watch this. >> well, matt whittaker -- i don't know matt whittaker.jeff sessions and he was always extremely highly thought of and he still is. but i didn't know matt whittaker. >> very adamant there. i don't know matt whittaker. >> the president reiterated his claim of not knowing matt whittaker again on friday in a series of tweets while also praising him. it was similar to the praise the president gave him last month during an interview that challenges his own claim of not knowing matt whittaker. >> i can tell you matt whittaker is a great guy. i mean, i know matt whittaker. >>> the lawmaker expectsays he to call matt whittaker as that panel's first witness, saying he would grill the acting attorney general over protecting robert mueller's russia probe. >> the very first thing, obviously, is to protect the mueller investigation. the president's dismissal of attorney general sessions and his appointment of whittaker, who's a complete political lackey is a real threat to the integrity of that investigation. that investigation is of utmost importance

should have matt whittaker in senator flake: when you hear the statement he is has made in the past, not just about the special counsel but what he thinks of, -- but with regard to his own jurisprudence and what he thinks of, for example, marbury vs. madison, to say that was wrongly decided undercuts our entire system of justice here that we've enjoyed for a couple of centuries. so that's the type of thing that he would be asked if he were subject subjected to senate -- if you were subjected -- if he were subjected to senate confirmation. but he hasn't been. other than as u.s. attorney in iowa, they don't receive nearly the scrutiny that somebody who is going for attorney general would receive. cons: matthew: -- whittaker has been reported to have believes in the policy of nullification that he believes it's possible they are states to nullify laws. we fought a civil war over that. there a number of truly alarming statements matthew whittaker has made in the past he ought to come in front of the judiciary committee and explain why he's the appropriate person to serve as the acting at

reporter: president trump arriving tonight in paris, hours after lashing out when asked if he wants matt whittakers acting attorney general to reign in the russia investigation. >> what a stupid question that is. what a stupid question. but i watch you a lot, you ask a lot of stupid questions. >> reporter: whittaker sided with the president arguing the mueller investigation goes too far evegg ting ways to undermine it. mr. trump today insisting he hasn't spoken to whittaker about being involved with the probe. >> that's up to him. >> reporter: and trying to put distance between himself and the man running the justice department. >> i don'tw matt whittaker matt whittaker worked for jeff sessions and always extremely highly thought of and he still is but i didn't know matt whittaker. >> reporter: that's not what he told fox news a month ago. r > i can tell you matt whitta a great guy. >> reporter: with demonstrators rallying to be protecte they are calling on him to recuse himself. don't think we can expect matt whittaker can fairly oversee an investigation when he doesn't think it's necessary. >> r

i mean i know matt whittaker. >> reporter: prominent d.c. torney john conway, husband of kellyanne conway, argued in a "new york times" op-ed that his selection is unconstitutional, it is illegal and it means anything mr. whittaker does or tries to do in that position is invalid. the president brushed off conway's concerns. >> he is just trying to get publicity for himself. why don't you do this, why don't you -- why don't you ask kellyanne that question, all right? she might -- she might know him better than me. i really don't know the guy. >> reporter: the democrats, who are about to take control of the house, are vowing to protect special counsel robert mueller. >> the american people spoke on tuesday. they want a check on abuses of power. that's, i think, one of the issues that was on the ballot. so we have a number of options. one, we're going to have a funding-the-government vote coming up in a couple of weeks, and we will insist we protect the mueller probe. >> reporter: even with all of that on his hands, the president is also sparrin

is a great guy, i know matt whittaker. >> on friday reporters asked the president if he discussed theueller probe with whittaker, president trump said he did not speak to matt whittaker about it and again said he did not know him, reporting in washington, d.c. i'm ellison barber fox news. arthel: thank you very much, eric, over to you. eric: let's go to matthew, former justice department attorney general, senior fellow at institute. you heard the critics say, they think the fix is in with whittaker, democrats say he was picked to protect the president, how do you see it? >> well, i think he was pick today be acting attorney general and i think he is unlikely to take any traumatic moves, if the press reports are accurate, the mueller investigation is drawing to a close and i think it would be best to let it run its course and given that he's the acting attorney general it would be unusual for him to take any dramatic actions given that he's in that acting role but the quickest way to resolve this is to get a permanent attorney general in place and the president has a lot of good choice

