues. ed if you'd have told me three years ago... that we'd be downloading in seconds, what used to take... minutes. that guests would compliment our wifi. that we could video conference... and do it like that. (snaps) if you'd have told me that i could afford... a gig-speed. a gig-speed network. it's like 20 times faster than what most people have. i'd of said... i'd of said you're dreaming. dreaming! definitely dreaming. then again, dreaming is how i got this far. now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed n

jill colvin back with us white house reporter for the associated press and david jolly back with us former congressman from florida. okay, congressman, mike murphy who is funnier than the average gop political consultant said on this broadcast steve bannon can't deliver a pizza let alone a congressional district race. do you think bannon's going to have better luck this time around? >> well, the people of alabama might elect roy moore and we know that. listen, steve bannon is that drunk uncle at your thanksgiving dinner. what he has done is doubled down on what trump did by endorsing moore and now he's using it to attack romney and mcconnell. by attacking mitt romney, steve bannon and in essence donald trump ha chosen a new foil and it's a foul unlike anybody else. there are very few republicans with the elegance and conservatism that mitt romney has, and i don't know that this is a fight that steve bannon and donald trump want to have with mitt romney. if there is a fight for the soul of the republican party, mitt romney commands a lot of respect among conservatives. steve bannon picked a

cornell belcher, jill colonel van, david jolly, appreciate the conversation tonight as so much is changeround us. coming up, what the president did today that may break with nearly 70 years of u.s. policy. that when "the 11th hour" continues. plus, the superior non-stick you love. (sfx: mixing) check you out... it looks like a christmas card in here. i'm karen, i'm a teacher.olfer. my psoriatic arthritis caused joint pain. just like my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and i was worried about joint damage. my doctor said joint pain from ra can be a sign of existing joint damage that could only get worse. he prescribed enbrel to help relieve pain and help stop further damage. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common, or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or

here to talk about a democrat pollster who worked, and david jolly is back with us, former republicanan from florida. okay, congressman, mike murphy funnier an the average gop consultant said on this broadcast steve bannon can't deliver a pizza let alone a congressional district race. do you think bannon's going to have better luck this time around? >> well, the people of alabama might elect roy moore and we know that. listen, steve bannon is that trump uncle at your thanksgiving dinner. what he's done is doubled down and now moving it to attacking mcconnell and now romney. don't overlook what happened tonight, brian. this is very intriguing. by attacking mit romney steve bannon and in essence donald trump have chosen a foil. and it's a foil like anything else. i don't know that this is fight that steve bannon and donald trump want to have with mit romney. if there is a fight for the soul of the republican party, mit rumny commands a lot of respective among conservatives. steve bannon picked a fight tonight, and it'll be interesting to see what it means for the future of the party. >>

i'm joined now by former florida congressman david jolly and also msnbc contributor and host of the remix on whiy radio in philadelphia, james peterson. david, alabama secretary of state john merrill has already said he sees no evidence of voter fraud. here are some numbers to crunch here. some more numbers. more than 1.3 million people cast votes. in order for a recount to be triggered, the race had to have been decided by less than .5%. about 6,700 votes. do moore and his supporters really think they can get this election turned around or is this merely a political ploy? >> i think roy moore continues to show just what a terrible candidate he was. and the reality is by contesting this, he continues to push this narrative of how entitled he felt as a republican. we can't overlook the fact that this was also trump's republican party. we know the similarities between roy moore and donald trump. this notion that facts don't matter. and if the facts don't matter, then there's no accountability. what you see right now in roy moore to take jeff flake's adjectives of the weekend are the last re

kyle whitmire, ayesha moody and david jolly, thank you for joining all of us.resident trump's feud with hillary clinton still going strong. we'll look at that straight ahead. this is "hardball" where the this is "hardball" where the action is. to activate my body release it, like it's supposed to. trulicity is not insulin. it comes in a once-weekly, truly easy-to-use pen. the pen where you don't have to see or handle a needle. and it works 24/7. trulicity is a once-weekly injectable medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it should not be the first medicine to treat diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take trulicity if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, if you have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you're allergic to trulicity. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or symptoms like itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects ma

