phil rucker still here. phil rucker, this is your paper's poll. i want to ask you about it.t to ask you, how does rudy still have a job? his purpose in life was to flip those numbers around. his purpose for being here was not to keep donald trump out of being named in a charging or sentencing document in the southern district of new york because he failed at that. his purpose in life was not to keep the president from answering questions from robert mueller because he did just that. his purpose in life was to make the american people not believe robert mule eller. that poll, your poll, shows he failed. >> nicolle, imagine what the numbers would have been had rudy giuliani not been the president's lawyer for the last year. >> fair enough. >> it could have been worse. so you could argue the other way around that he's done a great service to the president. but look, his role is actually coming up in the next few weeks whenever we get that mueller report. i think we're going to see rudy giuliani play a very prominent public role in trying to defend the president and shape the pu

phil rucker, white house bureau chief of "the washington post," former u.s. attorney joyce vance, michael steele, former chairman of the rnc, and former nbc news national report ircaerl lee. paul, let me start with you. manafort has often been a trigger for this white house. he's gone on the north lawn and called him brave. described his cases against 10-year-old tax cases. he's really laid it on the line. and the move today like the sep sentencing move for cohen, for example, have really rocked this white house this they have come out. >> president trump's inclination is to defend paul manafort, he feels sympathetic for his former campaign chairman, especially since some of the crimes paul manafort has been charged with predate the trump campaign. so trump felt some sort of sympathy for manafort there. i have to tell you at the moment the bigger trigger for the white house and for president trump according to our reporting is the anticipation for the mueller report as well as next week's public testimony by michael cohen. white house officials will say publi

you and phil rucker are best able to tell us that, as we await this mueller report. peter, first to you. >> well, it's a -- sure, yeah, look, this is a very fraught moment for this white house. look at what the next week has in store for them. the president of the united states is go to go overseas for a high stakes summit meeting with the leader of north korea. we've got the likelihood of a possible delivery of robert mueller's report sometime in the next week or two. we've got, you know, michael cohen's scheduled testimony from congress. we've got the manafort thing. we've got so many things coming all at once that you can imagine how stressful a time this is, particularly for a white house that isn't fully staffed and is trying to, you know, get its feet back the ground after what happened with the border wall clash with congress. >> and phil rucker, let's share what neal katya, former u.s. attorney fired by the president, has to say about the upcoming mueller report. he wrote today that the report is unlikely to be lengthy by design. the special counsel regulatio

phil rucker is joining us in just a moment as one of three journalists sharing a byline for this piece. and they write, "the challenges mount at a moment when trump is as unchecked and isolated as ever. inside the white house, aides describe a chaotic free-wheeling atmosphere reminiscent of the early weeks of trump's presidency." with that, let's bring in our leadoff panel, shall we, on a monday night. a.b. stoddard back with us, veteran journalist, columnist, associate editor at real clear politics. the aforementioned phil rucker returns as well, pulitzer prize winning white house bureau chief for the "washington post." we also welcome back robert costa, national political reporter, also with the "washington post." big night for that newspaper. he's also moderator of "washington week" on pbs. phil rucker, your reporting, no other way to put it, shows a disconnect between president and presidency. how has this happened or was it inevitable? >> well, brian, i think it was inevitable and it's not entirely new, to be honest. you know, this is how president trump has decided to conduct his

the aforementioned phil rucker returns as well. pulitzer prize winning white house bureau chief for the "washington post." we also welcome back robert costa, national political reporter, also with the "washington post." big night for that newspaper. he's also moderator of "washington week" on pbs. phil rucker, your reporting, no other way to put it, shows a disconnect between president and presidency. how has this happened or was it inevitable? >> well, brian, i think it was inevitable and it's not entirely new, to be honest. you know, this is how president trump has decided to conduct his presidency and conduct his time in office. he has a very different routine during the day than his predecessors. he treats the intelligence services as you just got into very differently than his predecessors, and at this point, he's unrestrained. he has a new chief of staff, acting chief of staff, mick mulvaney, who does not have the same control over the president and over his decisionmaking process that john kelly did, the retired four-star ma

phil rucker, white house bureau chief for the "washington post." former u.s. attorney harry litman. here with us at the table, elise jordan, former aide in the george w. bush white house and state department. co-host of the fabulous podcast "words matter" and friend of the show, donny deutsch. donny, i got to start with you, chris christie is saying two months late whar what you said this table. >> the mueller thing is going to be fis. i don't think it's going to take us to trump leaving office. >> we don't know. >> we don't know. what i will tell you is that the southern district of new york that actually christie calls the sovereign district because they really cooped of operate -- >> i think that's a jersey thing. i think that's a -- the u.s. attorney's office turf thing. >> they'll take apart the trump organization. there's something called rico, racketeering influence corruption organization act. they basically brought in mob bosses. any organization, if you're a mob boss, if anybody is killed in your organization, aided it, directed it, you're found guilty of that crime. the t