i know matt whittaker. >> i mean we have the tapes. come on.in september the new york times reported on the good relationship the two men share. critics aren't concerned with him relationship with the president. they take issue with his history of partisan opinion about robert m mueller's investigation. >> truth is there was no collusion with the russians in the trump campaign. there was interference but that's not collusion with the campaign. that's where the left seems to be combining the two issues. the last thing they want now is the truth to come out and the fact there's not a single piece of evidence that demonstrates that the trump campaign had any illegal or even improper relationships with russians. it's that simple. >> we do know how he feels about it. whittaker has no plans to recuse himself from overseeing the russia investigation. joining me former u.s. professor at the university of alabama law school and the editor in chief of law fair. matt whittaker, the president seems like the default thing that he -- his default response is

now if matt whittaker does not recuse himself, matt whittaker will have that final say. >> if joyou're adam schiff, wha are you thinking? >> i think you're sending letters. you want to preserve documents. you're going to want to investigate this. clearly an overreach from the white house, from the trump administration. there's a lot of people who say trump doesn't know how washington works. this is clearly beyond the bounds. >> this is a very good example of why president trump should be taken literally and seriously. a lot of his critics says he says things he doesn't mean them. he has these instincts, some of them border on authoritarian. in this case the institutions seem to have hemmed him in. there's a pattern here where he is upset with people when they are part of institutions that are designed to be independent. jeff sessions was a good example of that. >> chuck, what should we be watching robert mueller to do next. you get a sense when they talk to the big fish, the president that this thing may be winding down. what does he do next? what should we be looking for? >> i think t

the president fired attorney general jeff sessions and installed a white house loyalist named matt whittakerthe operations of the justice department and the mueller investigation specifically. he responded online, if there's any indication that the president has fired the attorney general and named mr. whittaker as acting attorney general to influence or end special counsel robert mueller's investigation, that would make today's action an historic attack on the rule of law. that is a red line, which president trump has been warned not to cross by republicans and democrats alike. joining us now is senator chris coons, thank you for making time to join us tonight, sir. >> thank you, rachel. >> you called this action by the president today a red line if this appointment was made in order to influence or end the special counsel's investigation. can you tell me what you mean by that? >> that's right. if he forced out attorney general jeff sessions and replaced him not with rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, but instead with a loyalist, matthew whittaker, in order to have acting attorney

matt whittaker. i don't know matt whittaker. he worked for jeff sessions and was always extremely highly thought of and still is but i didn't know matt whittaker. he worked for attorney general sessions. he was very very highly thought of and still is highly thought of but this only comes up because anybody that works for me they do a number on them but matt whittaker is a very smart man. he's a very respected man in the law enforcement community. very respected, at the top of the line. and actually the choice was greeted with raves initially and still is in some circles. it's a shame that no matter who i put in they go after them. it's very sad, i have to say. but he's acting. i think he'll do a very good job and we'll see what happens but i will say this, matt whittaker's a very highly respected man and i didn't have any problem with matt whittaker when he worked with mat sessions. he's respected by law enforcement and is a strong law enforcement personality and person. i didn't speak to matt whittaker about it. he has a great

that suggests there's something about matt whittaker that the president happens to like. there's this pressure the president is facing from the other side of pennsylvania avenue, from republicans and democrats who want him to nominate a replacement for whittaker, a full-time ag. they think it's important he do that to really neutralize the argument that some democrats are making that matt whittaker might take steps to undermine the russia probe. >> as we lead up to thursday in part of what he did say, the president in this interview on fox news regarding having an interview with mueller that wasn't necessarily in the car. it's one of the things that was said in the back and forth. what do you make of what is going to happen after thursday? >> i think it's hard to predict what his answers are going to be. depending on the answers, we'll have more know. he's done everything to stop this investigation and was just said, it doesn't pass the smell test or in my case, i say the red face test that he didn't know what whittaker stood for which was trying to stop this investigati i

