let's talk about rudy guilliani's tv appearances.seems to be contradicting evidence that's already in the public sphere as we referenced earlier, that e-mail from donald trump jr. can mueller use his comments against trump as this investigation continues, these interviews that guilliani is doing that is contradicting the public record? >> there have been so many contradictions already around this meeting that he has plenty of ammunition to work with i would think if he was going to use it. an interesting factor of guilliani's tv appearances is he is out there to muddy the water, truth isn't truth kind of super it up. he is trying to plant a seed of doubt ahead of the release of any reports saying, you can't trust what these people tell you, you know, this whole investigation has not been on the level, and you have to believe what we're saying. and so it might undermine his case when he's saying blatant falsehoods but he is in there to mix the things up. >> to quote the president when he said, don't believe what you are hearing or say

. >>> rudy guilliani weighing in on the russia probe timeline.e tells the washington journal that trump will not meet with mueller. ♪ >>> good morning to you. it is monday, august 13th. i'm richard louie alongside louis bergdorf. ayman and yasmin have the morning off. we will start with explosion new allegations from assistant to the president. the former reality television star is proceed moemoting help about her time in the white house. one thing that did not make the memoire concerns a tape of donald trump using the "n" word. she says in the book that three sources in separate conversations described to her trump using the rarely slucial t it was not until after the book was lossed sclosed she heard th >> you have heard the tape in. >> i have heard the tape. >> since publication of the book? >> yes. >> and you know it exists? >> yes. >>> and i regret that people are trying to leverage it as an october surprise. i don't want to be a part of it. i heard for two years it existed and once i heard it for myself, it was confirmed what i feared the m

quote, his day in court is happening right now, guilliani said. mr.also shrugged off suggestions he was a discombobulated serving a leader of the free world. he said, you probably can't do this without making a mistake or two and noted with evident satisfaction that, quote, mueller is now slightly more dis trusted than trusted and trump is a little ahead of the game. but a recent "fox news" poll shows support for the mueller poll, 59% of americans say they approve of robert mueller and the russia probe while 37% say they disapprove. that is consistent, ayman and frances, with many other polls that show, yes, the public wants to see this investigation to fruition. >> it is actually incredible. there's so much to pack in there but i wanted to start with the guilliani assessment he thinks it would be better for the president's impeachment battle for there to be -- to have this debate right now in the public space. one can deduce from that that the lawyer, guilliani, is seeing that impeachment is inevitable, he is preparing and laying the ground work for

guilliani's claim is not accurate. 45% approval rating in the latest "fox news" poll, 59% approve of the mueller investigation. facts aside though, how telling are these comments from rudy guilliani in terms of the president's strategy? >> well, you know, what is not surprising about it is that it does seem that guilliani is really -- it is not a legal strategy so much as it is a political strategy, and a strategy to appeal to the public and try to basically argue that the investigation is not legitimate and, therefore, we should discount everything that happens. you know, i question how effective that is when we see week after week indictments, convictions, guilty ploeas comig against folks charged by the u.s. government as part of mueller's investigation, but it really is -- there's no question i think he was transparent in saying this is what my client wants and this is what i'm doing. >> david, really there's no evidence that the president, regardless of a successful conviction of paul manafort, the events with mic

. >> what rudy guilliani claims would be a serious violation is in fact a distortion, as the justiceartment general recent wrote that the 60-day rule is not written or described in any department policy or regulation, adding it is generalized, unwritten guidance that prosecutors do not indict political candidates or use overt investigative methods in the week of an election, not to terminate. guilliani went on to challenge the special counsel's motive in seeking an interview and suggested he would be under scrutiny. >> we offered him an opportunity to do a form of questioning, he can say yes or no and we can do it. if he doesn't want to do it, he knows the answers to every question he wants to ask. he's going to ask him, did you tell comey to go easy on flynn. the president is going to say, no, i didn't. hey, bob, you know it. why do you want to get him under oath? you think we're fools? you want to get him under oath because you want to trap him into perjury, but we're not going to let you do that. i have never been involved in an investigation on either side that's more illegitimat

