norm eisen, james schultz, it's good to have you both. norm, you heard my analysis on this. the headlines of the special counsel wanting to sit down with the president, that he's already spoken to sessions and comey, what does that mean to you in terms of significance of timing? >> well, i want to thank you for having me back, chris, despite my hobby. and what it means to me is that mueller is moving with speed to address the obstruction questions as to the president. those are serious questions. when anybody in the united states interferes with an investigation with corruption intent, they can be prosecuted for obstruction. the theory that public officials are exempt has been rejected by circuit after circuit. we don't know the answer yet as to president trump. there's only one -- >> why do you say it's been rejected circuit after circuit when it's not relevant because it doesn't deal with the president? the whole question is about the president. he's in charge of investigations. the doj is under him. theoretically he could start and stop any investigation he wants to, no?

. >> with me now, someone with a unique perspective on this and cnn legal commentator james schultz androm early in the trump administration and he resigned back in november. james, nice to have you on. >> thanks for having me. >> do you think it's inevitable that president trump will sit down with bob mueller face to face or is there a scenario where he can avoid it? >> i think we saw this morning with ken starr talking about the same issue when he said, look, this is what he expects bob mueller to do in rounding out his investigation and what that looks like there will abe lot of lawyers in the room, obviously, and there will be folks from mueller's team and who knows if mueller will have the president and there would be this showdown that people think will happen between muler and president trump. i think any lawyer who is worth anything will negotiate what that will look like in terms of topics and what's discussed, but i think the president himself has been bullish in saying i have nothing to hide. >> what if you were part of the negotiations. play this out for me. what would you b

let's take this on with cnn legal commentator james schultz.e was in the white house counsel's office when this was going on. and just so you understand, jim believes that his work in the white house counsel's office -- he's got an ethical obligation not to talk about what he knew or didn't know, and that's fine because we have plenty to chew on with just the facts as they are here. so, jim, one point that you want to make is a fair point and a true point, so let's get it out of the way. those who are saying he tried to -- he ordered the firing of mueller? that's obstruction of justice. can't be because he never fired mueller. so let's put that to the side. what do you make of what i just said? where am i wrong? >> look, i think first off, we've got to look at the facts. and the facts in "the new york times" are starting to evolve. it really came down to -- and if you believe "the new york times," that he gave an order, well, "the new york times" has now changed its story somewhat, and it was about conflicts of ij interest. and he was asking hi

our cnn commentator and former director of the office of government ethics, walter schaub, and james schultz start with you. there's this report in "the washington post," and i'm sure you saw it, that during a meeting back in may, the president asked then-acting fbi director andrew mccabe who he voted for in the 2016 presidential election. mccabe later said that he found the exchange quite disturbing. is it normal for a president to ask an acting fbi director who he voted for? >> no, it's completely outside the culture of the federal government to the point of being shocking. it would be what we'd call a prohibited personnel practice under a particular statute if anyone other than the president asked a subordinate that. once again, we have the president holding himself to a lower standard that the 2.7 million civilian federal employees who work for him. >> and andrew mccabe is a career fbi official. jim, do you agree? >> i don't agree. if it's in the context of -- at the time, i believe it was in the context of discussing whether andrew mccabe was going to be fbi director. the president of t

schultz give the senate armed services committee their takes on u.s. national security strategy. on c-span2, the senate returns to consider the nomination for a-- rd james. and a look at the postal services to combat the trafficking of synthetic drugs. and 7 p.m. an event marking the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war's tet offensive. >> the president of the united states. [applause] >> tuesday night, president donald trump gives his first state of the union address to congress and the nation. join c-span for a preview of the evening starting at 8:00 eastern and then the state of the union speech live at 9 p.m. and following the speech, the democratic response. we'll also hear your reaction and comments from members of congress. president trump's state of the union address, tuesday night live on c-span. listen live with the free c-span radio app and available live or on demand on your desk top, phone or tablet at c-span.org. next, remarks from pakistan's ambassador to the u.s. at this event he said that u.s.-pakistan relations are under stress, but the relationship must be preserved. the center for strategic and international studies hosted this event.