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he named matt whittaker named him attorney general, and then turned around and said i don't even know him. he sent 15,000 troops to the border against an enemy invasion that doesn't exist. he accused george soros of paying for the caravan and i really love this one. he accused the people of florida coming to vote and getting in their car and changing their shirt and putting on a different hat and going in and voting again. anybody here -- [laughter] anybody here want to fess up to

he named matt whittaker named him attorney general, and then turned around and said i don't even know him. he sent 15,000 troops to the border against an enemy invasion that doesn't exist. he accused george soros of paying for the caravan and i really love this one. he accused the people of florida coming to vote and getting in their car and changing their shirt and putting on a different hat and going in and voting again. anybody here -- [laughter] anybody here want to fess up to

no question matt whittaker being acting attorney general adds another element of how does the president put this issue behind him. how does director mueller complete his probe, his overview and get this report out there and get this behind him. it seems we're getting in deeper now. at the enof td of the day, whilm not a lawyer, it seems special counsel mueller can compel the president to testify in person. the law is not perfectly clear as i understand it but there's precedent in that regard. >> nancy. >> i also just think the white house has been totally on the defensive this whole time about this. the people who have been running the russia special investigation, that lawyer team has changed. the white house former top attorney gave mueller more than 30 hours of interviews. the white house is not entirely sure what he told them. they are a bit out of their depth in terms of understand whunderstanding what mueller knows. >> there's also the question of what can congress do. what is going to happen on the ere end of pennsylvania evidence. the result should be released. here is how congr

. >> a new warning for matt whittaker to not undermine the investigation he has criticized publicly.e was chosen for the purpose of interfering with the mueller investigation. he auditioned for the part by going on tv and saying he could hobble the investigation. this is an attack on the rule of law. >> i think most republicans on capitol hill and democrats believe that mr. mueller should be allowed to do his job. and i have no indication he's going to be interfered with at all. >> president trump also addressed for the first time the content of the tape-recording that captured the brutal killing of jamal khashoggi. >> we have the tape. i don't want to hear the tape. no reason for me to hear the tape. >> why don't you -- why don't you want to hear it, sir? >> because it's a suffering tape. it's a terrible tape. i've been fully briefed on it. there's no reason for me to hear it. in fact, i said to the people, should i? they said, you really shouldn't. there's no reason. i know exactly what went on in the tape without -- >> what happened? >> it was very violent, very vicious and very t

plans to ask a federal judge to declare rod rosenstein the acting attorney general instead of matt whittaker president's controversial pick. whittaker will meet with ethics lawyers to talk about whether he should recuse himself from the mueller investigation and one man who says he cooperated with mueller's team expects he'll be indicted for lying, jerome corsi. he's considered to be the founder of the birther theory and is one of nearly a dozen associates of roger stone who have been summoned by special investigators. let's get into some of this here. jerome corsi, what's the deal with him? corsi told nbc this, i don't recall ever meeting wikileaks founder julian assange. i don't recall ever meeting him or getting information from anyone about what they had but they have all your e-mail and phone records. they're very good at the perjury track. >> first of all, it's probably something that you would recall. that doesn't seem entirely credible to me. let me tell you what a perjury trap is and is not. lots of people use that term. all you need to do is go into the grand jury and tell the trut

can matt whittaker, the new acting attorney general, end the mueller investigation?l you, it comes as a little bit of a surprise. not that jeff sessions has been replaced. that tension has been there from almost the beginning with attorney general sessions, who i think is an honorable man recusing himself from the russia investigation. but now here he is, the chief of staff is now the acting attorney general. so let's wait and see. i know a lot of conclusions are being drawn in light of the comments that mr. whittaker has made, his writings and so forth being critical of the bob mueller investigation. but there is so many traditions of the department. and mr. whittaker has been at the elbow of jeff sessions, so what's he going to do? obviously, we don't know. but he's not going to be acting unilaterally. if he does, it could be kind dangerous for him. >> tell me more about that because what makes you think he won't act unilaterally? i'm not sure we need to wait and see what happens, mr. starr. he feels that the mueller probe is possibly too far-reaching. he also feel

allows 210 days, you're talking about almost a year with the temporary replacement although, matt whittakersions' right-hand man, up to speed on the issues and very capable of oversight while trump decides who is going to be the permanent replacement. cheryl: what happens to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein? >> well, that's the big question mark because in typical succession rod rosenstein might have been the person designated as acting attorney general under the circumstances but remember back in september rod rosenstein there was the controversy about the joke of taping trump so not shocking that trump did not tap rod rosenstein in this instance, so -- cheryl: rosenstein, i want to add did deny those allegations. >> yes, he did deny allegations, but hey, it's certainly somebody to be considered in determining who you're going to appoint as acting attorney general. cheryl: misty marris, one of our favorite attorneys, thank you very much. >> thank you, cheryl. lauren: after yesterday's monster rally for stocks let's see how futures are doing this morning, dow down 86, nasdaq down 54,

