the president never answered jeff mason's question, and when he ordered jeff mason to ask a questionident of finland, then the president of the united states answered that question, too. now, the president seems angrier than ever before. speaker nancy pelosi thinks she knows why. >> i think the president knows the argument that can be made against him, and he's scared. and so, he's trying to divert attention from that to standing in the way of legislation. >> you see the whole mess has congressional republicans increasingly concerned. joining us to discuss political congressional reporter, politico congressional reporter melanie zanona live in washington. good morning. nice to see you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> we know we've heard from democrats that they want to say, careful, focus, efficient, on their probe. what do congressional republicans see in response to the white house? >> what they're seeing is trump is acting as a one-man war room, lobbing attacks from his twitter account and from the podium as you saw in that exchange with jeff mason, and they are growing incre

let's go straight to jeff mason. jeff, why might it matter whether or not rudy giuliani is or is not working with president trump today? >> well, number one, richard, it was suggested that the president would be following a pattern that he has done with some other associates who have gotten into trouble, paul manafort comes to mind, even steve bannon, just the way that he has separated himself from people who were large parts of his inner circle, and then all of a sudden, gone. but to get to your question of the importance of it, look, giuliani is in the middle, the very middle of these issues with regard to ukraine. and so you've got the two men who were arrested this week after having met with him, or have associates of him, with whom he had lunch or breakfast here in dc, before they went to dull recollection and then got arrested. you have the fact that he has been involved in going to ukraine to dig up dirt on joe biden and his son hunter and advising as well the president about this entire issue. so he is certai

jeff mason from reuters. ask youident, i want to about your use of the word "treason." repeatedly init the past few days. do you consider anyone who opposes you treasonous? pres. trump: no, i consider it when they lie. and they stand for our great body, our great chamber, and they make up an inspection, like schiff did. he took that perfect conversation i had with the ukrainian president and made it into a total lie it was a total fabrication, and you do admit that. it was a total fabrication. "he said this is what." and ly ones who do not like my conversation are the ones who never read it, and that is because of schiffy

what is turning into a very big political crisis for him and his administration. >> all right, jeff masone really appreciate it. thanks so much for being with us. >> i want to go to his anger management specialist. >> jeff is so calmed. so collected. just the facts. he handled that brilliantly. >> oh, my gosh. everybody else's pulse was elevating but not his. that was incredible to hear from him. >>> and this. this stunning moment in the courtroom. the brother of a murder victim hugging the convicted murderer. we'll bring you the emotional moment inside and outside the courtroom. saturdays happen. pain happens. aleve it. aleve is proven better on pain than tylenol. when pain happens, aleve it. all day strong. performance comes in lots of flavors. ♪ (dramatic orchestra) there's the amped-up, over-tuned, feeding-frenzy-of sheet-metal-kind. and then there's performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. that's the kind lincoln's about. ♪ thand find inspiration who win new places.ct... leading them to discover: we're woven together by the moments we share. everything you need, a

here with me now the white house reporter who dug in with the president today, jeff mason of reuters. jeff, you've been doing this for a while. you've asked this president and other presidents questions. was today different than what you'd experienced in the past? >> yes, it was. president trump has certainly lashed out at reporters in the media before and at other colleagues of mine in the press corp. but he hasn't lashed out against that way against me before, so that was new. i don't take it personally. i think it's a reflection of the fact he's angry and that he's frustrated and that he wanted to lash out at the person holding the microphone and that was me. but i do think it's a sign that he's really feeling under pressure. i mean, president trump often uses the media as a scapegoat when he feels under pressure. he uses rhetoric like calling the media the enemy of the american people, and now he's using the word corrupt. and that's usually a sign he feels like he needs to hunker down. >> the question itself i thought was a great one which you had to ask several times. you didn't

