. >>> hallie jackson is nbc's chief white house correspondent and matthew miller the former justice departmentpokesman in the obama administration. good morning, guys. >> >> matt, let me begin with you. we will start with jeff sessions. he has now testified the invitation to testify before the senate intelligence committee. what specifically do you think he heard, matt, in fbi director comey's testimony that compelled him to step into it? >> i think there are two things. first of all, i think the reason he's going before the intel committee, it looks like he's trying to get out of public testimony. the problem that he has now is that jim comey moved the russia cloud that the president famously said was over his head, he moved it on to jeff sessions' head in two ways, one, there are now apparently reports of another meeting with ambassador kislyak and, two, there continue to be questions about what jeff sessions knew when he signed off on jim comey's firing. did he know that the president was concerned with jim comey's handling of the russian affair? we know he was aware of comey's concerns abo

matthew miller, thank you for joining us this afternoon. >> thank you. >>> and don't miss megyn kelly's with russian president vladimir putin tomorrow evening during the premiere of her new show, "sunday night with megyn kelly" tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. eastern on nbc. >>> calls for the ouster of hbo's bill maher after he uses a racial slur on last night's episode of realtime. he made a joke in which he called himself the n word during an interview with republican senator ben sasse of nebraska. he quickly grew widespread condemnation for using the word. hbo issued the following statement. bill haher's comment last night was completely inexcusable and tasteless. we are removing his deeply offensive comment from any subsequent airings of the show. senator ben sasse added on twitter, the history of the n word is an attack on universal human dignity. it's therefore an attack on the american creed. don't use it. >>> while much of the attention in recent weeks has been on the russia investigation, lawmakers are facing a number of legislative questions as they return to capitol hill next week. que

joining us is it matthew miller. former chief spokesperson for the justice department.nk you for being here i'll let you answer that question. what do you think rod rosenstein is up to going on the record? >> yeah, it's a great question because this is his first interview with the press since he was sworn into office. and for him to come out and publicly figure himself as a possible subject of this investigation in his first interview is a strange thing to do. i suspect what he was doing was trying to take some heat off himself and finding an excuse to not answer questions about one one of the underlying scandals at doj. the big question is going to be what did the president say to him about the russia investigation? what kind of pressure did they put on him? there's a secondary potential scandal too which is what did jeff sessions and rod rosenstein know when they signed off on james comey's firing, and if they knew he was being fired because he was fired and they went along with it, their positions are really untenable at doj. it would be the biggest scandal in the de

also with us matthew miller former chief spokesman for the justice department.i would encourage anyone watching or listening to read the piece. it's a fascinating look behind the curtain if you will precisely how those conversations were going down and what we knew and who knew what when, looking back, i know behind site's always 20/20. the administration's response was it proportional to the threat? >> so i think you have to separate into two things, one before the election and ask the question of whether they properly warned the american public and two after the election whether they properly retaliated. i think it is fair to ask whether they could've done more, whether they could've made a more fulsome public statement but they were operating under significance constraints. remember the talks that election was mired in. you had trump out rung against the rigged election he was talking about. he was casting doubt on whether the russians actually hacked into hillary clinton's e-mails, and the administration tried to get a bipartisan statement. they went up to t

matthew miller, chief spokesman at the justice department under eric holder, also a justice and security analyst. shawn turner, deputy white house press secretary for national security and intelligence issues in the obama white house. thanks to all of you for joining me this friday morning. julian, i'll start with you. your general reaction to mr. putin's comments there. his attempts to dodge those questions, brush off a lot of those questions from megyn kelly. >> yeah, i think that's as hard as he's been pressed in years. he was really rattled. megyn kelly's questioning, at one point, he asked for someone to give her a pill and talked about the hysteria of the whole russia/trump investigation. what was striking, as your correspondent pointed out, he changed his story. he was talking about the hackers who were like artists and woke up one day and decided to do something for their country, implying that getting -- helping getting donald trump elected did do something for russia. today, he was very much doubling down in denial. could have been anyone. it could have been a 3-year-old child.

. >> matthew miller, appreciate your time tonight. very much. >> thank you. >> i will say just keep your eyes on what happens here with this judiciary committee investigation. this is supposed to be looking at obstruction of justice. so far the chairman of that committee is leading the charge to try to discredit the investigation being conducted at the fbi into exactly that same thing as well as the fbi investigation into the russian matter more broadly. it seems like a really big deal to me to have the republicans who are directly involved in those matters trying to discredit the fbi. maybe this will become a bigger story soon. but in the meantime, watch for it yourself. we'll be right back. thanks for the ride around norfolk! and i just wanted to say, geico is proud to have served the military for over 75 years! roger that. captain's waiting to give you a tour of the wisconsin now. could've parked a little bit closer... it's gonna be dark by the time i get there. geico®. proudly serving the military for over 75 years. >>> we are old

