how do you interpret that, howard fineman? >> well, i interpret that to mean that if mueller wants to go ahead for legal reasons, the pace of the investigation, the availability of witnesses, whatever, he can do it if his purpose isn't to affect the election. but i think rudy giuliani has a point. but what interests me about how rudy responded to the nbc question there was remember a week ago he was saying this has to be over before the window. now he's saying, hey, if there's a window, leave us alone for a while. i think that's a recognition that somehow penetrated to rudy of the slow, steady, continuous pace of this that will go on even if there are no indictments after labor day until election day. >> shawna and matthew, everybody that i've talked to that's been close to mueller and worked with mueller says he's not going to pull a comey. meaning, he's not going to do what comey did 11 days before the election. meaning that comey -- that's why i thought today -- that he would be small c conservative about it and say you kno

howard fineman is an msnbc political analyst, retired army lieutenant colonel ralph weathers. he was a fox analyst. when he left it was a propaganda machine. he's had security clearances at a high level. and the woman who ran the doj security -- she said to the "new york times" today donald trump is sending out a clear message, quote, don't cross me. and joining us from new york as well, christina greer. my thanks to all, colonel, i begin with you, donald trump does things people don't like, that's fine, it's a free country. why has this gone beyond something people don't like and how it's dangerous? >> it's not america. this is not how we do things. it's banana republic behavior an insult to those. in the united states of america, we close ranks when it comes to national security. and it's not merely a matter of keeping these people -- giving them continued security clearances so that they can give us advice. but in the case of a national catastrophe, and a nuclear attack on washington, you've also got this "b" team ready to help out. it goes on and on. but the bottom line is

of susan page, michael steele, msnbc political analyst and of course a former rnc chairman and howard fineman, an nbc news analyst who spent his tuesday in judge ellis' courtroom marveling at paul manafort's wardrobe. anyway, mimi, let me start with you. define obstruction of justice and is it something that has to be done in secret for it to be a crime? >> sure, chuck. i want to answer the second part first. it does not have to be done in secret. the definition of obstruction of justice, there are different prongs of it, depending on whether you're trying to interfere with witnesses or tamper with evidence. it's basically trying to impede an investigation corruptly, with corrupt intent, which simply could mean you're trying to stop an investigation because you don't like that that investigation is zeroing in on you or your close friends, so it can't be -- it has to be for a bad purpose and those would be bad purposes. and that's why this tweet right now looks so incriminating because what's happening -- >> you believe it's very incriminating? you have said you thought this was obstruction in

. >> all right, joining me now is nbc news analyst howard fineman, and seth waxman who spent eight years prosecuting organized crime figures like some of those we saw portrayed on tv. seth, let me begin with you, you've been in this position before. is the way trump acting a sign that he feels backed into a corner, the language, the posturing, is it defensive in nature? >> of course it is. it is exactly that. you know, when i was a federal prosecutor, i used to sit on wiretaps for weeks or months. this is the kind of language that hardened criminals would use. kingpins and drug dealers. who's flipping? who do we want to go after? who's on our side? i mean, listening to this is like listening to tony soprano. this is shocking to me, this kind of language. i don't want to go too far, washington, lincoln, jefferson might be rolling over in their grave to think a president of the united states is criticizing people who own responsibility, plead guilty and decide to change their life, but yet, you know, standing by the person who isn't going to be a rat. it's really, really upsetting. >> howa

. >> howard fineman? >> politics, life, existence for donald trump is a zero sum game. he sees -- he believes that he can only have power and authority if no one else has it. so any independent institution with a history, with a reputation, with a mission that is independent of politics is something that he has to destroy. that's the essence of what dictatorial banana republics are all about. they're about the personality, the will and the wants of the person in charge. there is no more independent, at least since world war ii, institution in america with greater power than the intelligence community. and we designed it that way. we wanted it that way because we wanted to have people who are free to look for the truth where it was, and give -- >> well, and build -- >> good advice to people. >> on the point you're making. when you use the word power, you also seem to be referring to autonomy. >> yes, well, that's implicit in the idea of what donald trump hates. anybody who has autonomy cannot exist in his cosmos. that's true to the republican party, which he's completely

nbc news analyst and just all-around honcho of a guy howard fineman. i've got kristen welker at the white house, ken dlinian outside the courthouse. legal experts for the hour daniel goldman former assistant u.s. attorney, also gene rossi a former prosecutor, d.o.j.'s tax division. point is we've got this covered from so many different angles but let's begin with ken dilanian. kerngs eight counts guilty, ten counts mistrial. walk me through what more do we have on the ten counts that there wasn't a consensus and what's going to happen next? >> well, first, i'll tell you chuck that paul manafort showed no reaction. he was stone-faced. nor did his wife, after the verdict. prosecutors shook hands with one another and the judge admonished the jury that they did not have to talk to the press in the wake of there verdict. prosecutors got a little of everything here. not a 100% victory for the prosecution but they got five counts of tax fraud, they got one count of failing to file a foreign bank account report, and two counts of frank fraud, aban appeared tha

