i think annie donaldson mostly shows up in volume 2. is there a greater chance of hope hicks and annie donaldson showing up before that committee than there was don mcgahn? >> i would have said yes untila with this absolute immunity idea. any close adviser to the president has absolute immunity to subpoenas from congress, which i think is a legally untenable position. the one court that has ruled on this, even though it's not binding, has said that is a lawless position essentially. i do not think that would be upheld in the courts. will hope hicks come in voluntarily? maybe. i think at this point democrats should assume no one is coming voluntarily. it's all through subpoena and all litigated in the courts, where i think we saw for the first time a glimmer of hope yesterday. the courts will uphold a rule of law and much of the positions taken by administration, the department of justice now and olc are just not backed up by the law. >> as an investigative body, are they better served calling in witnesses like chris christie who witness

donaldson prepared to resign along with mcgann. that evening mcgann called both priebus and bannon and told them that he intended to resign. mcgann recalled then after speaking with his attorney and given the nature of the president's request, he decided not to share details of the president's request with other white house staff. priebus recalled that mcgann said that the president had asked him to, quote, do crazy-- closed quote, but thought that mcgann did not tell him the specifics of the president's request because mcgann was trying to protect priebus from what he did not need to know. priebus and bannon both urged mcgann not to quit and mcgann ultimately returned to work that monday and remained in his position. he had not told the president directly that he planned to resign and when they saw each over next, the president did not ask mcgann whether he had followed through with calling rosenstein. around the same time, chris christie recalled a telephone call with the president and asked what christie thought about firing the

donaldson now works for a law firm in alabama.lking about what she saw or heard, and the white house insists the president has a right to keep it that way. but some in congress disagree. they still think he broke or bent the law, and they would like to see donaldson or at least her legal pads. erin? >> thank you very much, tom. thanks to joining us. anderson starts now. >>> good evening. we are one house subpoena defied and two more issued since the last time we met. with that, a single question with as many legal, political and psychological dimensions to it as there are no bad metaphors to describe it. namely, how fast and how far will democrats push the impeachment process? now that calendar days are also campaign days, every new development affects and complicates how each player approaches that question. just as an example, there's what happened today. former white house counsel don mcgahn defied a subpoena refusing to appear before the house judiciary committee. committee chairman and democratic

would hearing from donaldson be the same as hearing from mcgahn or different?some ways, it might be even better. because she is the one that is in the rooms, the eyes and the ears for all of these eyebrow-raising conversations about the russia investigation. she is there, remember, the day that comey gets fired and she writes something to the effect of, "is this the end?" you know, she's pretty honest. she says things like, oh, just another russia fire drill. so i think lawmakers could have a field day questioning her. obviously, she's mcgahn's number two, she's his right-hand person, worked with him day in and day out. it's not the white house counsel itself, but pretty darned close. >> in one of her notes when she was taking notes, she writes at one point, "is this the beginning of the end?" as you point out. what do all of these new subpoenas from the house judiciary committee tell you about the democrats' strategy? >> their strategy is to take the mueller report and bring it to life in congressional testimony. take the mueller report, let's be honest, it wa

donaldson has been asked to give a deposition instead. hick, one of trump's closest aides throughout the campaign and during the first year in the white house. she was present for a lot. she saw and heard a lot, including the effort on board air force one, the story is told to craft a cover story for why the trump tower meeting happened. congressman eric swalwell democrat of california questioned her about that back in 2018 when she spoke with member of the house intelligence committee. >> she has a very, very deep memory and recall of everything the president has done. the question that i asked her on the house intelligence committee and she refused to answer which is did the president ever tell you to lie for him and did you ever lie for him. that was very -- i would say it was a flash point in the interview. she asked to step outside for ten minutes and then she came back inside and refused to answer the question. i asked if donald trump junior asked her to lie and she refused again. >> ex-deputy white house counsel annie donaldson wor

donaldson prepared to resign along with mcgahn." as the president continues to take unprecedented legal steps to try to block testimony to the house judiciary committee, according to one member of the committee, most of the democrats on the house judiciary committee now are ready to move to impeachment even if their leadership is not. >> the judiciary committee as a whole is for at least an inquiry of impeachment. it's been discussed by several members and i don't think any member -- there might have been two members that were particularly close to speaker pelosi that kind of were not on board, but most, i'd say, 80%, 90% of the committee's on board to go forward. >> politico reports representatives david cicil lirline , janine raskin, pushed to begin impeachment proceedings during a leadership meeting of pelosi's office. hakeem jeffries of new york, and sherry bustos of illinois. some of her key allies rejected their calls saying democra democrats'message is being drowned out by the fight over possibly impeaching trump. two more de