joining me from hanoi, msnbc political analyst phil rucker, white house bureau chief at "the washington post," and here with me in washington, national security analyst ned price, former national security director in the obama administration, and tom donlon, former national security adviser for president obama. you've been talking about the beautiful letters, the pen pal relationship that they've established. >> yeah, well, that relationship is central to them being here for this second meeting. president trump has this unyielding faith in his own charisma and his own relationship with to overcome what has been decades of, you know, a nuclear threat in north korea. and so we'll see if they can make any actual substantive progress towards denuclearization. administration officials have been trying to play down expectations for this summit, saying they're looking more at incremental steps such as perhaps arriving at a common definition for denuclearization. but president trump has this belief that if he can get in a room face-to-face with kim jong-un and talk mano a mano, that he can some

phil rucker, i can't imagine that's the sentiment at the white house. that are they saying about michael cohen's testimony if anything? >> this is certainly going to be a cause of concern for the president and for white house advisers and it promises to be an extraordinary split-screen moment because wednesday next week when cohen is testifying on congress, president trump is set to be in hanoi, vietnam, for the first of a two-day summit can kim jong-un, the north korean dictator. he's going to be overseas trying to solve the nuclear issue with north korea, making what he thinks is going to be a bid for history and possibly a nobel peace prize, at the same time his lawyer is going to be getting into a lot of pretty humiliating and criminal, potentially, details regarding the president's behavior, and that will be happening simultaneously. >> the po"post" reporting todayn advisory to president trump said there is palpable concern among the president's inner circle that the report might contain information about trump and his team that is politically dama

phil rucker, i don't have anything deeper for you other than to observe this book tour is just starting. the book's been out one day. how must this be going over in the west wing? >> well, brian, it's interesting. the president is clearly paying attention to andy mccabe's series of interviews. he's reacting in real-time on twitter. and his advisers see it in a way as an opportunity. i mean, they clearly don't like all of this, you could c all it dirty laundry being aired about the president's attacks on the institution of law enforcement. but they also see it as a chance to try to paint and tar mccabe as a liar, as a disgraced, fired public servant who's selling a bunch of lies. that's the way the president and his surrogates are tacking about it. you saw kellyanne conway go on television last night to give a full-on assault of andrew mccabe and in a way they see it as feeding the narrative that the president has tried to paint for his supporters of the deep state conspiracy out to get him. we've seen the president on twitter talking, quoting fox news personalities who are calling this

i want to bring in "the washington post" phil rucker. , walk us through the chess game that played out yesterday. what it all meant? whitaker threatening to bail on the testimony if the committee didn't promise not to subpoena him? if he was showing up any way, what did all that matter? >> steph, it was a real game yesterday back and forth, back and forth between the justice department and chairman nadler, the democrat in the house, over whether the democrats would subpoena whitaker to testify. whitaker wanted in writing a promise not to subpoena. they ultimately agreed late last night to go ahead with this testimony today and all it served to do frankly was raise the stakes for this event today, draw more attention to what whitaker may say and the sorts of questions he may be asked in particular about the mueller investigation and what kind of discussions he's had related to the russia probe. >> take us inside the white house. how do they feel about this testimony? >> well, i think -- it's a little bit outside of their control. it's some

ben rhodes had a great comment to the washington post that was included in the piece by phil rucker. he said at home, we can see these things as just another turn in the tabloid dr amdrama e trump presidency. help us understand why it's the case. >> well, it's absolutely the case, when we talk about the split screen presidency, in eight of the 11 foreign trips the president has made of his presidency, there's been another break in either the mueller probe or the investigation leading up to mueller's appointment, there's been something overshadowing and it's revelations when he is in europe, middle east, and asia at summit meetings and again, of course, most dramatically today, with nine hours of testimony from michael cohen on the hill. and now, the president being asked about it, there was at least, just this one question about it. and he said, i tried to watch the timing, because of the 12 hour time difference where he was able, when the summit session was not actually taking place as we see air force one there beginning to taxi out, he was able to watch, he said, as much as he cou

joining me casey hunt and our phil rucker. >> why are we hearing that casey? >> i think because he got burnt so much. they don't know what's going to happen. they feel relatively okay about it and the signals they're get sent, they feel like they are positive. a backlash from conservative media, and a last minute move by the president could end everything and leaving them looking very stupid. that's part of why you hear them being very careful. they're all saying look we are happy with the deal and we support the framework and don't want another shutdown. we urge everybody to wait until we see pens and papers here and they have a chance to move it through. i think they're going to be looking for a more concrete answer from the president. we are hearing some back and forth over these last minute issue and this always comes up, sometimes they're unrelated to the actual deal at hands. that does not seem to be the source of the attention we are hearing at this hour on capitol hill but it is over back pay for contractors who lost during the 35 days shutdown. there

thank you, phil rucker and ben wittes, thank you as well. >> president trump said last night he was ready to work with democrats. we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise and the common good. together we can break decades of political stalemate. we cambridge all divisions and heal all wounds and build new collisions for new solutions and unlock the extraordinary problems of america's future. >> david frome is here with us. david, it is good to have you. you wrote about the state of the union this morning in "the atlantic," you talked about how there was no substance. tell me what you saw. >> this is a classic problem with trump's presidency. when the president says i want to pass the roads and bridges act for 1997. there is a fact a roads and bridges act. that does not happen from the trump's world. >> they were just words and phrases. >> he talks about parental leave bill. there is not a parental leave bill or infrastructure, there is not many of that. he could not decide between two approaches of th

