neal katyal, my special guest tonight. i want to tell viewers starting tonight, you can actually go to msnbc.com/openingarguments. msnbc.com/openingarguments to see this discussion and other legal series we're going to do here with neal on "the beat." >>> up ahead, eric holder goes lightning round and talks about this video of his hooping as well as his views of the 2020 candidates. that's only on our show tonight. >>> but first, blowing the whistle on what some are calling a national security scandal. 25 different security clearances in doubt. a top obama aide who dealt with that very issue joins me next. m? [ paper rustling ] exactly, nothing. they're completely different people, that's why they need customized car insurance from liberty mutual. they'll only pay for what they need! [ gargling ] [ coins hitting the desk ] yes, and they could save a ton. you've done it again, limu. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from

neal katyal is here. and as trump oversees don mcgahn's cooperation, he will speak to barack obama's white house counsel. another "the beat" exclusive. what i'm telling you is we have a lot left in the show. don't go anywhere. i'm ari melber. you're watching "the beat" on msnbc. 300 miles an hour, that's where i feel normal. having an annuity tells me my retirement is protected. learn more at retire your risk dot org. if ywhen you brush or floss, you don't have to choose between healthy gums and strong teeth. complete protection from parodontax has 8 designed benefits for healthy gums and strong teeth. complete protection from parodontax. when you start with a better that's no way to treat a dog... ...you can do no wrong. where did you learn that? the internet... yeah? mmm! with no artificial preservatives or added nitrates or nitrites, it's all for the love of hot dogs. i like to make my life easy. ( ♪ ) romo mode. (beep) (bang) good luck with that one. yes! that's why i wear skechers slip-ons. they're e

neal katyal, thank you. nt to tell our viewerious can catch this and the other segments we're doing with neal at msnbc.com/openingarguments. videos and more. check it out. >>> coming up, when we are back in 30 seconds, we have the tax record push for trump, and my breakdown on something very important that donald trump is doing with two nominations that has his own supporters rattled, when we're back in 30. k in 30.h. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray only relieves 6 symptoms, claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. [horn honks] man this is what i feel like when i wear regular shoes, cramped and uncomfortable. we can arrange a little upgrade. which is why i wear skechers... wide fit shoes. they have extra room throughout. they're like a luxury ride for my feet. try skechers wide fit shoes. >>> controversies continue to swirl around president trump's immigration policies and his approach to the mueller report. a

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neal katyal is going to come somewhere around 10:30. he's got other stuff he's rushing from to get here. we'll get his reaction to where the trump war with congress stands on subpoenas. we're going to get his reaction to be what the mueller report really does say about obstruction of justice. and you will meet a republican coming up in our next segment who actually worked on the trump transition who is now has reaped his tipping point, the mueller report was that tipping point. he believes donald trump should be impeached. that's next. ♪ limu emu & doug mmm, exactly! liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. nice! but uh, what's up with your partner? oh! we just spend all day telling everyone how we customize car insurance because no two people are alike, so... limu gets a little confused when he sees another bird that looks exactly like him. ya... he'll figure it out. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ bleech! aww! awww! ♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesies

neal katyal is going to come somewhere around 10:30. he's got other stuff he's rushing from to get here. we'll get his reaction to where the trump war with congress stands on subpoenas. we're going to get his reaction to be what the mueller report really does say about obstruction of justice. and you will meet a republican coming up in our next segment who actually worked on the trump transition who is now has reaped his tipping point, the mueller report was that tipping point. he believes donald trump should be impeached. that's next. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. even rooftop parking. strange forces at work? only if you're referring to gravity-and we covered it. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ for people 50 and older colat average risk.ing honey have you seen my glasses? i've always had a knack for finding things... colon cancer, to be exact. and i find it noninvasively... no need for

please welcome former acting solicitor general of the united states neal katyal! al, good to see you again. neal, we've got a long way to go and a short time to get there, so let's get right into it. you wrote the rules on special counsel investigations. how much of this is your fault? ( laughter ) >> i'm feeling pretty good tonight because, basically, i think this is the end of the beginning not the beginning of the end. the special counsel regulations are dealing with the central problem which is the president and his attorney general control prosecution entirely under our constitution, so if you have a corrupt attorney general, there is ant way to stop him from doing the president's bidding. all you can do is shed sunlight into that process and that's what we saw today. we have the special counsel report, several hundred pages long. the attorney general can stop that investigation, even though the president said this is a hoax, stop this thing, witch hunt and the like. so we now have the facts and it's now set up for congress and the american people to evaluate