matthew miller, former spokesman for the justice department in the obama administration. my tv husband for the day. we've been on the air since 9:00 a.m. an msnbc analyst. in washington, d.c., nbc legal contributor, former federal prosecutor, paul butler, who doesn't rise to husband status but we've also been on the air all day. i feel like we've been having this conversation since 9:00 this morning. the dramatic moments to me today seem to fall into three categories. one, what donald trump asked comey to do that was just so outside the realm and the norm and we'll have this debate about whether or not it was illegal, obstruction of justice. two, for all the interactions we had with the sitting president which is not normal, your old boss, my old boss, did not call the head of the fbi down for dinner and ask him for loyalty pledges, but u for all those interactions, never one question about russia. who was very seriously meddling in our democracy. and then, three, this exchange that julia was talking about about leaks. what for you, what do you think we'll still be talkin

our team, kristen weller, garrett headache on capitol hill, msnbc justice and security analyst matthew millerthe set, congressional reporter for the washington, "the new york times" reporter jeremy peters. the gang is all here. you're seeing a president doing battle on multiple fronts. you've got donald trump very us the democratic attorney general. you've got him going in on james comey and robert mueller and he's feuding the leaders in europe too. we're talking about all of it this hour. starting with kristen welker over at the white house. let's talk about the lawsuit. walk us through the nuts and bolts and any potential fallout that might come here. >> reporter: well there could be potential fallout. this is what we know. the washington post first to report that attorneys general in washington, d.c. and maryland, they are both democrats are poised to file a lawsuit as early as today, potentially noon today for effectively it will

washington correspondent for not times, also an msnbc contributor, msnbc justice and security analyst matthew miller and former justice department spokesman under attorney general eric holder and msnbc terrorism analyst malcolm nance joining us this afternoon. charlie, let me start with you, the justice department announced this case about an hour after the report was posted on the intercept. how are they able to investigate and make an arrest so fast? >> well according to fbi affidavits that were put out by the government, the reporters for the intercept had approached the government -- i'm getting an echo in my ear and hearing my voice about a half second behind myself. reporters for the intercept had approached the government several days ago and had submitted a copy of that report to them in an effort to authenticate it and the government, therefore, knew this had been leaked and it also had some clues in the document itself and in its audit trails of who viewed the report, printed it out and because of a variety of basically op-sec mistake, both by the source and unfortunately by the intercept

garrett headache on capitol hill, msnbc justice and security analyst matthew miller and on the set, congressional reporter for the washington, "the new york times" reporter jeremy peters. the gang is all here. you're seeing a president doing battle on multiple fronts. you've got donald trump very us the democratic attorney general. you've got him going in on james comey and robert mueller and he's feuding the leaders in europe too. we're talking about all of it this hour. starting with kristen welker over at the white house. let's talk about the lawsuit. walk us through the nuts and bolts and any potential fallout that might come here. >> reporter: well there could be potential fallout. this is what we know. the washington post first to report that attorneys general in washington, d.c. and maryland, they are both democrats are poised to file a lawsuit as early as today, potentially noon today for effectively it will claim violating the constitution clause about corruption biceping millions of dollars in payments and benefits from foreign governments since he became president. the white house hasn

. >> matthew miller, former chief spokesman for the justice department, appreciate your time tonight.idn't know we would have another big week of being glued to congressional testimony. happy to have you here to understand what's going to happen. much more ahead tonight. stay with us. it's an important question you ask, but one i think with a simple answer. we have this need to peek over our neighbor's fence. and once we do, we see wonder waiting. every step you take, narrows the influence of narrow minds. bridges continents and brings this world one step closer. so, the question you asked me. what is the key? it's you. everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. 60% of women are wearing the w...experience leaks. introducing always my fit. find the number that's right for your flow and panty size on the top of any always pack. the better the fit, the better it protects. always. country's most prominent critic of vladimir putin, the most high profile opposition leader in the country, alexei navalny, was arrested again. this time sentenced to 30 days detention. alexei n

i couldn't help but notice matthew miller of the obama justice department just said on social media, "this is like watching a hugo chaves speech, long, rambling, veering from topic to topic, prattling on about exploitation by foreigners." yes, a partisan view, but as content goes, ali velshi, interesting stuff. >> yeah. i mean, he started off with where we thought he would go. saying this is not in america's interest, it's stifling to american businesses, the call on america to contribute to this green fund at the united nations. america was going to contribute $30 billion. 10% of that fund while other countries not only didn't have to contribute to it, but countries like china and india, developing nations, are able to increase their carbon output. that's where we thought this discussion was going to go and he executed that within the first few minutes but then it became something about -- he made many references to u.s. sovereignty, about people being against the united states, about other countries not doing it. he quoted a widely debunked study by a group called nara con sh sulti

our matthew miller has flown to spartanburg, south carolina, to get a b.m.w.rleston, where they export all this stuff. this is an export in growing juggernaut. since 1992 or 1994. 2 gets bigger and bigger and igger, doesn't it? matt: absolutely. a lot of people don't know, but hey manufacturer, b.m.w. manufacturers all of the global x series cars here. x-3, rything from an x-1, x-4, to an x-6, even the x-7 up, to 450 units a year. they export $10 billion worth out of here, tom, every year, more than any car manufacturer in america. to the cars that go charleston to get shipped on boats, wherever they go in the mr. trump doesn't support this manufacturing versus so-called american manufacturing? matt: yeah, that's one of the i'm going ask the c.e.o. when i talk to him a little bit later this morning. ey're having the 25-year celebration here. they're introducing a new model, the x-3, the third generation of that as well. to he main thing i want know is, how have your discussions gone with president trump, and have you convinced you have so many jobs down here,