. >> phil rucker, i wasn't great at globes and maps, but i know 55 miles ain't no sea to shining sea.> doesn't go very far.o >> what's the chance this weekend we'll hear words like an emergency declaration or executive action. >> i think high. the president traveled down to el paso on monday. it was a long trip aboard air force one about four hours, threeou to four hours each way a on board the trip was the white house counsel, white house lawyers don't usually travel to campaign rallies to the president but they were on board the plane presumably going over the paper work and talking the president through what his legal options would be for any sort of executive action. it's a pretty complicated step. it's not just flipping a switch. but there are all different pots of money that have to be triggered at various points and there is a legal protocol to protect the administration from a challenge in the courts and ia think that's the sign that the president is preparing to make an announcement. and i wouldn't be surprised if, you know, while he's signing this bill on friday, he's simult

thank you, yamiche alcindor, phil rucker. wish we could keep talking about we're out of time. great conversation, thank you. >>> coming up, deal or no deal? more of andrea's exclusive interview with vice president mike pence about a deal on border security. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. before i had the shooting, burning of diabetic nerve pain these feet raised a bouncing boy and climbed the ladder in the hardware business. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects: dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol pro

ken delynnian, national security reporter, phil rucker, white house bureau chief with the "washington post," jessica rothe, professor at cordoza law school and former federal prosecutor with the southern district of new york and my friend nick akerman. he was also with new york southern district as a former assistant u.s. attorney and currently a partner at dorsey and whitney llp. jessica, to you first. even if president trump did ask whitaker about putting someone else in charge of the s dp ny investigation, if he didn't do it, is that actually a crime. >> well, if he asked him to do it it's certainly evidence of his intent throughout this process in terms of his interest in influencing what was happening within doj. >> a whole lot of intent if there's no and here's what they did, what does that is actually get you. >> a matter of federal law if we were talking about actually considering charging someone for obstruction of justice, just the mere attempt to try to influence with corrupt intent an investigation is sufficient to be chargeable. you don't have to actually succeed. there's

. >> your colleagues phil rucker and josh dossier had written incredible stories and reporting aboutomplete meltdown on this trip. talk about some of the that great reporting in your paper the last 24 hours. >> my colleagues have captured the transactional prism in which this president operates his foreign policy, whether it's russian interference in the elections and his own assurances from vladimir putin and he's accepted them. president trump as you detailed with mbs and saudi arabia and now with kim jong-un and north korea has seen gains possible in foreign policy as a way to excuse behavior that his own intelligence communities and many of his own advisers have seen at abhorrent. we've seen this president navigating on his own, isolated often, as he moves forward and tries to use almost a real estate perspective on foreign policy, about leverage, meeting personalities as a way to make some type of foreign policy accomplishment but he struggled each step of the way, as they documented. >> you just said the most important thing said so far in this broadcast. we're going to snieak

i'm thinking of phil rucker's pressure cooker analogy, which always perceives some sort of blow from the white house. eli and betsy also. this is not a one-day story. where are you taking this today? what are you learning today since the publication in addition to the finger-pointing and fallout? >> the finger-pointing and fallout is something we've been following today but i think the points betsy and others made is this does call into question how influential other people can be on the president, especially with respect to foreign policy. john bolton is a big question in that. the president and governing style which sarah sanders suggested a more creative approach to governing, is something that can influence not just foreign policy but the way he's handling immigration, the way he doesn't to mitch mcconnell when he's talking about not shutting government down. that couples with his use of a personal cell phone, which i think that story is not over yet, is something i will be looking for in the next two weeks. >> alexi, phil and eli, we are nothing without your reporting. thank you

phil rucker, it seems like from the conversations i've had there is a line in the sand about this.uating this to the push to abolish i.c.e. the rhetoric is back to the highest possible points on this and led us to the last government shutdown. what's your source from the white house side how this is all going? >> first, a reminder, this debate is more than the dollar figure for how much money would be appropriate to build the border wall, a complicated negotiation that involves this as well. the white house is expecting a deal. president trump has given some instructions to senator shelby what he ex-folks have presented to him this week. they're also prepared to move forward with a national emergency declaration by the president which would trigger these executive powers to basically reallocate existing federal dollars towards that border wall without congressional approval. that would be a big deal politically but spark a lot of legal challenges but is what the administration is setting to do but may happen next week if there is not a compromise with negotiations. >> it's said it