>>> donald trump was asked the question that he cannot answer today by white house reporter jeff mason. it was the best question a reporter has been able to ask this president of the united states in a very long time. and the answer to this question is the very heart of the president's defense against impeachment, if he has an answer to this question. and as of tonight, the president has no answer, which means the president has no defense. and that is why most republicans in congress are not trying to defend what the president said in his phone call with the president of ukraine. >>> here is the instantly historic moment when jeff mason exposed to the world that the emperor has no defense. >> mr. president, can you just make clear right here, what do you or what did you want president zelenskiy to do with regard to joe and hunter biden? >> if you look at what he said, okay, and he brought it up. i think he brought up the name rudy giuliani. what i want is the following, and i've said this loud and clear. we have our ambassadors here. we have mike pence here. why are we the only ones th

i will quote jeff mason, mr. president can you just make clear right now, what did you want president zelensky to do regarding joe and hunter biden. >> right. >> in that long exchange where the went off talking about money that we give or we give too much money to ukraine or they're not corrupt and rob portman was celebrating him, he never answered that question. >> because we all know the answer. he's admitted to it it's clear as day. we saw it in the whistleblower's report, we saw it from the readout from the call. we know there is why it's resonating with people because it's a clear-cut case. this is why we're seeing the polling moving so quickly on this. it's only been ten days, it's not a drip, drip, drip are the polling, it's a really steady flow. what we're seeing from this president is someone who is drowning in his lies. that is exactly what's happening. wha and what he's doing, he can't focus on anything else, he's focusing 100% on conspiracy theories in the is where this president is right now because

answer jeff mason's question. today, i believe that was the question from our colleague peter alexander, asked the exact same question again, what would you like the president of ukraine to do, the president answering, i would think they would start an investigation into the bidens going on to say, hallie, likewise, china should start an investigation into the bidens. >> wow. >> president zelensky, if i were me i would recommend they start an investigation into biden's crooked deals, 100%. and then he goes on to lash out at the broader process. of course we should note that -- go ahead. >> no, i was going to say, kristen, that the china piece is interesting here because one of the questions that president trump has not talked about here is whether or not in any conversations with the leader of china, he brought up a similar investigation and i know that's one of the things that our team has been trying auto drive towas to find out. >> i think it's significant he raised the issue of china. we will have to see if ou

jeff mason, who you showed him ask that question, is an all-star. he was very unflappable in the face of what can only be described as presidential intimidation and i think he was asking an important question. i think he didn't get the answer to the question he asked. he stood there and held his ground until the president made clear he wasn't going to ask his question. i think you saw a president today who is agitated, riled up, angry. he thought that the threat had gone away with the mueller investigation over the summer, with mueller's testimony not changing the political dynamics very much. he thought the threat was gone and suddenly just like this in the last two weeks, basically, his world has changed, his political world is upside down. you also see a president who doesn't yet have a strategy for fighting back other than himself. he is a one-man war room at this point. there's no operation around him, strategy around him other than to support one president and his twitter feed. that, right now, is his defense. his defense is offense. it's all

he accused jeff mason of being fake news when he was asking a perfectly good question.s a sort of freak out -- angry though he may legibly be, is not helping his cause. it's not what people like about him. if you're going to get into an impeachment fight over congress you want as many people to like you as possible and i don't know if this helps. >> martha: as i'm listening to you, adam schiff's should have said they did come to us, we directed them. you just wonder what would be the reaction of the president, in hindsight, i wish i hadn't thought that up with him in that phone call. it wasn't relevant to the larger issue that i wanted to discuss with him. i don't think i would do it if i had to do it again. what would be the reaction? >> i don't know. the truth is, martha, the president's discourse is not always what you would call precise in the least. if you see it in the conversation, you see in the press remarks. he rambles all over the place and he raises subjects he couldn't imagine he could have gotten to a given where the conversation was going. it happens all

eric: jeff mason, white house reporter from reuters, good to see you.bviously this rule is aimed at trying to get people out by excluding those who can't pay for healthcare. >> he is talking about this cool, talking about legal immigration, people applying for visas, to get a green card, to meet with family members but they are doing it legally. the white house has had a two pronged approach in its immigration policy. trying to cut down on illegal immigration, the promise to build a wall but also to curb legal immigration and actors controversy. eric: 535,000 or so people, it could affect them every year. these are legal immigrants who apply for visas and you have to show you have your own health care or can pay for your own health care as you grant that visa. >> in particular his top immigration advisor, stephen, really eager to reduce the burden of costs immigrants place on the united states that they view as the cost of immigrants entering the united states including healthcare. eric: they mentioned that in a proclamation, quote, cost associated with