. >>> tonight democrats suing to block matt whittaker from serving as attorney general.ntment is unconstitutional. out front now, one of those three senators, richard blumenthal of connecticut, the former attorney general of the state sits on the judiciary committee. i appreciate your time. let's be blunt here, is this all about politics or do you genuinely think you can win a case? >> we can win this case, we should win this case, we will win this case. it's the highest law of the land and it provides that he very simply cannot install a person like matt whittaker, who is his lackey and lap dog when the office really requires qualifications. and matt whitaker lacks the key qualification. he's depriving us of doing our job, he's depriving the american people of a system of checks and balances, which is designed to protect against this kind of unqualified nominee. >> your case has been assigned to judge trevor and mcmadden. he's a trump appointee. you voted in favor of him. does this mean you will trust his ruling no matter what he do does? >> if he rules against us, we w

use the subpoena power to get him, courts might interfere with that and it might well be that matt whittaker, who is now pretending to act as the attorney general, we can get to that later in our discussion if matt whitaker says to robert mueller, i'm in charge now, i will not authorize you to issue a subpoena to the president, we're at a rubicon of sorts. i think if the house of representatives uses its powers wisely, it doesn't prioritize investigation that impeachment over actually getting important measures, at least enacted by one of the two houses, so we can see where the problem is, if the house for example uses its subpoena power to ask mueller who probably wouldn't need to be subpoenaed, he could simply be invited to reveal all of the nonclassified information that he's discovered. and to share with him the conclusions to share with the house the conclusions that he's reached. then the american people can suddenly become massively more informed than they are now. it's ultimately going to entail great popular pressure for members of the house and senate to take steps that will protec

so how on earth does hell know about the inner working in by the way, matt whittaker is now acting attorney joan and can probably read owl of mueller's files. so if this is happening, this is obstruction of justice to the n-degree' why eightsome favor january cannot come soon enough for the house democrats to take over and start issuing subpoenas and get to the bottom of this. [applause] >> that is all they time we have. thank you so much for an enlightening discussion. [applause] >> this week personal michelle's own bone's auto biography was released, called "becoming pile and she is speak doing sold out arenas across the country on her book tour. she kicked off tuesday in chicago at the united center. here's a portion of the program. >> she made us always feel like the white house was really our house, the people's house. she is your hometown girl from the south side of chicago, welcome michelle obama! [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] >> okay, everybody. >> wow. >> united center. have a seat. >> we're home. >> we're home. >> yeah, feels good. >> i have to say, every time i fly

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however, he told chris wallace on friday that if the attorney general, matt whittaker, were to take steps to reign it in, that will be whittaker's decision. listen here. >> it's going to be up to him. i think he's very well aware politically. he's a very smart person. >> you won't overrule if they decides to curtail? >> i will not get involved. all these people say i will end the investigation, they've been saying that now for how long this witch hunt gone on? >> reporter: the president's legal team has written answers ready to give to robert mueller regarding issue of russia and collusion. i'm told those answers will not be submitted today but they could be handed over in the next couple of days. here's president trump on that. >> the questions were asked and answered. it wasn't a big deal. they make it like i had meetings. i got the questions pip -- i responded. i read them once and second time. we made some changes. that's it. >> reporter: the president also seem to indicate that there will be no inperson interview with reasonable -- robert mueller. mueller asked for the potential for

we will make sure that matt whittaker will be to invite him and to subpoena him to appear before the it's a direct result of blue wave. that's a democratic poi poised e over. he says he will grill acting attorney general matt whittaker about his new role of overseeing this russia probe. democrats winning the projected 35 house seats. as we reported that's their biggest midterm haul in four decades. >> the ouster of jeff sessions. >> certainly. >> north korea summit. >> all issues involving north korea. >> commitments to saudi arabia. >> you could continue down the list. >> what are your top oversight priorities? >> i really want to look at some things that affect people on a day-to-day bases. drug prices and health care issues. >> white house staff use of personal e-mail. >> for sure. >> the president's business dealings abroad. >> absolutely. i want to see his tax return. >> a key witness in the russia probe, a roger stone ally, is now saying that mueller's team told him to get ready to be indicted for perjury. i'm joined now as promised by california congressman eric swalwell. than

