but for the most part, i think her story held to >> woodruff: what about you, elizabeth holtzman, did it hold up completely in your mind? >> yes, and, actually, i think she strengthened the case about itbeing not politically t tivated because she very much clarified the fat she only came forward on this and she came forward in a secret way -- she didn't want publicity about it -- when there were other people being considered. in other words, there wash a t list. she didn't come forward when he was the nominee -- only when he was a nominee, she came forward before that, hoping there would be other -- she said there were other qualified people on the short list and sheug th people should know, the president and senate should kno so th wouldn't be included on the short list. that didn't mean she had an anti-republican orat anti-consee agenda. so i thought that became very clear. k the idea, i mean i think this is where brett kavanaugh went way overboard, i mean, talk about a well-funded effort against him, she's going online with a go fund me kind op gn, she doesn't quite understand what

to talk about this next phase of the investigation, i'm joined by elizabeth holtzman, former u.s. congresswoman and elliot williams, deputy assistant attorney general for legislative affairs under president obama. here's the way i think about it. i always say it like this, we're not going to get out alive. what i mean is this. the trains are going towards each other. today felt like an accelerant to that. there is some kind of crisis constitutionally about the very nature of the power of the office that we're headed towards. do you believe that? >> oh, yes. i wouldn't necessarily use the train analogy. i think about a noose around the neck. and i think the president is going to feel the heat really, really, really scorching him now. he's got somebody's whose close to him who potentially has not only information about him being the president of the united states, but his son, donald trump, jared kushner, this is getting so close to him that who knows what could happen. i think we have to be prepared for a lot of things, and it's concerning. but mueller is moving forward methodicall

. >> all right, elizabeth holtzman and elliot williams, thank you both for making time on this friday night. that is "all in" for this evening on a very, very, very busy friday news day. well, paul manafort's guilty plea today might be the single worst development if donald trump's life and in donald trump, jr.'s life. paul manafort what's in the room with him during the presidential campaign meeting that donald trump jr. arranged with a group of russians who promised dirt on hillary clinton. paul manafort promised to tell mueller every single thing in that room, every word that paul manafort can remember in that room and what he remembers might lead to the first federal criminal prosecution of the son of a president of the united states. paul manafort could be the key witness in a days would be entitled the united states of america versus donald trump, jr. president trump could once again be identified as an unindicted co-conspirator if paul manafort and others can testify that candidate donald trump knew about that meeting and was a participant in a conspiracy to get dirt so the big

let's bring in elizabeth holtzman. and david, i am going to start with you. we have had a few tell-all books about the trump administration. they all tell basically the same story except woodward has by far the most credibility of the three. and it is even worse than you thought sort of theme here. >> from what i have read and we are only now dealing with the excerpts, a meticulous book. i have worked with bob woodward for 35 years, and i don't know a reporter like him. bob is so careful, so precise so pointed you know, did you talk to lindsey graham. he catches trump, even in that tape recording in a lie. it is extraordinary. >> i want to say, that tape recording itself is a microcosm of the mueller problem. two impulses there. he thinks he can schmooze him out of his book, he is lying on the phone getting caught over and over again. >> let me say i have known bob woodward since watergate when we were going impeachment proceedings, and he is a very, very careful reporter. he is careful, he is meticulous. people who talk to him trust him to convey the truth a