jeff mason, jack wynn, thanks very much. >>> still ahead, in one town, a u.s. convoy pelted with potatoes and rotting vegetables. just a demeaning departure for u.s. forces there who fought so hard alongside their syrian allies. coming up, the pentagon announcement that some troops are going to stay behind in syria. we'll have more. >>> plus, is president trump's support within the republican party really a strong as he says it is? and what is the political fallout from hillary clinton saying that representative tulsi gabbard is being groomed by the russians? her spokesperson confirming that is who she was talking about. has the controversy actually evaluated tulsi gabbard, next. woman: what gives me confidence about investment decisions? rigorous fundamental research. with portfolio managers focused on the long term. who look beyond the spreadsheets to understand companies, from breakroom to boardroom. who know the only way to get a 360 view is to go around the world to get it. can i rely on deep research to help make quality investment decisions? with capital

ask the president of finland a question. >> jeff mason, you're a saint. you talking to me? i'm looking at you, aren't i? you talking to me? what the hell was that? mason does. he asks the question. actually two questions, only to have president trump jump in and answer when he sees an opportunity to brag. >> okay. i'll move on now. mr. president, in your opening remarks, you said to president trump that you had been to some museums today and that you respected the u.s. democracy and encouraged him to continue it. are you concerned that that's not happening? and my second to you, sir, is the wto ruled today in favor of the united states. >> yep. >> saying that the united states can now impose tariffs on european goods because of illegal subsidies against airbus. >> that was a big win for the united states, right? you never had wins with other presidents, did you? >> you're supposed to let the other guy answer. but anyway, the president of finland is determined to answer the question. >> but i think the question is for me. >> so the question, sir is if you're concerned that th

jeff mason, also with me, former state department senior adviser and former white house senior director, everybody, welcome. garrett, wow. that was quite a statement from that congressman about what he's heard so r far. what are you hearing about ta r ltaylor's testimony? testimony >> someone told not to talk about the specifics of what goes on, but a picture is coming out of a r very disturbing testimony. we are hearing that from a number of members talking about excuse me, we're having some audio problems here. we've been hearing from members about this disturbing testimony. no specific, but they are describing someone who is a meticulous note taker who took significant notes during every call and meeting, that those notes made up the backbone of a thorough opening statement, some 15 pages. again as described by these one member said that taylor is someone who was in ukraine, in the country, through the breadth of the allegations against the president. he was there for the phone call. both before and after. remains there now assing acting ambassador and so he's got a wide breadth of k

in any case, great props to jeff mason. yamiche alcindor, there is a new message, a tweet, shi should pot out, from mitt romney. the republicans have been holding pretty much firm, backing up the president. but let me read this to you. when the only american citizen president trump singles out for china's investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest it is anything other than politically motivated. by all appearances the president's brazen and unprecedented appeal to china and ukraine to investigate joe biden is wrong and appalling. this in direct response to the president's comments a half hour ago on the south lawn. >> that's right, andrea. what mitt romney is articulating is something that's very rare for republicans to do and that is criticism of the president of the united states. president trump has said that the republicans are really with him, that everyone understands that his call with the president of ukraine was, quote, perfect. but wha

people like you and the fake news media. >> jeff mason of reuters with remarkable composure. the president then asked him to ask a question of the president of finland. david jolly, what are we seeing here with the president and his behavior yesterday? >> i think we're seeing a president who knows he's going to be impeached by the house of representatives. he knows his poll numbers are at a historical low for any president in their first term. he knows the likelihood of his reelection is dimming. so he's lashing out both in anger in those moments but also is reaching out to other nations to ask them to interfere in our elections to help him prospects personally and politically. the problem for the president is that it is fundamentally impeachable behavior. he didn't answer jeff's question yesterday but he answered it on the south lawn today, andrea. what it brought back to me is that nixonian moment when richard nixon said in the interview, "what i'm saying, if the president does it, it is not illegal." what president trump is trial ballooning in his comments today is that he