the president said, i don't know matt whittaker after saying repeatedly before he does know him. he said so on this network. "the new york times" says he has frequently visiting the oval office. democrats want whittaker to recuse himself from the russian investigation. some republicans argue there is a double standard when it comes to recuseals. katherine heritage reporting. >> reporter: congressman, jerry nadler, said acting attorney general, matt whittaker's past media appearances smacked of bias. >> he should recuse himself. he has expressed total hostilities to the investigation. he has said the investigation shouldn't go forward. someone who has said that should not be in charge of deciding on the investigation. >> reporter: also, in january, the republican chairman of the house intelligence committee, devon nunez, alleged surveillance on the trump campaign will hand the gavel to ranking democrat, adam schiff. he said that whittaker will be investigated. >> we are going to find out whether he made commitments to the president about the probe, whether he is serving as a back c

that but i hope they step up. >> senator graham spoke out yesterday on acting attorney general matt whittakerticizing the mueller investigation amid fears that whittaker may try to shut down the probe. watch this. >> he was paan opinion journali. he can have any opinion he wants. he understands that his job now is to fit into the regular order of house special counsel reports to the department of justice. i have every confidence he will do that professionally. as to the mueller investigation, i'm confident it is not in jeopardy. i talked to the president last night. >> a federal judge is refusing to toss out the case by robert mueller against a russian businessman helping to fund moscow's efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. the judge ruled against firm concord management and consulting which had been seeking to have the indictment against it dismissedismissed. the company is accused of using an extensive social media campaign to up influence the election. in their 31-page opinion, the judge who president trump appointed to the u.s. district court of d.c. last year rejected concord's claim

. >>> matt whittaker had a lot to say before he was at the justice department. you see him right there speaking live now publically for the first time as acting attorney general as the battle for his appointment rages on. >>> the race to recount votes in florida heating up. we mean literally heating up. the recount machine malfunctioned putting election workers in a tough spot. what does it mean for the recount? that is coming up. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. moving? that's harder now because of psoriatic arthritis. but you're still moved by moments like this. don't let psoriatic arthritis take them away. taltz reduces joint pain and stiffness and helps stop the progression of joint damage. for people with moderate to severe psoriasis, 90% saw significant improvement. taltz even gives you a chance at completely clear skin. don't use if you're allergic to taltz. before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase risk of infections and lower your ability t

and again, i think it's very -- matt whittaker is a highly respected man, but i didn't know matt whittakerbut he's a highly respected man. [ inaudible question ] neither has mueller. excuse me. you talk about the senate process, mueller is doing a report. he hasn't gone through the senate process. you're saying whitaker hasn't, but whitaker has. because he was a really distinguished u.s. attorney in iowa. and he was approved by everybody. because to be u.s. attorney, that's top of the line. he was a highly respected -- in fact, i'll tell you. the ambassador to china as you know terry branstad who used to be the governor of iowa, he told me what a great choice that is. that he is one of the most respected people in all of iowa. and that was coming from terry branstad who was the governor. look. mueller, a big complaint people have, mueller was not senate confirmed. so he's doing a report. he wasn't senate confirmed. whitaker was senate confirmed. he was senate confirmed at the highest level when he was the u.s. attorney from iowa. [ inaudible question ] but mueller was not senate confirmed.

clovis who served as one of donald trump's cochairman says he is texting with his very good friend matt whittakerin a recent podcast. he also said that whittaker has been given sole responsibility for mueller's investigation and predicted that the a.g. would do what is right with respect to the russia probe. in his fox news interview yesterday, president trump said he wouldn't stop whittaker from scaling back mueller's probe if he chooses to do so. >> if whittaker decides in any way to limit or curtail the mueller investigation, are you okay with that? >> look, it's going to be up to him. i think he's very well aware politically. he's astute politically. he's a very smart person, a very respected person. i really believe he's going to do what's right. >> the lawmaker expected to be the chair of the house intel committee says they're prepared to challenge matt wihittaker's appointment. >> it's a flawed appointment, but the biggest flaw from my point of view is that he was chosen for the purpose of interfering with the mueller investigation. he auditioned for the part by going on tv and saying he c

matt whittaker. ben carson. betsy devos. administrator linda mcmahon. ambassador lighthizer.cting administrator who i will tell you is going to be made permanent, he's done a fantastic job, i want to congratulate him, e.p.a. andrew wheeler. congratulations andrew, great job. thank you very much. [applause] thank you as well to senator amy klobuchar for being here. where is amy, by the way? where is amy? for five decades i have to say the presidential medal of freedom has been given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to american life and culture. this year it is my true privilege to award this honor to seven extraordinary americans. senator orrin hatch, the late, great justice antonin scalia, miriam adelson. roger staubach. allen paige and two more recipients who are no longer with us, but whose legacies will live on forever, legendary babe ruth, legendary elvis presley. true legends. the first recipient is one of the longest-serving senators in american history a great friend of mine, orrin hatch he liked me from the beginning and therefore i like him. i'm