. >> neal katyal? >> yeah, i think, i agree with that, i think today was supposed to be about mueller, but it turns out it was really about barr. and we learned so much about him picking up on the president's rhetoric, collusion, collusion, to no collusion, that's not even a legal term. lawyers don't talk that way. the term is conspiracy. and then to -- we learned today that he really, i think, misled the american people in his four-page letter because the four-page letter he said has nothing to do with whether a sitting president can be indicted and now we learn mueller's entire report is all based on -- >> yeah. >> -- exactly that premise. so the whole thing, i think, is starting to smell. >> neal katyal, our thanks. to jeremy bash. jeremy? >> i think the way i would shorthand volume 2 is the president's conduct was squarely illegal, but it's not chargeable. and i think if you read the legal analysis from page 159 to page 180, what the special counsel does is it rebuts the arguments advanced by the p

did you ever can expect to hear neal katyal to say he was acting in a donald trumpian way? when neal and i first talked about the attorney general's first letter about the mueller report, we did it with some hope, we did it as optimistic -- we greeted as optimistically as we could. we've been struggling to find any since then. >> if you go back further in william barr's history when he was in the george h.w. bush administration, he pushed for a very broad theory of executive power. including granting pardons to more people under iran-contra. i think that this faith that barr maybe because he was associated with hw was going to be the sort of moderate force, it's proved to be misguided. i think if you go back and look at his previous writings, including the memo he wrote last summer, they just look like they're setting up more of the kind of rhetoric you see today than the kind of longed for figure, the grown-up figure na people imagined. >> let's listen to what adam schiff said about this today. >> it was deeply disturbing to see the attorney general make such a cavalier su

solicitor general neal katyal.s for joining me tonight. >> thank you. >> i want to get to several things, but starting with this big news, your view of both the announcement of thursday as a time to get the redacted report, whether that raises any questions, and how you view that more broadly with mr. barr's approach thus far. >> color me skeptical. i think there is reasons to doubt barr's up and upness on this. so it's not just that he wrote a 19-page memo last summer saying that trump basically couldn't obstruct justice on a really flimsy legal theory, it's not just that he cleared the president of obstruction of justice in 48 hours when it took mueller two years and he didn't make that conclusion and said it does not exonerate, it's also things like his testimony last week where barr said like that there may have been, quote, unlawful spying going on, and this weekend that led the trump campaign to even do ads around that saying oh, this effectively deep state is engaged in unlawful spying. you know, there is th

it's not the right spirit. >> neal katyal. neal, i appreciate you being here tonight. thank you.e to come tonight. stay with us. we have more to come tonight stay with us fast... ...and brake too hard. with feedback to help you drive safer. giving you the power to actually lower your cost. unfortunately, it can't do anything about that. now that you know the truth... are you in good hands? ♪ with venus, you're in charge of your skin. so, write your own rules. because no one gets an opinion on why you shave - or how you show your skin. ♪ we really pride ourselvesglass, on making it easy to get your windshield fixed. with safelite, you can see exactly when we'll be there. saving you time for what you love most. >> kids: whoa! >> kids vo: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ it's tough to quit smoking cold turkey. so chantix can help you quit "slow turkey." along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting. chantix reduces the urge so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. when y

joining us now is neal katyal, former acting slitting general from the obama administration. the head of the department of regulations that define the special counsel. neal is joining us on the phone about 30 seconds before he has the get on to a plane. neal, thank you for making time for us. >> thank you. >> let me first ask you about this report from the report from "the times"ing releasing the findings to the white house before releasing it to anybody else. is that what the regulations spell out they should be doing? >> i think what i learned in this kind of law school for this kind of behavior is super extra stinky. there are very careful rules that have been around for generations for governing the white house, its contacts with the justice department in general, and that's because our country's founders understood the prosecution power is massive, both because the president's enemies can be indicted and the president's friends, their wrongs can be covered up. even in just an ordinary case, there is a very, very careful set of rules, and it's extremely rare to get the pre

joining us now is neal katyal, former acting solicitor general in the obama administration. he is the author of the justice department regulations that define the office of special counsel. neal, it's great to have you here tonight. thanks for joining us on short notice. >> thanks, rachel. >> let me just ask you, i know you've had a time to read this "times" report. i know you just heard my sort of takeaways from it. let me ask you what you think is important from it and what you think people should understand about this new reporting. >> well, totally clears the president, no, rachel. it's obviously due to this reporting and other things shows to be a lot more complicated than that. and president trump said those words and his advisers that the mueller report clears him totally, and the like, and they've got to prove it up now. and last week trump said that the report clears him and he wants the public -- he wants the mueller report to be publicly released. and today he switched tunes in a press conference and said huh-uh, it shouldn't be released, blah, blah, blah, excuse a