the post has called donaldson's meticulous note taking.ink really what this is another test of the white house, if they continue to stone wall then it's another incremental step toward initiating impeachment proceedings. >> the chances these two women will testify are not slim to none. i think they are none to none. we'll end up in the same situation where the white house will want to take it to court. >> what we do know about these two people as well is they have been really shy of the line light. donald so donaldson moved back to the south. hope hicks is in l.a. . they have been stung by their time in washington. >> what does it tell you? >> this smells like nan scy pelosi. you're talking about meticulous note taking. this is pelosi saying facts first. fight lightater. you get the documents from hope hick, documents maybe if they are out there relating to how the president might have changed language about his son's meeting with the russian lawyer at trump tower. those documents are worth a thousands words if you follow me. i think what

they have also subpoenaed annie donaldson, the one-time chief of

annie donaldson and hope hicks, former white house aide. hicks, currently executive vice president and chief communications officer for the box corporation. no word of donaldson's or hicks would comply with the subpoena. if they don't they will join the ranks of don mcgann and william barr who ignored the house subpoena a few weeks back. house democrats are still deciding on a punishment for william barr. he did speak tonight at a legal dinner in washington on a separate topic but briefly mentioned the current gridlock in the nation's capital. >> as justice scalia used equip every banana republic as its bill of rights and mine is the bulwark against tyranny in america has always been our structure of government, most notably separation of powers. these days clashes between congress and the executives steal the headlines as i know very well. >> a few hours ago the washington post published an article on an internal irs draft memo indicating donald trump would have to turn over his tax returns unless he asserted executive privilege. fox news

andy donaldson at hope hicks, former white house aides. hope hicks currently the executive vice president and chief communications officer for the fox corporation. no word whether donaldson or hicks would comply with a subpoena. if they don't, they will join the ranks of don mcgann and don't forget attorney general william barr. he ignored a house subpoena just a few weeks back. house democrats are still deciding on a punishment for him. he did speak tonight at a legal dinner in washington on a separate target but he did briefly mention the current gridlock in our nation's capita capital. >> as justice scalia used equip every banana republic has its bill of rights. in his point and mine is that the bulwark against tyranny in america has always been our structure of government. most notably the separation of powers. these days, clashes between congress and the executives steal the headlines as i know very well. >> in just a few hours ago "the washington post" published an article on an internal irs draft memo that indicated president trump

however, what's fascinating about annie donaldson notes is she's essentially the taping system. it's imprecise. of course, it's not a tape recording like in nixon's white house. but in these fragments, she captures the drama and fear that the president was engaged in something that at least looked like criminal conduct, criminal obstruction. if it wasn't obstruction on its face. and the efforts by don mcgahn, the white house's counsel to rein him in, especially in march and in june to try to get him to see that what he was doing was verging on a crime. >> janai jeremy, this is just another one of those examples. so much reporting out there, so much we have learned about those early months of the trump presidency, probably the first three to six months where if there is one thing i see sort of big picture it's the collision of all of these instincts that donald trump brought to the presidency with the institution of the presidency, with the federal government, with the relationship between the branches, just a collision there that caused all sorts of upheaval. >> he didn't want t

they still think he broke or bent the law, and they would like to see donaldson or at least her legal pads. erin? >> thank you very much, tom. thanks to joining us. anderson starts now. >>> good evening. we are one house subpoena defied and two more issued since the last time we met. with that, a single question with as many legal, political and psychological dimensions to it as there are no bad metaphors to describe it. namely, how fast and how far will democrats push the impeachment process? now that calendar days are also campaign days, every new development affects and complicates how each player approaches that question. just as an example, there's what happened today. former white house counsel don mcgahn defied a subpoena refusing to appear before the house judiciary committee. committee chairman and democratic jerry nadler subpoenaed the chief of staff as well as hope hicks. chairman nadler saying they were critical witnesses to what he calls president trump's obstruction of justice which he says is continuing. what the chairman did not do was amp up talk about impeachment. ot