sessions chief of staff matte whittaker will serve as acting attorney general. a doj official says he will oversee all matters, including the russia investigation led by special counsel robert mueller, something he's called a political fishing expedition. >> it would create a constitutional crisis if therapy a prelude to ending or greatly limiting the mueller investigation. >> the justice department says whittaker's oversight of the special counsel will be subject to review by federal ethics officials. >>> the other big story out of washington tonight, jim acosta has been banned from the white house. >> reporter: this is just acosta, i'm in front of the white house, secret service officers asking for my hard pass. obviously no hard feelings to the officer, but i'm now getting my hard pass and giving it to the secret service. >> reporter: acosta tweeting this video after being denied entrance to the white house this evening. here's the incident that start today all. >> that's enough, that's enough. >> reporter: can i ask -- the other folks -- pardon me -- cocoa b

. >>> protests are underway tonight over presidentrump's appointment of matt whittaker as acting attorney general. whitker facing questions over whether he should be overseeing the russia probe. here is nbc's pete williams. r the chief of staff for jeff sessions a year ago, he was a commentator. he said special counsel robert mueller's team should not cross red lines. >> it would be a fishing expedition. >> reporter: he said he hadn't seen any proof of russian collusion with the russian campaign. s, >> the truthhere was no collusion. there was interferce by the russians into the election but that's not the collusion in the campaign. >> repor some say those comments make him unqualifieto ersee the russia investigation. >> we know he was chosen for the wrong on res because of his views on the russia probe. >> reportey say whitaker may see it differently now. >> rob mueller will come in and brief him on the dails of the investigation. you are in a different place at that point. >> reporr: and today the husband of white house advisor kellyanne conway, george conway co-write as column saying u

. >> it means matt whittaker will overseemu boler's investigation if mueller needs to do something or seek tional authority or get permission to charge, mueller has to go through whittaker. >> reporter: whiaker has authority to fire mueller but only for cause like misconduct. no word tonight on rosenstein's future, he was on the job lyoday attending a previocheduled white house meeting. pete williams, nbc news, washington. >> reporter: i'm hallie jackson and tonight, after the high profile firing, democrats are firing back. >> any aorney general, whether this one or another one should not be able to heinterfere with t mueller investigation in any way. >> reporter: the top democrat ohouse judiciary committee tweeting, americans must have answers immediately about sessions' departure, adding we will be holding people accounta democrats can do that now that they are getting control of the house but in the senate, president trump still holds the cards since his republican majority gives him the votes to nfirm a new pick. >> i'm disappointed in the attorney general for many reasons. ep >>t

the loyalty and trust that the president had wanted >> final ward ord to you >> the point is matt whittaker has written about a scenario which the mueller investigation would be starved of resources. not fired but as an alternative firing him and wind down the money for his office and cause his probe to end that way. i would like to ask our market guests, if you take it to the next logical step that the president does decide to direct him to fire bob mueller, what would the reaction be? >> i think it would be very negative i don't think that longer term, you know, one of the things we see with the trump administration is something that seems like the biggest thing today because trump goes from, you know, kind of crisis to crisis to crisis we generally move on and what the market will look at is the agenda coming out of the senate and what could happen legislatively out of the house. when you look at it there they don't come easily but anything that is potentially on that list is more fiscal stimulus. >> guys already though an antagonistic between the president. a new tweet now from jerry wh

leland: acting attorney general matt whittaker, what they are threatening. >> president trump are printed to the g20 in argentina this week. will he be able to work out new deals to help on american workers? welcome to america's its headquarters from washington on the tail end of this thanksgiving holiday weekend. i'm kristen fisher. leland: still some leftovers in the fridge. i am leland vittert. not going to lunch at her house. president trump tweeting out threats to shut down the u.s. southern border if necessary is migrant caravanserai that the borders ports of entry. more from west palm beach to hear what the president is saying to heading back to washington. >> hi, lee lynn. the incoming minister of mexico said in a silent deal was in place between countries and according to the steel immigrants traveling seeking asylum in the united states the united states evacuated in mexico while their cases went through the process of the u.s. court in the united states which could take months or if not years. this morning the same mexican official is denying that there is an agreement. the inc