. >> neal katyal, as someone who had a say in how this process was supposed to work, what of that rang false to you? >> the process obviously is a problem, with this press conference before we even get to see the reports. >> there is that. >> it's a free spin. i've never heard of that. i think that we had a bunch of smart people at the justice department trying to anticipate every possibility. no one would anticipate something like that. but i think to me the bigger thing is going to be the substance. what does the mueller report say? how did barr reach the conclusions he reached. he was mixing a bunch of different things. he was saying first factually the president was frustrated so he didn't have corrupt intent for obstruction of justice. i'd like to know how the heck he knows since mueller didn't even interview president trump. that's one thing. the second is, it sounded like he was making a legal conclusion that there was no obstruction of justice because there was no underlying crime that was proved. now, that i think is a pretty dubious legal conclusion. i'd like to see the basis

. >> neal katyal. neal, i appreciate you being here tonight. all right.o come tonight. stay with us. more to come tonight. stay with us all money managers might seem the same, but some give their clients cookie cutter portfolios. fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. some only call when they have something to sell. fisher calls regularly so you stay informed. and while some advisors are happy to earn commissions whether you do well or not. fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. ♪ ♪ applebee's bigger, bolder grill combos. now that's eatin good in the neighborhood. sorry, is that too loud?oud. you don't need any more hormones in your house. that's why you chose kraft natural cheese. made with fresh milk without the added hormone rbst. it's cheese as it should be. oh no. your new boss seems cool, but she might not be sweatpants cool. not quite ready to face the day? that's why w

neal katyal says that precedent could weaken barr's argument. >> i think he is legally obligated. i think if nadler goes to court, he will undoubtedly win. >> meanwhile, rod rosenstein is done. just today he announced may 11th will be his last day at the justice department. in his resignation letter, rosenstein praised the president who so often criticized him, who once retweeted an image depicting rosenstein and others jailed for treason. the president, who drivesly referred to mr. rosenstein as mr. peepers, but all is well according to his farewell letter, and we quote, i am grateful for you for the opportunity to serve, for the courtesy and humor you often display in our personal conversations and for the goals you set in your inaugural address, patriotism, education, and prosperity. he wrote the elections are more secure and our citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence efforts. for good measure, and to keep people guessing about his motives, he ends the letter with the words america first. but about that last point we made. tonight "the washington post" repo

former senator claire mccaskill, jeremy bash, neal katyal, appreciate your time. >>> coming up, more reaction to this barr testimony today as the senate gears up for its turn tomorrow. >>> later, the president says migrants are coming here to go to disneyland. we have two reporters here to break it down as "the 11th hour" is just getting started on this tuesday night. - [narrator] do you have less energy than you used to? - when i was young, into my teens and when i went into college and played college tennis, i could play all day long and never get tired. as i got older, i started noticing a change in energy. - [narrator] scientist have discovered that after you reach age 40, your body produces less vital nitric oxide than it did when you were in your 20s. with less nitric oxide you have less energy. so how do you get your energy back? take one atom of nitrogen and bond it with one atom of oxygen. boom. you just created nitric oxide, the miracle molecule your body needs to help support heart health and help give you more energy. now you can jumpstart your nitric oxide levels with th

solicitor general neal katyal talked about what investigators could be looking for here. >> second, broader than that governance issues and whether good judgment was exercised. >> in addition to all of that, attorneys for trump have sent a second letter to the treasury department protesting the house ways and means committee's request for his tax returns. this comes after the committee's deadline was pushed back to next tuesday. those same attorneys are warning of possible legal action if trump's accountants hand over any of his financial records to the house oversight and reform committee. the lawyers called both committee's inquiries politically motivated efforts to go after this president. and with that here on our lead off discussion on a monday night matthew miller, katie bennert, and we welcome jamie, the former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. good evening and welcome to all of you. katie, i'd like to begin with you. do you find the timing notable, the news we learned today that it's coming on thursday, by this broadcast thursday night we'll know what's

he is now an nbc news contributor and neal katyal under barack obama. he wrote the special counsel regulations as a justice department lawyer and now an msnbc news legal analyst. you have a lot of thoughts, but i want to start at the broadest level and ask you this. the charge is to take care of the laws that are faithfully executed and not to not be a criminal and avoid the statutes. to take care of the laws and against that standard, how do you judge the actions in this report? >> all right, that's the standard by which the american people should be assessing this report and my answer to that is that the president hasn't met the standard. we see evidence throughout the report that he has flagrantly looked, at least looked the other way if not tacetly reported properly things like he knew that michael cohen was giving false testimony and things like asking don mcgahn to lie on his behalf and to fire mueller to the point where mcgahn felt it necessary to resign over that. we have a president who has demonstrated through this report a disregard for the l