donaldson works for law firm in alabama. not talking publicly and the white house wants to keep it that way saying this is the president's business. under the pressure of subpoena she could be driven by congress to say you have to come forward. some people still believe the president broke the law or bent the rules very badly. erin. >> thanks so much. >>> next, jill biden on criticism that her husband is too old to be president. >>> australia's prime minister gets egged and it's bringing back memories of this. you ever wish you weren't a motaur? sure. sometimes i wish i had legs like you. yeah, like a regular person. no. still half bike/half man, just the opposite. oh, so the legs on the bottom and motorcycle on the top? yeah. yeah, i could see that. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. ♪ yeah, i could see that. not to worry about changing their minds in retirement. you may have always imagined your dream car as something fast. then one day you decide it just needs to be safe enough to get her to college and

those subpoenas have gone out to hicks and donaldson tonight. now presumably the white house will try block those subpoenas as well, to block those subpoenas from testifying as well. presumably the judiciary committee will then hold those witnesses in contempt as well. they will pursue legal remedies against hope hicks and mrs. donaldson and just as they have for mr. mcgahn and as they will for all the rest of them. as they continue to is up mueller's witnesses. and they then try to enforce those legally binding subpoenas while the white house orders all those witnesses to not peep. the justice department meanwhile is scrambling itself to try to hold off the prospect that attorney general william barr is himself going to be held in contempt again tomorrow for again defying a subpoena. this one issued by the intelligence committee to hand over materials related to mueller's investigation. so it sort of feels like i think now because we're 60 days into it it feels like oh, this must have been the way it's always been. it's not. this is the new uni

at the same time, the committee has also issued a subpoena for annie donaldson, who was the chief of staff for don mcgahn, the former white house counsel, served in the white house counsel's office. those two individual have said witnessed to some of the episodes detailed in the mueller report. democrats demanding more information. but, the white house has been moving to defy subpoenas, as we saw today, instructing don mcgahn not to show up to the house judiciary committee, despite facing a subpoena, and now democrats are threatening to punish mcgahn. >> mr. mcgahn, was it a mistake -- >> reporter: former white house counsel don mcgahn, will soon be held in contempt of congress, after president trump directed him not to comply with a subpoena, demanding he testify about potential obstruction of justice at the white house. >> we will not allow the president to prevent the american people from hearing from this witness. we will not allow the president to stop this investigation. >> reporter: the justice department said congress cannot compel former senior white house officials to testi

they have also subpoenaed annie donaldson, the one-time chief of staff to former white house counsel don mcgahn. that committee faced an empty chair on tuesday, as mcgahn defied a subpoena for him to appear. and that's fueling calls to start impeachment proceedings against the president. manu raju has our report. >> reporter: one of president trump's closest confidents served with a subpoena. hope hicks, the former communications director, compelled to provide records and testimony to the house judiciary committee next month, about the potential obstruction of justice at the white house. and the committee serving a subpoena to annie donaldson, who served as chief of staff to don mcgahn. but the white house has resisted on all fronts. and former officials cannot be compelled to testify about their conversations with the president. that's prompted more democrats to say the only recourse is impeachment. >> nobody runs for congress with the idea i want to go there and start impeachment. but i think that's what it's come to. >> reporter: tonight, there's a growing rift in the democratic c

watergate had the nixon tapes, mueller had annie donaldson's note. probably a name most people in america have never heard of. but she's mentioned 68, 67 times in the mueller report, especially in volume two, which has to do with obstruction. she's a loyal, die-hard republican, a lawyer, harvard grad, harvard law grad. she's devoted to don mcghan, the white house counsel. she followed him into the white house as his chief of staff. helping manage a large group of lawyers. and basically she was the scribe for what i would describe as the most tempestuos, chaotic and angst filled moments in the oval office. she was writing down in real time what don mcghan was hearing the president say about how he wanted to stop the russia investigation. >> i read all the footnotes and all of her notes. if you think of don mcghan as the narrator of donald trump's efforts to obstruct justice and the flash points that mueller investigated are all things that mcgahn witnessed. annie donaldson is the screen writer if you're trying to understand the story. but what she add