is rudy guilliani making up as he goes along? is he purposely lying?arly onset of dementia? how does he go from yesterday saying he never -- he never asked that question to us, of course, having a tape where clearly a couple of weeks ago he said that's precisely what the president said? >> yeah, i think i mean i don't want to rule out early onset, but the first option seems to me obviously the right one. i mean guilliani as i said before, his credibility is basically zero on pretty much everything at this point because he has contradicted himself over and over and over again. but we are now veering into a new terrain in terms of the kind of deception that they're trying to perpetrate and that he is trying to perpetrate in this context. it is not just the case that -- this is not a question of jim comey's world versus donald trump's word. jim comey's word today versus rudy guilliani's version of donald trump's reality today. you have jim comey's contemporaneous notes from the time. you have contemporaneous notes of other people that jim comey reported t

. ♪ >>> this morning trump lawyer rudy guilliani says the president agreed earlier this summer that hehouldn't do pardons during the russia probe. that comes after reporting that the president had asked for advice about the issue. plus, attorney general jeff sessions is back after the latest round of criticism from president trump. and a bombshell revelation that david pecker, the ceo of the company that publishes "the "national enquirer"" has been granted immunity by federal prosecutors investigating the president's former fixer, michael cohen. ♪ >>> good morning. it is friday, august 24th. i am ayman mohyeldin alongside louis bergdorf. well, in the aftermath of this week's drama surrounding michael cohen and paul manafort, president trump's lawyer rudy guilliani tells nbc news the president agreed in june he shouldn't do pardons while robert mueller's investigation is ongoing. guilliani's comments come after "the washington post" reported that trump recently asked his lawyers for their advice on the possibility of pardoning his former campaign chairman, paul manafort, and other aides

. >> well, i guess you have to add that one to the montage from earlier this month as rudy guillianimory. meanwhile, white house counsel don mcgahn reportedly opening up to bob mueller after fearing that he was being set up by the president to take the fall. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, august 20th. with us we have pulitzer prize winning historian and author of the best seller, "the soul of america, the battle for our better angels," john meachem. columnist for "the washington post", david ignatius. nbc news chief correspondent and host of andrea mitchell reports, andrea mitchell. national reporter for nbc news, carol lee. also "new york times" reporter michael schmidt as well as u.s. attorney for the northern district of alabama and msnbc contributor joyce vance. john meachem, before we get to rudy telling us that the truth is not the truth, that perhaps what the meaning of "is" is or is not, i wanted to ask you, we always talk about turning points in this trump administration, and many people believe that we will never have a turning point. trump is just

rudy guilliani calling on mueller to deliver his final report. his message, put up or shut up.ander for that report. >>> all right. four cities are suing president trump over his promise to let obamacare implode after congressional republicans failed to repeal the law last year. for more on that i want to bring in nbc news national politeal reporter heidi przybyla with more on her reporting this morning. what to you have? >> reporter: that's right. a lawsuit is being filed in maryland federal court by columbus, cincinnati and baltimore today arguing that trump's efforts to make good on his promise to let obamacare implode violate the constitution. trump has, quote, waged a relentless effort to use executive action alone to undermine and ultimately eliminate the law. the complaint charges according to a draft obtained by nbc news. the suit alleges that trump's directives ordering agencies to roll back as much of the affordable care act as possible violates article 2 of the constitution that requires the president to, quote, take care that the law is faithfully executed. it is al

president trump's lawyer rudy guilliani weighed in on twitter writing to john brennan.sident trump granted our request, jay sekulow and me, to handle your case. after threatening if you don't, it would be just like obama's red lines. come on, john, you're not a blowhard. >> oh, wow. so the top democrat on the senate intelligence committee is filing legislation that would prohibit president trump from revoking security clearances for political reasons. senator mark warner is offering an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that is currently under debate on the senate floor. warner said yesterday, quote, president trump is setting an extremely dangerous precedent. he's using the pours of his office in an attempt to sbim tate and silence his opponents and he's politicizing a process that is, by design, supposed to be non-partisan and apolitical. >>> on twitter yesterday president trump suggested money is motivating scores of retire top intelligences, military and national security officials to stand up against his stripping ex-cia director john brennan of his secur