and it was sort of encap congratulated in that moment when my colleague jeff mason asked him a simple question -- what is it that you wanted the president of ukraine to do -- >> let me pause that because i think it's so important -- let's not describe it. it's -- it's the question at the heart of this impeachment inquiry. and the president of the united states refused to answer it, but let's let it play out for you to watch. >> what did you want done on biden? >> look, biden and his son are stone-cold crooked. and you know it. his son walks out with millions of dollars. the kid knows nothing. you know it, and so do we. go ahead, ask your question. >> the question, sir, what did you want president zelensky to do about vice president biden and his son, hunter? >> are you talking to me? >> yeah. i was -- it was a followup of what i asked you, sir. >> listen, listen, you ready -- we have the president of finland. ask him a question. >> i have one for him. i wanted to follow up on the one that i asked you, what did you -- >> did you hear me? did you hear me? ask him a question. i've given

. >> reporter: at that point the president was blowing his top, blasting reuters reporter jeff mason for his question. >> are you talking to me? >> yeah, it was just a follow-up of what i just asked you, sir. >> listen, listen, are you ready? we have the president of finland, ask him a question. >> i just wanted to follow up on the one that i asked you. >> did you hear me? did you hear me? >> yes, sir. >> ask him a question. >> i've given you a long answer. ask this gentleman a question, don't be rude. >> no, sir, i don't want to be rude. i just want you to have a chance to answer what i asked you. >> i've answered everything. it's a whole hoax. you know who's playing into the hoax? people like you and the fake news media we have in this country and i say in many cases the corrupt media because you're corrupt. much of the media in this country is not just fake, it's corrupt. >> reporter: the president revealed his call with the ukrainian president as part of his ongoing effort to prove that he was wrong during the 2016 campaign, an effort that may include bringing lawsuits against fe

. >> talking to jeff mason of reuters, he was steamed over new york times report that trump privately pushed from both at the border filled with alligators or snakes and an electrified fence with spiky tops that can see her human flesh. the president mistakenly thought it was in the washington post. >> obviously it is fake because almost everything the washington post does is fake. it is a fake newspaper owned by a rich guy for the purpose of giving him power in washington. i am tough on the border but not that tough. it was a lie. >> he is denying the story that was in the new york times, chewing out jeff mason in the most vile manner, what do you make of this? >> it is proportional to the ratcheting up the media has done. in that respect it is fair. referring to the media as corrupt, if the objective of the media is cover the news of the day fairly and accurately it is fair to say they have been corrupted by other motivations especially when it comes to the president, those motivations are political, ideological, ratings based, i don't think the label is unfair. in this case -- >> y

accusing us of being fake news and being corrupt and in particular he attacked one of my colleague jeff mason who just was trying to follow up on his question there was only one moment during this press conference where trump seems to have sort of joyful moment when he talked about shift the chairman of the house intelligence committee because it was revealed today that the democrats had learned about the whistle blower's concerns before this individual filed its complaint. or her complaint and for trump therefore it was clear that adam schiff helped write this complaint he made this accusation without having present it and the and the proof and adam schiff of course did knight this accusation yes that's exactly right the committee also saying that the whistleblower just was seeking guidance as this complaint was being here let's talk about the u.s. secretary of state mike pompei oh today for the 1st time he admitted that he was on that july 25th phone call between president trump and the ukrainian president. do we know alexander why did come forward a week ago and let the world know that he

the president insisted that jeff mason ask the question to the finnish president and then the president answered the question and then the president never answered jeff's question what did you want the ukranian president to do about joe biden and his son hunter. now, in an interview with abc news, nancy pelosi says she thinks the president is trying to divert attention because he knows that the argument that can be made against him and he is scared. >>> former vice president joe biden firing back at president trump in his strongest remarks yet on the ukraine controversy. >> let me make something clear to mr. trump and his hatchet men. and the special interest funding of his attacks against me. i'm not going anywhere. you are not going to destroy me and you are not going to destroy my family. i don't care how much money you spend, mr. president, or how dirty the attacks get. >> biden says there is no truth in the charges against him and he calls president trump exhibit a oig off a president who abuse power. >>> bernie sanders is recovering this morning after two stents were inserted into