nadler subpoenaing white house aides, hicks and donaldson. abigail: thinking about volatility, not necessarily just the vix, which just closed at the lowest level in two weeks, the "fear index." this is a chart of the nasdaq 100, one-day moves. last september relatively small moves, to the downside, which proceeded huge volatility throughout the fourth quarter. volatility tends to breed volatility, both to the downside as investors become fearful and the but -- buy the dip exuberance. the s&p 500 taking the stairs up. more recently, lots of over 1% moves over the last seven days. seven greater than 1% moves, suggesting volatility might breed more volatility both up and down. so a good time to fasten the seatbelts. toah: as investors get ready fasten seatbelts, we also see increased hedging, especially in the tech space. looking at put the call volume on the etf tracking the philadelphia semiconductor index, just yesterday we saw 24 bearish put trades for everything a bullish call. you can see the spike. so even though we saw a strong day for

the other is annie donaldson. she served as chief of staff for ex-white house counsel don mcgahn. we know from mueller's investigation that donaldson took copious notes while with the administration, including a note documented in the report which read, quote, is this the beginning of the end? after the firing of former fbi director james comey. joining me nbc news correspondent covering national security ken dilanian. ken, let's start with hope hicks because she has the keys to the kingdom really, or the keys to the castle. why subpoena her now? >> well, she was mentioned 73 times in the redacted mueller report. there is a lot of focus on her role in drafting that statement that donald trump issued about the trump tower meeting where his son was involved in soliciting information -- >> a statement that turned out to be false? >> yes. and she talked about making emails disappear. the thing with her, the last time she was on the hill, she refused to talk about anything that happened in the presidency. she was preemptively invoking executive privilege. that will be an issue again. t

there's also annie donaldson, that was don mcgahn's chief of staff and had a front row seat to the russia fiasco. that was cited nearly 70 types in mueller's report and the new subpoenas come on the same day don mcgahn defied the subpoena and refused to testify making it clear if it wasn't already that this white house is not going to comply. with anything. but the big kahuna in all of this, of course, is robert mueller, sources telling cnn members of his team are hesitating about him testifying publicly saying that he doesn't want to appear political after staying tight-lipped for two years which is completely understandable but with the white house gagging the people who could answer questions about what happened behind the scenes, doesn't mueller have an obligation to speak? to tell the american people the whole truth of everything he knows, especially in the face of a white house and an attorney general that continually mischaracterize mueller's findings, a president who falsely insists that he was exonerated by robert mueller and an attorney general who has proved again and again he

donaldson prepared to resign along with mcgahn. that evening, mcgahn called both priebus and bannon and told him that he intended to resign. mcgahn recalled that, after speaking with his attorney and given the nature of the president's request, he decided not to share details of the president's request with other white house staff. priebus recalled that mcgahn said that the president had asked him to do crazy but he thought mcgahn did not tell him the specifics of the president's request because mcgahn was trying to protect priebus from what he did not need to know. priebus and bannon both urged mcgahn not to quit, and mcgahn ultimately returned to work that monday and remained in his position. he had not told the president directly that he planned to resign, and when they next saw each other the president did not ask mcgahn whether he had followed through with calling rosenstein. around the same time, chris christie recalled a telephone call with the president in which the president asked what christie thought about the president

hope hicks and the former chief of staff to don mcgahn annie donaldson are being asked to testify ander documents. they include michael flynn, trump's talks with james comey, pardons as well as hush money payments. joining me once again for this hour, danny, let's get to this one as the president says he is going to fight all the subpoenas. but how do you see this playing out? and could there be legal consequences with the house if those that have been subpoenaed do not cooperate? >> yes. if they don't cooperate the house has one of several options. criminal contempt. they can file a civil lawsuit and they even have this inherent contempt power. they haven't used it since the 1930s but they can send the sergeant of arms out to arrest the person and bring that person in. the reality is our constitution gives congress broad investigative power and subpoena power but very little enforcement power. it relies on the other branches to enforce those subpoenas. so if hicks and donaldson decide not to show up then congress has a challenge in actually enforcing those subpoenas which is why we s

for don mcgahn, anderson, i think you could quite possibly see new once for hope hicks and annie donaldsonformer chief of staff to the former white house counsel don mcgahn. in the future, talking to sources inside the white house and outside the white house, they're all expecting the president to do the very same thing, to extend immunity to hope hicks and annie donaldson to prevent them from testifying in the same way that don mcgahn was prevented from testifying. anderson, it goes beyond at least in the case of hope hicks, it goes beyond this idea that the executive branch has the right to protect the privilege to keep some of these officials from testifying. in the case of hope hicks, this is somebody who was very close to president trump and is seen as almost a daughter of the president inside the white house, despite the fact she doesn't work here anymore. there's very raw feelings about not letting those officials testify. >> politically, even if there are just steps towards impeachment by democrats, that's clearly something the president can use to focus on up through the election.