here is rudy guilliani and jay sekulow defending their client, the president. >> flynn is the exampleno crime. if it had been said, the president says, go easy on him. >> which the president says, you know, he said -- >> he didn't say stop it, don't to it. so, no crime. however, it didn't take place according to the president. according to comey it did. now, we have -- >> of course, if it did, it wouldn't have mattered, but you're right. if there's two different recollection goes of a meeting, now you set up a perjury situation. >> correct. >> joining me is ned price, former assistant to president obama and national security analyst. also with me is guy lewis, a former u.s. attorney. let me start with you, guy, giving context to the audio we just heard. the president's attorneys not busy enough, decided to fill in for their friend sean hannity on his radio show, a chance to hear them talking about the case and what they think the grounds are for any criminality. let me get your perspective on that. this has been a week in which they filled in for sean hannity. there was a moment earli

rudy guilliani said this about cohen. >> the man is a pathological manipulator, liar.has been lying all week, he's been lying for years. i don't see how he has any credibility. which lie do you want to pick? do you want to pick the first lie, the second lie or maybe a new lie? because he's lied all of his life. >> joining us now, jill rolvin, white house reporter. good morning to you. we have been listening to what has been said with president trump mentioning the non-disclosure agreement. one might ask the legal jeopardy omarosa may face based on the nda which is not easy to enforce even in private circles, but in this public sector does she face more jeopardy? >> it is interesting. it is unclear what the president was talking about here when he referred to this non-disclosure agreement. we know during the campaign every member of the campaign had to sign one of these non-disclosures. omarosa denies she signed anything at the white house and that she signed a contract when it came to "the apprentice." when you're a government employee, there are questions about the et

rudy guilliani one day will say michael cohen is the greatest guy in the world, the next he will sayat's what suits him on that day. one day he will say donald trump basically asked jim comey to take it easy on his national security advisor, the next he will say, i never said that. it is as if the people think that videotape does not exist. >> well, it toss exisdoes exist. we can see when they changed their stories. mayor guilliani is saying one thing on one day about defense of his client and a different thing on a different day. but on the other handy think what they've realized is people's attention span are short. every time i see colleagues of mine in the press do some of their fact checking on the president, he has told 1,000 lies this year, 100 last week. you have to ask, how do you even grapple with that as journalists and as voters as a public? the constant stream of misinformation, position changing, lying, dissembling, false statements, it is a blizzard, and it is almost -- you know, in a certain sense it protects itself, swroe, whijoe,a real tragedy. there's so much comin

. ♪ >>> this morning trump lawyer rudy guilliani says the president agreed earlier this summer that heg the russia probe. that comes after reporting that the president had asked for advice about the issue. plus, attorney general jeff sessions is back after the latest round of criticism from president trump. and a bombshell revelation that david pecker, the ceo of the company that publishes "the "national enquirer"" has been granted immunity by federal prosecutors investigating the president's former fixer, michael cohen. ♪ >>> good morning. it is friday,

president trump's lawyer, rudy guilliani, claims truth isn't truth while trying to explain why the presidentbert mueller. plus, former cia director john brennan is considering legal action after the white house revoked his security clearance, this as trump is drafting documents to strip others of security clearances as well. new reporting that president trump's former fixer michael cohen is being investigated for bank fraud in excess of 20 million dollars. ♪