shannon: another raucous press conference with the president, jeff mason was in the middle of it andjoined us to talk about the presser and the rest of today's headlines, jeff mason and charlie kirk, welcome to you both. the president like to have fun with this stuff. he seems very fired up about the things coming at him from capitol hill, these questions it is trying to say why isn't the media looking at the bidens the way they are looking at me. >> yesterday he was frustrated with the impeachment inquiry, the press, he took that out on me during the press conference but also on -- earlier in the day in the oval office. he chooses to lash out at the media when he feels under pressure reveals frustration, it is common to the response we have seen from him. shannon: he said there are a lot of good people in the media, trying to give credit to people he thinks are good reporters saying it is not everybody but i think the people who supported like him like this side of him. >> now doubt. there is definitely a feeling in america that there's a huge distrust and not all of it is unwarrant

and jeff mason, jump in.ou wanted to make a point. >> yeah, i thought that my friend john lemire laid out the impact of this in the senate earlier with regard to impeachment. but there's also a political risk here with the core part of president trump's base. and that's the evangelicals. bh wh when you have someone like pat robertson saying he's appalled by the mandate of the president and he may lose heaven because of this decision, that shows there is risk for the people who would be volting for the president's perspective next year in 2020. >> thank you very much, jeff. joining us now or former nato supreme ally commander retired four-star navy general and admiral. he's the author of the new book "sailing true north: den admirals and the voyage of character ". >> let's just make this pretty simple. let's boil this down, the essence of it. that the big winner, listening to kooers repoeir's report ther winner in all of this say man that donald trump count -- to on our show in 2015, the man donald trump cowto

let's bring in jeff mason white house reporter for reuters. the president's chief of staff, acting chief of staff actually help the democrats with their impeachment inquiry in those remarks? >> well, in some ways he probably did because he gave them more fodder for their investigation. i spoke to a former administration official last week, after mick mulvaney's comments who said if he wanted to speed up the vote on impeachment, then he probably helped doing that with that press conference that day. the acting chief of staff did indeed say during that press briefing that the president's call or that the president's desire for two things, one for other countries to provide more lethal aid or military aid to ukraine and his concerns over the possibility which has been debunked of a democratic server being in ukraine, influenced his decision to stop or to postpone that military aid. so that was the opposite message of what the president has been saying and his allies have been saying for some time, which was as you just said, that there had been n

and then came this question from jeff mason. >> do you consider anyone who opposes you treasonous?consider when they lie. >> when they lie. i think you know where i'm going with this one. because the president has made more than 12,000 false or misleading statements while in office. 58 false claims in the last week alone according to cnn's daniel dale. and as for treason, trump's used that word eight times in the last week alone. going so far as to say some people even say it was treason with regard to adam schiff. those some people are you, mr. president. but there's more. >> believe it or not, i watch my words very carefully. there are those who think i'm a very stable genius. >> a very stable genius who watches his words very carefully wouldn't be talking about coups and treason and civil war. wouldn't be reports that he asked for a border moat filled with snakes. opting instead to try to divide to conquer. and that's your reality check. >> okay, john. thank you very much. no finnish, but we'll wait for it next time. thank you very much. >>> okay. a very big moment on capitol hi

jeff mason joined by a turning point usa's charlie kirk.resident likes to have fun with this stuff, turned up from all this onslaughts from capitol hill and clearly he is trying to go in the conversation to say why is the media not looking at the way going volker >> he took that out on me during the press conference but he also took it out on the press and ov. he chooses to lash out at the media when he feels under pressure. when he feels frustration. that's a common response. >> shannon: he said that there are a lot of fine people within the media, charlie, so he's trying to give credit to people that he thinks are good reporters and said it's not every body, but i think that the people who support and like him like this side of him, they like him taking into the press. >> no doubt. there is definitely a feeling that there is a distrust among the media. in the all of it is unwarranted with possible due respect. it seems that -- let's use a great example. we were told by a lot of the media very specific things about this: transcript such as