donaldson and just as they did for mr. mcgahn and as they will do for the rest of them as they continue subpoena mueller's witnesses and they try to enforce those legally binding subpoenas while the white house orders those witnesses to not peep. the justice department meanwhile is scrambling itself to try to hold off the prospect that attorney general william barr is himself going to be held in contempt again tomorrow for again defying a subpoena. this one issued by the intelligence committee to hand over materials related to mueller's investigation. so it sort of feels like i think now because we're 60 days into it, oh, this must have been the way it's always been. it's not. this is the new universe that we live in now that is a 60-day old universe. ever since mueller had his investigation ended and had his report submitted 60 days ago, that was the start of this new conflict zone we're in where mueller can't be heard from. where mueller's full report can't be released. where mueller's evidence can't be released. where t

they can get that from fox today, but not from the press corps. >> sam donaldson, thank you as all.e it. >>> check in with chris, see what he's working on for "qcuom prime time". >> you were on colbert last night. >> was it too much? >> no, it was great. >> i couldn't hold colbert like you hold colbert. >> couldn't you? [ laughter ] >> maybe in a more gentle sense. >> you've carried me out of several cities. if memory serves. i was a tough spot, i've got to be honest. i've never been part of anything like that ever. what are you supposed to do when the guy punks you on live television and says come on, lets go, me and you right now. what do you do? >> i think you did the right thing because you beat him. >> well, of course. i wasn't going to lose. >> very quickly ten seconds, what do you go? >> what do i have tonight? >> we are going to talk to -- >> four seconds. >> about whether or not democrats can argue the economy, and we have a member of the democrat house committee that is thinking about holding the a.g. in contempt. what are they really going to do. >> all right, chris, i'll

but as "the washington post's" carol leonnig pointed out, extensive notes taken by annie donaldson, who served as chief of staff to don mcgahn. carol leonnig joins me now. tell us about who annie donaldson is and what role she plays in the saga. >> she's a loyal lawyer, diehard conservative, a person who came into the office with every goal of trying to help donald trump implement his agenda, but also very loyal to don mcgahn, the white house counsel, who she followed into the administration. she had been an associate of his at a law firm, jones day, and was the person he tapped and trusted to manage the office for him and to also be a scribe for important moments inside the oval office that were very disconcerting to don mcgahn. >> why were these notes taken? my sense is there's a culture of note-taking that happens in the trump administration, memorializing memos. why? >> well, i actually differ with this a little bit. i've heard a lot of people talking about the reasons people take notes. good lawyers take notes. >> right. >> they all take notes. it's like being a reporter. you can't

and any donaldson is mccann's chief of staff and had a front-row seat for what she called the russia fiasco. they sited nearly 70 times. in those new subpoenas, they came on the same day he refused to testify, making it clear he wasn't already, that this white house is not going to comply with anything. but the big of course is robert 3450u8er. membersf ohis team are hesitating about him testifying publicly saying he doesn't want to appear political after staying toil staying tight lipped for two years. and essentially gagging the people -- doesn't mueller have an obligation to tell the american people the whole truth of everything he knows especially in the face off a white house and an attorney general that continually mischaracterize his finding? a president that falsely insists he was exonerated by robert mueller and an attorney general that has proved again and again he will say whatever it president wants him to say. doesn't he have an obligation to tell him what he knows. to put the american people first. so with all of that, the pressure is on. nancy pelosi even though she do

taliban joining me now is the head of the loya jirgah also the secretary of the high peace council mr donaldson i thank you for joining us thank you charlotte. so you must be watching these talks and or how closely starting today what are your thoughts on the oh of the afghan government is still supporting the u.s. going direct talks and we are still hopeful. these talks we believe do face to face of afghan afghan government to taliban talks. what are your thoughts on how realistic a ceasefire might be if that's what's being discussed in this round it's a very much needed all afghans that are here three thousand two hundred delegates from across the country their top demand is immediate and prolong cease fire. what is your position on the taliban and said there are taliban delegates inside the loya jirga did they are they are involved in and do you think they are truly open to pace and open to talking with yourselves the afghan government. or officially they are not open to direct talks with the afghan government but we hope that after the collaboration of this jirga which is the most inclusive