are about to be in power come january are calling for newly appointed acting attorney general matt whittakercuse himself from the special counsel investigation. they are concerned he is only there to sabotage robert mueller's i venvestigation. take a listen. >> first of all, i think he should recuse himself for any review of the investigation because the statements he has made already in a public domain about the fact this investigation should not -- >> you don't have confidence in him? >> i don't. >> our very first witness after january 3rd, we'll subpoena or summon mr. whittaker. >> i want to make this very clear. if he doesn't recuse himself, if he has any involvement in this russia probe, we are going to find out. >> at this point republicans haven't made any moves to protect mueller in the wake of jeff sessions firing. even senator lindsey graham who said there will be hell to pay if sessions were ousted is backing whittaker. >> i think he's a appropriately appointed legally. i don't think he has to recuse himself. i'm confident the mueller investigation will be allowed to come to a goo

leland: acting attorney general matt whittaker, what they are threatening. >> president trump are printed argentina this week. will he be able to work out new deals to help on american workers?

also there matt whittaker, his first day on the job. whittaker will speak at the event in place of jeff sessions. >> meanwhile, calls continue for whittaker to recuse himself from over seeing the special counsel, robert mueller's russia probe. he has made critical remarks about the probe, the scope of it in the past. joining us now, our justice reporter who broke all of the news yesterday as it was happening. remarkable reporting by you and the entire team as this was going down yesterday, laura. what should everyone this morning waking up know about the man that will now oversee the entire russia probe. >> he has fiercely defended the president in the past, appearing regularly on tv, talking almost as a surrogate for him. i want to read a piece he wrote for cnn back in august of 2017 before he was sessions chief of staff where he talked about how he agreed with the president, that there would be a limit, perhaps a bridge too far that mueller shouldn't cross if he tried to go after the president's personal financial information. he says

. >> they wrote about the inner workings of the mueller campaign, we don't know what matt whittaker has been telling him. it it is something he likes to refer to as a perjury trap, that is not something they taught you at harvard law school. >> it is a meaningless phrase. perjury is perjury. this idea, the president talked about, that if you say it was a sunny day but it was cloudy they will charge you be perjury, of course not. it has to be a substantive statement that is relative to a central issue in the place. it has to be an intentional falsehood. perjury is about intentional lying and it is rarely prosecuted, but it is prosecuted when prosecutors see it. they don't prosecute people that make mistakes. >> what's the best way to avoid it by the way? >> tell the truth. >> these written answers, they're not the end here, necessarily. they turn in the homework assignment, but the special council could come back and follow up on these, right? >> the special council will receive at some point these answers it seems like, and they will decide whether or not they find those answers suffici

he directly asked matt whittaker the acting attorney general about it. is this different? >> as you said about his interactions with the justice department would say that you go through us and proper channels. what we saw repeatedly in 2017 going into 2018 was the president wanted foes prosecuted and charged. what was different here was that don mcgahn took this so seriously that he brought up a memo telling the president how it can lead to his demise. the president would want to do something that he thought was unconstitutional or broke the law and he would say hold on. i need to tell you how this is going to get you in trouble. he told associates it is the only way to stop the president from doing things that were -- >> i like the florida look there. it's solid. we saw that matthew whittaker. we made public the comments criticizing the special counsel's investigation over past months before the president chose him to oversee that investigation. we also noted that he wrote a usa today op-ed titled i would indict hillary clinton. he went on to say when the facts in evidenc

it's one way for mueller to put everything out there and not have to go through matt whittaker.verything out there and let people know what he has. et koultd it could be so politi embarrassing if he says this is what manafort is lying about and it's devastating then the president may have problems. manafort's allies are saying that the special counsel is trying to push him into a nar ti narrative and he refuses to go there. we'll have to see what the special counsel is. >> jeffrey go leads. >> i think gloria is right. this will be a detailed statement about why paul manafort wasn't telling the truth. it's still unclear whether mueller will file that under seal or not. we may not see that immediately. as for the political backlash. respectfully haven't we learned that no matter what donald trump does, 40% of the public supports it. does anyone think that sean hannity will say, hmm this is incriminating. >> look what happened to republican fs in the mid term. there's an impact when the president is unpopular. he was able to pull it out in 2016 inspite of his unpopularity because i