correspondent and msnbc political analyst, peter baker and with me, reuters white house correspondent, jeff mason. jeff bennett, i thought the framing you and garrett had today on what was happening on capitol hill was very insightful. tell me what you're hearing about what george kent is telling lawmakers right now. >> well the members themselves that we've encountered outside the hearing room and capitol happen tight lipped. kent is the state department official responsible for ukraine. the reason why he was even call nd the first place is because he is among those who raised red flags about the smear campaign that rudy giuliani and his associates aimed at folks like marie. she's connected to this because she herself raised red flags about the work giuliani was doing. she was trying to bring his influence campaign into proper state department channels. giuliani according to reported testimony, didn't like that too much and then he target ded her for her eventual, her eventual ouster. so george kent is one of three current and former state department officials who are set to appear here on the h

the question that jeff mason tried to get answered. those we are hearing that he only made the situation much worse. >> and yet it does feel lik like -- does he believe that if he just says it publicly, it makes it seem less sinister? >> this is the third time in four years that the president has publicly sort of as now -- >> publicly lobbied. >> you are exactly right. >> russia of july of 2017, july of this year, that was a private call. he said it publicly that he wants ukraine help and calling on china to do it. you recognize during the russia's investigation, the president's argument was no collusion here. the eyes of his critics and the eyes of a lot of independent viewers right now is saying hey, i am in effect colluding for everybody to see. what are you going to do about it? >>. >> let me go over to geoff bennett. the loudest sound made today was the silence of any republican condemnation of the president call on chinchina, of all count china who got a great track record on the rule of law to be an investigative body here. what

jeff mason, white house correspondent for reuters and hans nickels. tell us more about this reversal on dural and how this all fits into the puzzle piece i was mentioning. >> what was remarkable about the comment from mick mulvaney this morning is that he seemed to acknowledge that it was criticism that forced the president to rethink this. normally with president trump outside criticism only emboldins him. mick mulvaney saying criticism had effect. and now it's up to the president to try to find a place that's suitable. it's clear the president wanted it to be at dural. he hinted about it talking about how great his resort was. i think we have some sound here for you to listen to just how he couched this entire enterprise. >> i flinched a little bit because that's what people are saying that i said. here is what i said. i'll say it again and hopefully people will listen this time. there are two reasons that we held up the aid. the first one was the rampant corruption in ukraine. the president was also concerned about whether or not other nations spec

everything but actually answering that important question, which jeff mason tried to ask again. >> what about mr. biden? >> what did you want about biden? >> look, biden and his son are sto stone-cold crooked. you know it. his son walks out with millions of dollars. the kid knows nothing. you know it and so do we. >> the question was what did you want the president to do about vice-president biden and his son hunter? >> are you talking to me? >> yeah. it was a follow-up of what i asked you. >> are you ready? we have the president of finland. ask him a question. >> i have one for him. i wanted to follow up on the one i asked you. >> did you hear me? ask him a question. >> i will. >> i have given you a long answer. ask this gentleman a question. don't be rude. >> i don't want to be rude. i wanted you to answer the question i asked you. >> i answered everything. >> except he didn't answer everything. he didn't answer the one question that actually was asked of him. on top of the evasion, the anger and falsehoods that are normal but totally abnormal or should be, there was something else th

jeff mason, what about the hiring of trey gowdy who led the house oversight investigation into hillary clinton in the benghazi which led to the email revelations. trey gowdy was a tough chairman, he's now been brought in use outside counsel. what does he bring to the table? >> sure. number one, it's a sign, along with yesterday's letter, that the white house is taking it even more seriously than it appeared to be taking it a couple of weeks ago. i remember sitting in a white house official's office asking about strategy, and being told that they didn't have one and didn't need one right now, it was just another crisis like the many crises that this white house has faced during president trump's 2 1/2 year tenure. so laying out the strategy of not cooperating at all suggests they're now crystallizing their strategy behind that and bolstering it with their legal team. >> and michael carpenter, the whistle-blower is working under protections that are built into the system. so when the president attacks the whistle-blower, claims the whistle-blower is political, claims the whistle-blower i