you can join me and neal katyal and special experts at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 p.m. pacific.ope you have a great holiday weekend and hope you join us this sunday at 9:00 p.m. eastern. we'll be right back. 0 p.m. eastern. we'll be right back. let's see, aleve is proven better on pain than tylenol extra strength. and last longer with fewer pills. so why am i still thinking about this? i'll take aleve. aleve. proven better on pain. when it comes to reducing the evsugar in your family's diet,m. coke, dr pepper and pepsi hear you. we're working together to do just that. bringing you more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all. smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels and reminders to think balance. because we know mom wants what's best. more beverage choices, smaller portions, less sugar. balanceus.org dad, it's fine. we have allstate. and with claimrateguard they won't raise your rates just because of a claim. that's why you're my favorite... i know. are you in good hands? when your flight gets in late, it's never too early for coffee. oh no no no. your new

report according to the justice department regulations for special counsel reports co-written by neal katyal and others at the end of the clinton administration. in his testimony today, the attorney general did not absolutely close the door on any possible compromise with congress about the redactions that they will see in his first release of the mueller report. you just heard him say that he would see if there is a way to accommodate chairman nadler if he wants more information. the attorney general repeatedly left that door if not open at least ajar in his testimony. >> i want to try to accommodate and satisfy their interests, but at the same time uphold the law. >> are you intending to go to court to ask for guidance and/or direction and/or an order where you are uncertain whether you can in fact release or should in fact release materials? >> the chairman of the judiciary committee's free to go to court if he feels one of those exceptions is applicable. >> the right is yours to ask for these -- >> why do you say the right is mine? >> because you are the exercising authority under 6-e. >

>> a couple points, identibeen listening to your coverage with great interest including neal katyal. i want to echo this. the most important words out of this report at a basic level is what mr. katyal was discussing which is, quote, no charges can be brought against the president. no charges can be brought. translation, bill barr was wrong, was incorrect, was misleading, in his letter saying otherwise about mueller. now, they may disagree about this. what barr wrote in his letter, this is someone of the times i'll show you, brian, why we have so much paper. i have the original barr letter here that says, "mueller leaves it, quote, to the attorney general to determine whether there were crimes. now as mr. katyal and others noted, this may be one of the most important things you learn out of the report today, that's no what mueller did. mueller said doj policy prevents him, bob muleellemueller, the a general, anyone, from prosecuting a sitting president and the report was written with the premise to provide whatever works in the justice system potentially for congress. so that's a bri

former senator claire mccaskill, jeremy bash, neal katyal, appreciate your time. >>> coming up, more reaction to this barr testimony today as the senate gears up for its turn tomorrow. >>> later, the president says migrants are coming here to go to disneyland. we have two reporters here to break it down as "the 11th hour" is just getting started on this tuesday night. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase sensimist relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist. you can barely feel. we really pride ourselves >> ton making it easyautoglass, to get your windshield fixed. >> teacher: let's turn in your science papers. >> tech vo: this teacher always puts her students first. >> student: i did mine on volcanoes. >> teacher: you did?! oh, i can't wait to read it. >> tech vo: so when she had auto glass damage... she chose safelite. with safelite, she could see exactly when we'd be there. >> teacher: you must be pascal. >>

. >> neal katyal, as someone who had a say in how this process was supposed to work, what of that rang false to you? >> the process obviously is a problem, with this press conference before we even get to see the reports. >> there is that. >> it's a free spin. i've never heard of that. i think that we had a bunch of smart people at the justice department trying to anticipate every possibility. no one would anticipate something like that. but i think to me the bigger thing is going to be the substance. what does the mueller report say? how did barr reach the conclusions he reached. he was mixing a bunch of different things. he was saying first factually the president was frustrated so he didn't have corrupt intent for obstruction of justice. i'd like to know how the heck he knows since mueller didn't even interview pnt

david kelly and neal katyal are both here live.ainst president trump. >> and what don mcgahn told mueller and why democrats tonight in breaking news are going to force him to testify. president obama's white house counsel also here on "the beat" in an exclusive. as you can see, we are back, and we have a lot to bring

. >>> also, former department of justice insider neal katyal is here on the obstruction probe. >>> andrk attorney general launching an investigation into the group's money. >>> but we begin this evening -- i almost said this morning -- with this breaking news. mueller's former boss, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein officially resigning. he just sent his resignation letter and will leave the

both front and it looks like subpoenas will soon be flying, as former acting solicitor general neal katyal futures, we'll be covering barr's press conference on barr's description on barr's action and barr's determination of exoneration and barr's explanation of barr's supposedly light redactions and barr's justification for not going to court to release grand jury material. and all that as north korea fires off a new tactical weapons test, showing everyone that the nuclear-armed nation hasn't gone away. >> a lot to start with. >> this prebuttal so to speak. >> so many problems obviously with an attorney general who is supposed to be a neutral arbiter and not a roy cohn-type figure, to the only holding it and having a press conference to spin it but making sure the the president of the united states and he and how many michael phelps of his inner circle are in jail now or have had felonies of the investigation, you have someone at the heart who was given an opportunity to review the report before members of the press and the american people, who paid for it. >> the attorney general now is