extensive notes taken by annie donaldson. carol joins me now. tell us about annie donald son and what role she plays. >> she's a loyal lawyer, die-hard conservative, a person who came into the white house with every goal of trying to help donald trump implement his agenda, but also very loyal to don mcgahn, the white house counsel who she followed into the administration. she was an associate of his and was the person he managed to tab the office and be a scribe for important moments in the oval office that were very disconcerting to don began. >> why were the notes taken. my sense is there is a culture of notetaking memorializing memos. why? >> i actually differ with this a little bit. i heard a lot of people talking about the reasons people take notes. good lawyers take notes. they all take notes. it's like being a reporter. you can't remember what someone told you and what's important unless you write it down. there were people who tried to memorialize events by a mem tow file ease comey's term. he was worried he was going to need a contemp r

. >> they did issue subpoenas for hope hicks, andy donaldson, she was the chief of staff to former white house counsel, don mcghan, she took notes, "the washington post" had a story about how annie donaldson's notes could be the nixon's tapes of the mueller report. this does seem to hinge around some vehicle, tactic to bring this into people's living rooms. and the person who seems to get that is donald trump. donald trump's exertion of privilege -- i doubt he's read the whole report. it seems to have as much to do with keeping that television hearing drama from coming to pass as anything. >> donald trump knows television, the power of images. he was in show business for a number of years, prior to that, real estate developer new the use of a stunt to get press attention, he knows the power of that. your point is exactly right. i was in vietnam with him this february, and michael cohen's appearance for congress upstaged a summit with kim jong-un. that was what people cared about. it was so different than reading the words or reading the testimony. it was cohen taking the oath, sitting in

. >> chair general nadler issued a new subpoena for andy donaldson and former white house communications director hope hicks. "the judiciary committee's investigation into obstruction of justice, public corruption and abuse of power by president trump and his administration will continue." live coverage for wednesday on the networks. the house returns for work on a bill to reverse changes recently made at the consumer financial protection bureau. 10:00 eastern for general speakers, noon for legislative business. the senate is back at 9:30 a.m. eastern to continue work on judicial nominations with a vote expected for a number of u.s. district judge is, live on c-span2. mnuchin goesteven to capitol hill for a hearing before the house financial services committee, chaired by maxine waters. he will face questions on the international monetary system starting at 8:30 a.m. eastern. later in the afternoon, another house panel hears testimony on securing voting systems for 2020. about one h w

who was, donaldson was the chief of staff to former white house counsel don mcgahn. hope hicks, one time communications chief at the white house, currently the head of communications of fox corp., our parent company. these subpoenas come just hours earlier today after it was quite the scene within that house judiciary committee. the white house said that don mcgahn, the former white house counsel could not testify. it would be unconstitutional was their argument. so mcgahn was not part of hearing. now democrats are sending subpoenas to his former chief of staff and to hope hicks as well. connell: latest twist in all of this. melissa: u.s. officials briefing lawmakers on the trump administration efforts in the middle east. mounting tensions with iran. we're live at the pentagon with break headlines. connell: speaker nancy pelosi calling a special meeting of house democrats for tomorrow, discussing possible paths to impeachment. james freeman from the "wall street journal" response to that, after the break. melissa: and a latte in less than 10 seconds. i like that. 120

hope hicks and annie donaldson are being brought in. everybody knows who hope is. the spokesperson for donaldson was the chief of staff and supposedly took notes about interactions with the president. what do you think you're going to get out of hope hicks that justifies the drama that's going to come with the request? >> these two witnesses and their notes will provide enhanced, if you will, understanding of where director mueller was going and where he wanted the congress to go. and that is to finish the investigation and determine if there was misconduct and move to the next level as i indicated under the constitution or decide not. these individuals will contribute to that understanding and there may be various obstacles placed in front of their presentation. we do think that some of the witnesses, these two in particular, may be open to further conversation. on the question of getting the facts to the congress, to the committee, and to the american people. we want to give them a chance to do that and give congress a chance to get to the facts. director mueller