hart announced candidacy, the rumors about the personal life went mainstream when a story from howard finemaneared in "news week" magazine. >> he interviewed a number of people and quoted a person anonymously saying gary hart is going to get this nomination unless he can't keep his zipper up. >> people went to him, close to him, and said, gary, you can't play by the rules, whatever they were that you played by before. he said, no, no, i get it. >> the question of your marital fidelity? legitimate? >> i guess so, but there's no regards about anyone else. >> i think he just said, listen, eisenhower did this, johnson did this, roosevelt did this, jack kennedy did this. it's not enough to ruin my chances. >> if you look at jack kennedy, most people knew that he was having affairs all the time, but it was not written. and so i think that gary was operating on the theory that that was the way things were, and that that would hold, that he could basically do what he wanted to do, and nobody would write about him. >> gary hart did not recognize that there were now women on the campaign reporting, and

journalist howard fineman remarking it's 1 "a" and the hemed in president is talking to the walls viaes of nixon tweeting thises the equivalent of nixon walking through the white house talking to the por traits. the last tweet a reference to the famous woodward and bernstein county of nixon's mindset as watergate demolished his presidency. joining us the presidential historian and former director of the nixon presidential library. tim naftali. is it fair to compare president trump's mood to that of nixon in his last days? >> i think it's very fair to compare president trump ace ranting to richard nixon's ranting. what we just don't know yet is whether we are talking about a final days scenario. richard nixon -- people forget this. richard nixon knew what was on his tapes. when the supreme court decided that the special prosecutor would get access to nixon's tapes he knew that it was over, that the walls were coming in on him. so a lot of his -- those final days, the ranting, the delusions of the final days were a product of nixon knowing what came next. donald trump at the moment unde

howard fineman, i want to start right down the line there. when to the college, studied floevgs actually whphilosophy, studied in manhattan. he asked truth and reality. now he's denying it. anything under oath in the truth isn't the truth, alternative fact. this russia cloud has been hovg over the trump presidency. his team is trying to discredit the entire mueller proevenl look at his presidency, there is little to show by legislative accomplishments, they're trying to harden his support in the base. the way he does that is creating an alternative narrative. he tries to undermine the media. >> this is deeper. it's one thing to say to the "new york times" missed it on the front page. that's an architect you can made. you can't say there is no such thing as the truth there can be on the front page. you can't say two and two are four. there are facts we live with him they're denying that. he's saying whatever my account is. you can have ank. they're equal? well, team trump as a whole an certainly the president of the united states has a horrifi

journalist howard fineman says nothing says innocent like a random 1:00 all caps tweet screaming thepout everyday. another commenter saw shades of nixon. this is the equivalent of nixon walking through the white house, talking to the portraits. >> you don't want end to up like me. >> reporter: what better time to hunt witches than after midnight. >> no collusion. >> reporter: the president is making it again, the last time a tweet got this much attention, the president dozed on the keyboard. >> what is that? >> reporter: that time he might have had trouble staying awake, mr. president, if you're having trouble sleeping ask your doctor if covfefe is right for you. >> this is a witch hunt like nobody has ever seen before. >>> before you go, we want to welcome the newest member of the "out front" family. that beauty is aaron thomas born to our own erin burnett august 20th. he is getting to know his big brother, nile and sister, colby. the entire family is doing great except for maybe a little sleep deprivation. erin, hugs and kiss for you. sleep comes eventually. you've been through it

kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter for "the boston herald," bill kristol, and howard fineman. welcome all. all right, guys, bill kristol, you've run campaigns. if it looks like a campaign and walks like a campaign -- by the way, campaigns brand their opponents, don't they? the president illegally rigged witch hunt paid for by crooked hillary, totally corrupt and conflicted, the phony dossier. i think we get the point here. is that what you see here, it's just a campaign against mueller? >> totally. i've always thought the lawyers, as much as i love them all who sit around on msnbc and everywhere else, rudy is getting the law wrong here, does he understand this is not going to help the defense of the president. he probably can't be indicted while he's sitting president. it's entirely a political campaign. mueller is not running a political campaign. some of us have tried to help him a little by making the case for him but it's a one-sided campaign and that's why he's succeeded in eroding some of the support for mueller especially by republicans so far. on the other hand, there