and david jolly, republican from the great state of florida. to defend what your party is about to pass in both houses of congress, and send to your president. what exactly are we witnessing here? >> that's a lot of invectives there, brian. >> sorry. >> i would vote no on this. i voted against donald trump. but you are speaking to something really remarkable. this is a tax bill that like it or not really does cut taxes for the vast majority of americans. though it does so discriminately favoring the rich. and yet it is historically unpopular. i think what it speaks to is we are living through a remarkable level of distrust of the gop. distrust that's really bordering on dislike, to be honest. we have a president, a republican leader, who's continued to lie to the american people. it's historically reformed for corporate and asset-based revenue for individuals. but for the vast majority of voters this is not historically reformed for them and that's high they don't trust the republicans anymore when it comes to the republicans and tax policy. >>

joining me now, david jolly of florida, and former democratic congresswoman donna evans of maryland. guys, welcome, good to see you. >> thank you. >> david, what do you think about these tax cuts? ? do you think they're going to be a boone for the republicans or a problem for them? >> well, i think possibly both, and this is where the election is going to come in, i think it was a bad bill, let's september this is corporate tax reform, not individual tax reform, with the most savings going to the wealthy, let's accept all of that, this is the first time republicans will be able to play offense on an issue. they've been playing defense on all things trump, defense on the lack of a health care solution to obamacare. defense on steve bannon and roy more. they're going to be able to play offense going into 18. hey, we saved you $80. they're going to try to target every democrat that's voted for higher taxes about the elections are decided on skon traft. and the commercial you're going to see from republicans in 2018 is going to be we're for less taxes, democrats are for more taxes. >> wha

david jolly former republican congressman of florida. david, i'll start with you. there is a perfect closed loop. the president watches four hours a day. he's watching. >> he's consuming this stuff that in someways is meant for, you know, it's sort of meant to keep the base manipulated as the mechanism of the most powerful person in the world. here is the person watching this and acting on a perfectly closed circle is dangerous. >> of course it is. past presidents at least had judgment and discernment. look, it's obvious what donald trump and media who support him are trying to do. it's under bob muller's credibility. in law it says if the facts are on your side, argue the facts. if the law is on your side, argue the law. he can't argue the facts or the law in this investigation so he has to under mine the credibility of the prosecutor and setting up a closing argument for the base and selling it and it will be similar whatever you thought of the clinton administration or the clinton impeachment. house democrats had a closing argument, how dare the skonld laos repu

. >> thank you, david jolly. thank you my friend donna edwards., republicans were quick to pass a tax cut that benefits the wealthy. meanwhile, millions of children in need of health insurance can be left out in the cold this christmas. this is a program called chips. it's for kids just at the poverty level and a little bit above who need health care and aren't getting it. this is really if you think about it tiny tim stuff. democrats are demanding action tonight. you're watching "hardball." >>> welcome back to "hardball." democrats have pointed out that the republican focus of the tax bill has made them put the children's health insurance on the back burner. the program is running out of money. democratic lawmakers held a press conference today where they held lumps of coal demanding that they reauthorize the program before the holidays. let's watch. >> this is the ultimate bad christmas carol story. this may be the most shame full day in the history of congress. we're going to put 9 million kids in this country at risk. so what we're doing here

. >>> joining me now is david jolly, the former congressman from florida. also, director of the law program at george mason university and michael mccal, the former ambassador to russia. it's good to see all of you. i want to go first to you, david. you tweeted today, ironic that russian president putin has the courtesy to thank trump for their good work while u.s. president trump undermines and slams their work. you want to elaborate on that? what do you want to make of this call? >> that is accepting the kremlin's read. our own intelligence community, given the fact donald trump slams and undermines our intel community. it is ironic. it does speak to a broader issue here and the ambassador knows this well. diplomacy and intelligence sharing require as steady hand and consistency from the u.s. government. it is a lack of consistency we have seen from this government. we need to hold russia accountable. we can do that having some type of relationship in the intel world working with them on north korea, the middle east and others. trump's policy when it come