jeff mason a very kind and excellent reporter from reuters tried to get president trump to answer the question just now. what did you want him to do with regard to the bidens and very tellingly, president trump would not answer that question. >> he would not repeatedly answer that question and it's hard to imagine another fair, know, even-keeled reporter who's interviewed this president many times in the oval office. president trump would not answer that for a reason. >> and was rude to jeff. >> incredibly rude to him, which, of course, is his prerogative i guess. that's hardly news here. the reality is this. it is the -- that conversation, a rough transcript, if you will, that started all of this. i think it's important as we go forward here to not guest wret up in the process. that's point. what happened last week is the big point, the road map through all this. what president trump was asking for. that is not what he would talk about today. he coggedcogged -- called it a . during the ben gauzy investigation peoples frequently met. that's not unusual. >> all the time. all the time.

jeff mason, evelyn farkas are back.and is about to blow a whole in president trump's self-defense because he said he got it all right in that text message and now gordon sondland is saying. >> the president assures me he didn't steal the money. this is a critical part of the impeachment inquiry. as adam schiff said this morning they have established from the transcript that the president was in the view of the democrats pressuring a foreign leader to investigate his opponents. what is still in question is whether he was essentially extorting ukraine, leveraging this foreign aid. there is a lot of evidence that he was, but it's not iron clad proof as of yet. to present this case to the public if in fact that's what happened that donald trump leveraged military aid that ukraine desperately needed. and people in the bureaucracy were so confused about why it was being held up that the department of defense was according legal action. the state department had no idea what was going on. this is evelyn's old office. it was a c

out front now, i want to go to the reporter who was asking the president those question, jeff mason. white house correspondent for reuters and jeff, i wanted everyone to see exactly what happened there. let's just be clear with one thing first and foremost the president of the united states did not answer your question which you asked loudly and repeatedly what did you want vice president zelensky to do about vice presidented bien and his son hunter. he didn't answer. >> no, he didn't answer and he was certainly given opportunities to do so. erin, it's a legitimate question. he's been saying, as you've been talking about already in your program that his call with president zelensky was quote, unquote, perfect, praising himself for having released that transcript and so i thought it was good just to get a sense right now, here, after that call has happened and after all of the controversy has occurred to get a sense from him as to what he really wanted and he wanted to avoid the question. >> he certainly did, and so then he refuses to answer your question, demands that you ask one to t

jeff mason is here. jackie kucinich and shan wu. let me begin with the wave of subpoenas that is coming. should the american people expect that to actually result in something different? meaning, increased cooperation, or, say, if democrats vote overwhelmingly to move forward officially on this impeachment inquiry, does that mean the white house will all of a sudden cooperate? >> i don't think it's going to make a difference in terms of the white house's strategy on this. but legally it's an important step which is, by actually issuing the subpoenas they lay the foundation for two things. they can start to enforce them legally and it lays grounds for a nixon-type article of obstruction in the impeachment articles. >> ultimately, when you look at -- we had an impeachment lawyer on yesterday who has represented a number of governors who have gone through impeachment. he argues the obstruction article is not enough to bring down the president because he pointed to what happened with obstruction articles in the clinton impeachment and n

from capitol hill, geoff bennett, reuters white house correspondent jeff mason and here former u.s. assistant district attorney for new york and msnbc analyst mimi rocah also joining us. one calling for an expeditious impeachment of donald trump, former senior counsel of president clinton, paul rosenswag. ken delanian, walking us through what we got from the sndy? >> reporter: katy, i think the biggest news we just got was the investigation is continuing and that's really important because there's a lot that's important about this case that's not in this indictment. but i'll tell what you is in it, is they describe a scheme to funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office and to make straw donations, to disguise a donation as part of an effort for these gentlemen to cultivate political interests for their businesses. one thing that's interesting, katy, it shows a scheme for federal and state office but it only explicitly describes foreign money going to state candidates in nevada. it doesn't suggest, for example that the $325,000 contribution made to the trump poli