. >> capitol hill justice department spokesperson and msnbc justice and security analyst matthew milleruddy firing back at the white house, what is he saying? >> he's essentially saying, yeah, i'm one of the few allies you have left. don't try to undermine me. in a statement to nbc news, basically pushing back on the pushback from sean spicer talking about the source he he has spoken with regarding this apparent consideration of the president firing potentially bob mueller, as mr. ari will explain, the president doesn't have the authority to do that. in the sense i get from talking with sources over the last 10, 12 hours since this ruddy news broke is the president, as you guys knows, often does this spit-balling. he's on the phone at night, talking with his pals back at new york. the sense that's been conveyed to me is this is a president trying to show that he can flex his muscles a little bit to say, hey, i do have the authority, i do have the power in this situation, but whether he really is or not considering really actually firing bob mueller is still certainly up in the air. at l

chief of the law firm law and also with us, former justice department spokesperson now for msnbc, matthew miller u there. >> i think it would be great if we can start with a big image of the law firm. >> give us the break down of yesterday, what did it mean at the end of the day? >> the significant of yesterday is a person of whatever you think of james comey of judgment and decisions and his integrity and a person who does not lie went on the record, under oath and talked about the president lying about the bureau and talking about the president misrepresenting his interactions with him,e talked about the president putting pressure on him for investigative matters and he talked about a significant pattern of completely inappropriate contact between the white house and the fbi. i think to have someone of comey's stature and i don't mean that just literally going on record under oath and make those allegations, it should provoke a crisis for the president. >> was there anything in the testimony that made you believe to be more likely of obstruction of charges that could be brought or less likely?

us from washington now, former justice department spokesperson and now msnbc security analyst, matthew millery way to look at it? >> no. it doesn't matter what the president says about whether or not he's under investigation he wouldn't necessarily know. the fact that "the washington post" reported it with pretty definitive sourcing, i think it's clear the president is under investigation. for his lawyer to come out and make this cliaim, one of the things that's strange about this situation is the president keeps hiring lawyers with no criminal experience. he's now being investigated for a criminal offense. the lawyer that went out and represented him yesterday like the lawyer marc kasowitz that came out, doesn't have any criminal experience. i presume he was hired because he has a lot of experience talking on tv. and it makes you wonder if you're going to hire someone for that, they ought to be good at talking on tv. i don't think that's what we saw yesterday. >> no. it was a sad showing. we're adding friday's tweet to the top five tweets by the president since he took office that have done

former obama official adding secretary kerry succeeded in 2014 in bringing kenneth bay and matthewed to millerg to a no ransom policy. >> the policy that's been a decades old policy of not paying ransom, i think is the right policy. >> reporter: a u.s. diplomat, ambassador joe yun negotiated twice with the north koreans. in new york and in norway, and finally did bring him home. obama officials say there's no explanation for why kim jong-un finally relented and how he got -- how this college student became comatose and for how long. >> andrea mitchel, thank you so much. >>> we have a lot more coming up on touching new tribute to the original batman. >> and then why ben stiller is challenging you to a dodge ball battle. >> plus the dads of "today" open up about what fatherhood is all about. >> and a live concert from the queen of country pop, shania twain. first, these messages. at school. at the beach. in the big easy. yeah yeah today i want to show you guys the next-gen chevy equinox. what do you think? that's pretty. pretty sexy. it looks aggressive. but not overbearing. it's not too big. no

former obama official adding secretary kerry has succeeded in 2014 in bringing kenneth bae and matthew todd millerdid for decades. sticking to a no ransom policy denounced by families that the parentsic of james foley claime by isis in syria. >> the policy that's been a decades oldcy policy of not payg ransom i think is the right policy. >> reporter: a u.s. diplomat, ambassador joe young is the person who did negotiate twice with the north koreans and in new york and in norway and finally did bring him home.. obama officials say there's no explanation for why kim jong-un finally relented and how he got -- how this college student became comatose -- and for how long. hoda? >> andrew. andrea mitchell, thank you so much. >>> we have a lot more coming up on a friday morning.hi including a touching new tribute the to the original batman. >>> and why ben stiller is challenging you to a dodgeball battle. >> plus dads of "today" open up about what fatherhood is all about ins a very special backyad barbecue. >> and have you heard, a live concert from the queen of country pop shania twain. but first, these