jay sekulow and joe degenova very effective on television. they are the kinds of people, unlike john dowd, who will make the case for the president in the court of public opinion. and i think -- >> great point, yeah. >> the president wants somebody that's a little more go get 'em, take it to mueller. >> that's the point i was making in saying that president trump perhaps feels there needs to be a public pushback to this narrative that's been driven by the left in the media that take the talking points from the left about obstruction of justice. >> it's not always him on the line. at the beginning of the year he told us what he wanted to talk about. we know when he goes to campaign rallies or what feels like them, he wants to talk about tax cuts. he wants to talk about military spending that is bumping up. he wants to talk about the accomplishments in his administration. and so he needs somebody else to talk about these other things. my point about p.r. is that the president also, i'm sure knows, that the public would like to still see when yo

you actually worked with joe g degenova. >> yes. ndent counsel and i was the deputy counsel. we put together our final report and joe was very tough with respect to the way he wanted to proceed with this investigation, to make sure that we got all that you wanted to get from herbert walker bush. joe has been the united states attorney in the district of columbia and is a well regarded and seasoned lawyer with respect to these types of investigations. you'll remember, brooke, during the watergate -- sorry. during the whitewater investigation, he was an outspoken critic of the clintons and proponent of ken starr being able to have full reign with the clintons and getting a chance to interview them under oath. it will be interesting to see whether or not joe keeps the same tough on president bush, tough on president clinton and how he responds to the tough on trump. we'll see. >> michael zeldin, thank you so much. we'll come back to digenova and something he wrote back in '97 might come back to bite him today. meantime, texas and this m

. >> the president's new attorney, joe degenova says there's a brazen plot to frame the president.e white house share that view? is there a plot to frame president trump? >> look, we certainly have said that there have been some concerns with some of the actions that were taken. in terms of any comments he has made i couldn't speak to those. matthew? >> thanks, sarah. two more questions on the putin phone call. does the white house believe the election in russia was free and fair? >> i'm sorry? >> does the white house believe that the election in russia was free and fair? >> look, in terms of the

they're being marginalized for people like joe degenova, the new arrival. >> the timing here is fascinating one week ago cnn reported that the president's legal team was give on these broad areas the special county sesel waned k the president about. that spurred, we believe the president to go on the attack. mentioned robert mueller by name. all in statements mentioned by the president over the weekend, so you have that, you have him getting rid of his personal attorney here, it seems to suggest the president doesn't like where this case is going. >> it seems that he has been told that this investigation was winding down, if you look at how mueller is behaving, he doesn't look like he's winding down, another factor which i think is relevant here, is the subpoena to the trump organization, to the business, another more confrontational tactic by mueller which seems to have increased the president's irritation, anxiety, anger and leading to, you know, him wanting to take a more confrontational approach. >> if john dowd was the point of special counsel -- doesn't that slow things down in this?

i don't think that the president looks add joe degenova's view of executive power and the unitary executivend whether the president's actions in terms of obstruction were within those lanes. i think that he sees someone who will be out there on cable news pushing his views. >> i mean, let's be clear here. the president watches a lot of tv. he gets a lot of his ideas and advice from tv. this is something i want to play, carol, for you. this was all the way back in the summer of 2015. he just started running. and he was asked about who he seeks for military advice. this is what he said. take a listen. >> who do you talk to for military advice right now? >> well, i watch the shows. i mean, i really see a lot of great, you know, when you watch your show and all of the other shows, and you have the generals, and you have certain people -- >> but is there somebody, a go-to for you? >> probably there are two or three. >> every presidential candidate has a go-to. >> probably there are two or three. i like bolton. tough cookie, knows what leads rr talking about. >> that's the foreshadowing in the fi

he see joe degenova as a long-time fixture in washington is saying just the things trump loves to hear. that's right. it was a framed job. the fix was in from the beginning. this is not on the level. now, it's just astonishing in our age of media because joe says these things without evidence that somehow it should require action. but in trump's mind it does. he likes that. he wants that kind of person around. and so he wants somebody who would be a skilled fighter and cable news and who will take this fight and make the case that it's all illegitimate at a time when i think mueller is baring down on critical questions that reach trump, whether it's his business dealings, something that implicates him directly or something that gets closer. >> there have also been -- this chaos we're seeing on the legal team is in some ways not new. what we've seen, too from this team essentially as we were reporting at the end of the year, oh, we're telling the president it's going to be wrapped up by november, december, whatever the next date on the calendar was, trying to placate a client in that wa

think in light of that, especially someone who has a very different strategy, the things that joe degenova said and the conspiracy theories suggest a different kind of strategy and so we might be seeing a very -- a significant change in the strategy from the president as well. >> i guess the question is what you have this serious a matter that esteemed legal team why does the decision lie. it does seem dowd and the president were not on the same page on the investigation including where it should go and what level of appropriation donald trump should provide. >> well ultimately in any legal matter the client gets to the make the decision and call the shots. but relying on the advice and recommendations of the attorney. and so when you have a good attorney, one would hope that you are in sync and consistent and the client is following the advice of the lawyer. but when there is conflict there, sometimes you see this parting of the ways. frankly what often happens in cases that i've seen when someone fires their lawyer or a resignation occurs because the client isn't happy with the way thing

the new york times was first to report that joe degenova will join the president's legal team later this week. as a contributor to fox news, he has repeatedly pushed the theory as you heard that the fbi and the justice department have been working together to intentionally frame trump. >> make no mistake about it. a group of fbi and doj people were trying to frame donald trump of a falsely created crime. >> they conspired to exonerate improperly and politically hillary clinton and also if she lost to frame the incoming president of the united states with a false crime. >> what they have done to the department and the fbi is undermine the confidence of the american people in federal law enforcement. it is disgraceful and it all stems from their animus to president trump. >> he served as special counsel in the 1990s and was later hired by the new york senate to investigate elliot spitzer. it was just last week that the new york times reported the president was talking to bill clinton's impeachment attorney about joining the white house to help deal with the special counsel inquiry. trump r