or documents and testimony, hope hicks, the former communications director and annie donaldson was chief of staff to don mcgahn and they want her contemporaneous notes which as you know featured prominently in the mueller report. how likely is it that you'll get that testimony? >> again, i hope that they will understand that it is our constitutional duty of oversight to make sure that we get the facts before the american people and hold this president accountable before the law because no man is so high as to get above the law. but i have to tell you we have a pattern here and so we have asked for documents early in june and then later in june to have the two women come in and testify before our committee. we have a pattern where we've seen nothing but obstruction by this president, by this administration, by this attorney general, so i don't hold out a whole lot of hope and i hope they do the right thing. they're american citizens first. >> you've seen over the past couple of days how things have escalated between president trump and house speaker nancy pelosi. they used to actually hav

and donaldson, whose detailed notes are cited throughout the mueller report. yet, there's growing uncertainty if mueller will testify in public. a source telling cnn mueller does not want to appear political after staying silent about his two-year-long investigation. all of this comes as "the washington post" obtains an irs confidential draft memo that directly contradicts the trump administration's refusal to hand over president trump's tax returns to lawmakers. the ten-page document says the agency must provide congress with trump's tax returns unless he opts to assert executive privilege. mr. trump has not done so. treasury secretary steve mnuchin instead blocking the request, arguing it, quote, lacks a legitimate legislative purpose. >> so lauren, at this point what is the next step in the fight over the president's tax returns? >> reporter: when i've spoke within the chairman of the house ways and means committee, he says there's just one way forward and that is going to court. but there are some members on the house ways and means committee who believe t

>> we have not heard from donaldson. hope hicks' lawyer provided nbc news a no comment here. her testimony, were she to testify, would be significant. she was perhaps one of the closest confidantes to the president of all of those inside the west wing. her office just outside the oval office. the president would routinely call her to come in. but the president lashed out again today, perhaps frustrated by this latest effort by democrats here saying the investigation was started illegally, accusing democrats in what he calls a witch-hunt of trying to debt a do-over here. he said absent this investigation, said his approval ratings would be at 65%. specifically he said too bad. and once again echoed a claim he said throughout the course of this that it is, quote, presidential harassment. >> the president's words and others say they're doing their job. peter alexander, thank you so much. >>> let's please bring in msnbc legal analyst glenn kirschner. the reason i say please, glenn, this is a question i have heard over and over, and i've got it too. we know that attorney general b

committee issued subpoenas to former white house officials hope hicks who you see here as well as annie donaldson, the new subpoenas are sure to set the stage for another legal clash with the white house can pay back to you frank thank you time now to get a check of the weather around the bay area and to do that are 4 zone forecast. >>chief meteorologist lazcano has more almost happening to sfo tonight major delays there again you're seeing low clouds out there we see the showers and causing all kinds of problems delays now. >>98 minutes on arriving flights at sfo that will back things up quite a bit no delays being reported oakland or also settles abc couple raindrops on the lens there too in the showers continue to fall outside most are just a widely scattered but you got some pockets of downpours coming through and now we'll go throughout the night tonight and in the er early tomorrow morning before things subside now once we get the middle of day tomorrow, your skies clear out nicely we're back in the mid 60's in the san francisco, 60 degrees and a least a little cool on the coastline. a litt

speech i would love for job right, joe biden i think he probably could be the one that would be donaldson. >>i watched my body barack stand up their biden leaning into the well of support to build by the president he served the mighty black voters, what is at stake last year 24 states. introduced turn actively 70 bills to curtail the right to vote and guess what mostly directed at croke people of color. we've got jim crow, sneaking back and also this morning for you. >>unveiled his national gun violence prevention plan. >>his proposal would make gun licenses a federal standard like a driver's license or passport in court fingerprints interview and gun safety course it's needed in neighborhoods like his booker told jake tapper in newark new jersey. >>this section this tree was last wild places and new jersey when i first moved here. >>just minutes later 2 people were wounded in a drive-by shooting near. >>now it's kilo reporting still to come to bury a teams with huge playoff games tonight what to expect from the warriors and the sharks. >>plus people who live in the bay area apparently ar

so as house democrats are struggling to get mcgahn to testify, how much would donaldson's testimony holdetty considerably, in part because of the legal principle that she took notes in a contemporaneous fashion, which is to say in the moment in which the things were occurring or shortly thereafter. listen, i think don mcgahn's refusal to testify, for which there's no legal basis. he's already in effect waived executive privilege by his willingness to sit down with director mueller, which he did. so he has no legal basis for not appearing before us. in fact, executive privilege does not apply. i think his refusal to do so is one of the more, frankly, blatant exercises of potential obstruction of justice on their part and cover-up. after all, it's not just all of these alleged instances of obstruction of justice. it is their effort to stonewall, to cover up it all that i think amounts to something. >> last question i want to get to with you. the president's lawyers reaching that agreement with your committee as well as financial services that the president's financial records from two bank