because jeff mason, i want you to comment on that. this is another apparent quid pro quo here, is it not, because the question had been, why was u.s. military assistance to ukraine mandated by congress? s why y-was , why was it delayee days and weeking leading up to the presidential phone call with ukraine? does that text message indicate to you a quid pro quo on that military assistance? >> it indicates to me there is a u.s. official that is asking that question, so if you have a u.s. official who is saying look this is a potential issue, this is a question mark, you've got to assume that the ukrainians are potentially asking that question as well. now, the president has said repeatedly there was no quid pro quo, the aide did end up going to ukraine, but the fact that there is now evidence, number one, that that was something that was being discussed and question marks within the u.s. government about the reasoning, is certainly more evidence for congress to consider. >> look at the response of gary sonland, a trump appointee, the u.

all right, jeff mason, always a pleasure, my friend.ank you. >>> still ahead the hub of the civil rights movement elects its first watch mayor, the mayor-elect of montgomery alabama, steve reed joins "morning joe" later. "morning joe" later. it can cause damage to the enamel. with pronamel repair toothpaste, we can help actively repair enamel in its weakened state. it's innovative. with pronamel repair, more minerals are able to enter deep into the enamel's surface. the fact that you have an opportunity to repair what's already been damaged...it's amazing. i think my go-to toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. - [woman] with my shark, i deep clean messes like this, i think my go-to toothpaste this, and even this. but i don't have to clean this, because the self-cleaning brush roll removes hair while i clean. - [announcer] shark, the vacuum that deep cleans now cleans itself. that life of the party look walk it off look one more mile look reply all look own your look... ...with fewer lines. there's only one botox® cosmetic. it's the

represent peting the jeff mason question he wouldn't answer yesterday.i thought, hoped if they were honest about it they would start an investigation into the bide pents there's that on ukraine. there's what i just read about this ask of china now. the legal question becomes have it legal? could it be seen as an fec violation, a campaign donation? >> there are all kinds of ways that it could be illegal. whether or not it is we'll see as this plays out. it could be an fec violation if it is seen as foreign aid to a u.s. domestic political matter. it could be seen as bribery in requesting something in return for an official act, which is in the context of the ukraine call easier to see. as we know the president was holding back crucial military assistance to ukraine. or it could be seen as a foreign corrupt act where you're like soliciting -- it's like bribery in reverse. these are very tough cases. there's a lot of kind of legal intracase sthas lawye intracaseys there. it's a shocking abuse of of power. >> dana bash, the president and his allies have spen

there are a couple of us in the press in addition to jeff mason as you saw in that one clip, who were also trying to press the president, answer the question, answer the question. he just has not answered that very essential question. what did the president mean when he said, would you do us a favor, though in response to president zelensky talking about military aid. but when you talk to people close to the president, anderson, it is like that guy, you know, in the naked gun saying "nothing to see here. please disperse." the fire is going off in the background, but people around the president are trying to make the case that nothing is going wrong here. i talked to one trump adviser earlier this evening who said once again the president is a great messenger. it is a bit alice in wonderland over here, anderson, the way that they're trying to describe the president as staying ahead of all this when is very clear he is backed into a corner tonight. >> jim acosta, thanks very much. >>> chris murphy met with ukraine's president shortly before the transcript of that phone conversation with

there have been no presidential victories on trade prior to his arrival, and he was corrected by jeff mason reminding him that a current wto ruling that was issued today is actually the subject of many years of effort by the united states, none of which -- virtually none of which involved donald trump. i don't know how kristen welker is in the east room of the white house where this just ended. even by the standard of contentious exchanges with reporters, this one was high up on the list. >> this was high up on the list. the president clearly defiant and even angry at the end when he was asked a very direct question by my colleague jeff mason what specifically did he want the president of ukraine, president zelensky to do in regards to the bidens. the former vice president and his son hunter biden, the president wouldn't give him a direct answer. instead choosing to lash out at the broader impeachment inquiry. this is the tactic that we have seen by this president, and you really saw it play out throughout the entirety of this press conference taking every chance to attack adam schiff who h