the president's lawyer, rudy guilliani telling nbc news he is preparing to respond to mueller's requestnder for that report. meanwhile, a person familiar with the matter telling nbc news that the so-called manhattan madam is set to testify to the special counsel's grand jury this week. the source says mueller's team questioned kristin davis about russian collusion last week. davis has ties to former trump campaign adviser roger stone. in a statement to nbc news last week, stone called davis a long-time friend and associate and a brilliant business woman. he also claimed, quote, she knows nothing about alleged russian collusion or any impropriety related to the 2016 election. after being contacted by mueller's team in july, davis said, quote, for them to come to me for information on russian collusion, i don't have anything on that. she called it, quote, out of the blue and very upsetting. in 2014 davis began a two-year prison term for selling prescription drugs to an fbi informant. he she earned the nickname manhattan madam for running an escort service with a wealthy client list that s

trump attorney rudy guilliani telling "the washington post", quote, we have talked a lot about impeachmentt different times. it's the only thing that hangs out there, claiming they can't criminally charged him. white house counsel don mcgahn and other aides invoked the prospect of impeachment to persuade the president not to take action or behave in ways they believe would hurt him. still, trump has not directed his lawyers or aides to prepare an action plan, leaving allies to believe the president does not appreciate the magnitude of what could be down. the office of white house counsel is down to 25 lawyers down from 35 earlier. they have discussed adding abby lou el to his legal time. lou el represents jared kushner. >>> a day after announcing white house counsel don mcgahn would be leaving in the fall, president trump fired off a series of tweets yesterday morning about mcgahn's departure. he wrote, quote, the rigged russia witch hunt did not come into play, even a little bit, with respect to my decision on don mcgahn. he went on to tease, i am very excited about the person who l be ta

. >>> rudy guilliani weighing in on the russia probe timeline.e washington journal that trump will not meet

as my colleague rudy guilliani said, i had bad information at that point.ade a mistake at that point. >> he didn't say where he got that bad information from, by the way. >> interesting. >>> joining us, reporter for "the washington post", eugene scott. he had a late night last night. i saw you on cas"kasie dc." i appreciate you getting up for us. >> sure. >> the president basically with his tweet threw his son donald trump jr. under the bus. how do you see it? what's the significance of the tweet for donald trump jr. and for the narrative about what happened at the meeting? >> i think the biggest issue is the impact it has on the presidency and campaign as a whole. the president, of course, was not attempting to throw his son under the bus. he was attempting to protect his son, but in the process he seems to admit more clearly than he ever had before that the primary focus of the meeting was not on learning about how to change adoption policy in russia, but to get information from a foreign government, one that's an adversary of the u.s. government, to use

meanwhile, trump attorney rudy guilliani once again pushed the special counsel to wrap up his investigationn saturday, quote, just a few days before 60 day run-up to election. if mueller wants to show he's non-partisan, issue a report on collusion and obstruction. they will show president trump did nothing wrong. then will have to admit you are fair and we will. >>> search and rescue missions continued in hawaii as homeowners and county officials began to mop up from damage caused by tropical storm lane. though lane weakened over several days from a category five storm, it drenched parts of hawaii with over four feet of rain. several main roads were closed and under water while the deluge of rainfall flowing into the county sewer system triggered three major spills. lingering moisture will produce excessive rainfall in the coming days that could lead to additional flash flooding and landslides. to get a big picture now on the weather forecast, let's bring in meteorologist bonney schneider. bonney. >> good morning, ayman. you are right, hawaii is still facing a threat for rain as the tropica

. >> rudy guilliani, you need to teach your children to respect the police.ike a thug. joe ar ppaio, just don't break e law. i figure white people been giving black people advice for a few hundreds year. maybe we should listen. >> no. >> it was tongue in cheek. >> so obviously what you are telling us it is tongue in cheek, but we have talked a good bit. gene robinson, eddie mcleod and a lot of us talked onset about one of the most depressing things as an american and a guy who loves my country, believes in my country, believes, as john says, that the arc of civilization is ever moving upward. what is so depressing in 2018, a black father, if i were a black father first thing i would have to do is sit down with my three boys and say, listen, here is the deal, the rules aren't the same. when the police pulls you over, put your hands-on the steering wheel and freeze. >> even that doesn't -- >> by the way, we have seen that doesn't -- >> that doesn't even work. >> as a black dad you spend your life scared to death when you send your kids out. >> i think that is a