digging in, democrats subpoenaed hope hicks, the president's former communications director, and annie donaldson, mcgahn's former chief of staff. the president tweeting "the dems were unhappy with the outcome of the $40 million mueller report, so now they want a do-over." all of it a contentious backdrop as president trump hit battleground pennsylvania, turning his fire on former vice president joe biden, a scranton native who moved to delaware as a child. >> he left you for another state, and he didn't take care of you because he didn't take care of your jobs. >> reporter: as for whether robert mueller will testify, three sources familiar with the matter tell nbc news mueller and house democrats have been unable to reach an agreement so far phillip? >> all right, kristen, thank you. >>> hollywood has kicked their boycott of georgia into high gear with two major projects pulling production out of the state. actress kristen wiig is pulling her comedy "barb and star go to vista del mar" after the passing of the controversial abortion ban. and the amazon series "the power" also pulled their scouts.

tonight, democrats subpoenaed hope hicks, the president's former communications director and annie donaldson, mcgahn's former chief of staff tweeting the dems were unhappy with the outcome of the muellern report so now they wt a do-over. but it's mcgahn's absence that's a breaking point for many democrats, who are now demanding impeachment. >> i believe we have comacto the time of impeent. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi is still resisting those calls. >> it's about the presentation of the facts so that the american people can see why we're going down a certain path. >> reporter: all of it a contentious backdrop as president trump hit battground pennsylvania overnight, turning his fire on former vice president joe biden, a scranton native who moved to delaware as a child.e >> hleft you for another state. and he didn't take care of you because he didn't take care your jobs. >> reporter: as for whether robert mueller will testify, three sources familiar with thel matter tnbc news, mueller and house democrats have been far.ach an agreement so lester >> kristen welker at the white house,

. >> according to don mcgahn and donaldson the president expressed frustration with comey before his march 20 testimony and the testimony made matters worse. the president had previously criticized comey for two too frequently making headlines and not and when the president suspected comey of leaking certain information to the media. don mcgahn said he thought the president was acting like his own branch of government. press reports following his march 20 testimony suggested the fbi was investigating the president contrary to what comey had told the president at the end of january intelligence assessment briefing. cspan3 two donaldson and senior advisor stephen miller recalled that the president was upset with comey's testimony and the press coverage that followed. it was because of the suggested the president was under investigation. president was beside himself over comey's testimony. the president called mccann repeatedly that day asking him to intervene with the department of justice. according to the notes the president was getting hotter and hotter, get rid, officials in the wh

when we had our markup in the subpoenas that were issued, and amy donaldson, don mcgahn, and prietus. just getting around this because we don't like the amendment doesn't get us around it. coupled of the fact we had discussions here of rushing into this, not having an accommodation process, and as you folks know, it does take -- there's not an impasse here. i think that's the interesting part about this. there is always talk about being in contempt. it's even from what the department of justice offered yesterday, to say, if we go to this step, we'll go back next week and discuss some more. maybe there was the by president obama in the eric holder case but. the case that you're relying upon even for a gentle reader is so much less than what you're trying to do here. that's generous reading. it is not 50-50. as we go down this line, i understand the chairman's argument, but it has been pointed out that you have the ability to go to court to try to make this happen. also, before i quit here, the starr case is not precedent. we keep bringing this up. the starr case is not precedent. one o

>> reporter: it didn't stop chairman nadler from issuing two more subpoenas, hope hicks and amy donaldsonis executive vice president and chief indications officer for fox corporation. no word on whether either will comply. if they don't they would join the ranks with mcgann and william barr who defied a subpoena. the president is fighting back over twitter writing the democrats are on a fishing expedition wanting to interview the same people and see the same things they have seen the two years with robert mueller and 18 angry dems, never happened to president before, never even happened to president obama this as pressure on nancy pelosi to push towards impeachment mounts, the speaker downplaying the division when asked about it. >> are you going to refuse pressure to impeach the president? >> know. >> reporter: one thing to watch out for, a special strategy meeting behind closed doors. to figure out the best way forward. the media research center analyzed 87 hours of media coverage of donald trump in 2018 and found 90% was negative. rob: the host of life, liberty and live in colin up the