. >> steve, do you -- i've seen folks like former congressman david jolly, folks like yourself, markeague from the mccain campaign, say that basically a democrat-controlled congress is the only option for any check on donald trump and should make any differences in policy, economic or social moot. if you don't support some check on this white house, you don't support democracy? >> look, end of the day i think those are the dynamics the country is facing in 2018. the question isn't about domestic policy. the question is fundamentally about the constitution of the united states. this president's increasingly erratic behavior. the complicity of a republican congress. the absolute unwillingness with a few exceptions for republicans to state out loud what so many believe privately. he's manifestly unfit. that he's attacking institutions from the press to the judiciary. that he's interfering in investigations. we now know for sure he brazenly lied to the american people on the question of russia. as christine welker's question points out. what we know for sure is that we live in a time now

former florida republican congressman david jolly, "washington post" columnist and msnbc analyst eugene robinson. zerlina maxwell, now director of progressive programming for sirius xm, republican strategist and msnbc contributor steve schmidt. in washington, white house reporter for "the wall street journal" and msnbc analyst eli stokells and former obama deputy campaign adviser stephanie cutter is here. i think you and stephanie are the two attorneys at the table. can you first just address what donald trump jr. is sort of holding out as his rationale for not sharing with the committee the substance of his conversation with his father? and then tell me if you think that will hold up with bob mueller. >> he's claiming attorney/client privilege. context is also important. we can't overlook that this is a family business for donald trump. and donald trump jr. and the entire trump oerlrganization. and there is no personnel they'll ultimately protect if it means getting to the trump family themselves. we also know that this family knows that bob mueller is encroaching on them. so what we'v

look, just over two years ago i received a great gift from then-florida congressman david jolly.a very special thing. millions of people want to come to the united states, and so through the magic of television, i did have a flag flown over the united states capitol that we would like to present with you in coordination with your producer, so hopefully this reaches you at yourç desk. stuart: yes, and -- look at that, would you look at that? [laughter] >> amazing. [applause] >> that was magic. stuart: pure trickery. it's been a great two years. i feel like an american, and i feel like i've been here forever. i just can't lose the british act seven. sorry about that. [laughter] >>> all right, check this out, the implosion of an old football stadium near detroit didn't go as planned. it happened yesterday. it's the pontiac silverdome, the old home of the detroit lions. the smoke, when it cleared, the stadium had not gone down. demolition officials say the blast did weaken the dome, it could still fall, but it's not clear when it will happen. >> don't go near it. [laughter] stuart:

garrett, stand by, i want to bring in kate koppens, the staff writing at "atlantic," dave jolly and david ignatius, columnist at "the washington post" who is also an nbc contributor. mr. koppens, to a lot of folks, this all seems to be an effort to undercut americans' faith in the mueller investigation. do we know having an effect? >> i think it's fair to say it's having an effect with his base, which is probably where this is primarily aimed. trump has his rallying cries against the fbi, the jupt drngts the intelligence community in general have picked up steam and brought along vast swaths of the conservative media. if you listen to conservative media, talk radio in the last couple of weeks, past few weeks, you hear constant talk about how there's a conspiracy to take down trump, that there's rampant corruption and bias in the fbi. and i think that, you know, this is probably working with some trump voters. at the end of the day, trump has done very little throughout his presidency to bring along anyone besides his base. that might be enough to keep him in power. >> david, this is your

jolly on the u.s. court appeals for the fifth circuit. circuit. arguing for the respondants, charlie, craig, and david llins will be j.p. schnapper-casteras. 's special counsel for appellate and supreme court advocacies. he works with l.d.f. attorneys on strategic development and preparation of appellate and supreme court briefs. prior to joining the l.d.f., john worked as a associate at the washington firm of sydney, austin where he focused on apell plat representation and cop plecks commercial litigation. he's published on a range of international and domestic policy issues in the "washington post," "politico," and elsewhere. he co-authored the supreme court brief on behalf of lesbian and gay service members in the landmark u.s. v. windsor case. j.p. as he's known is currently a fellow at the georgetown university law center and co-chair of the constitution project's young professional committee. in september, 2013, he was named one of the top 99 foreign policy leaders under 35 by diplomatic courier and led young professionals in foreignpolicy. a graduate of stanford, harvard's kennedy school, and the stanford law sch