another name you have to keep that in mind is robert mueller because robert mueller carried out a lot of these investigations that led to certain convictions or guilty pleas from a number of the president's associates and we know how the president feels about the mueller investigation. as he is issuing these pardons certainly as he is issuing the flynn pardon, he likely has the name robert mueller in mind as well. this isn't just rewarding his allies but perhaps also undoing some of the work that resulted from that mueller investigation which dogged his presidency for such a long time and perhaps this is also the president's way of getting back at him for that. >> absolutely, it is. jeremy diamond, thank you so much. >>> let's go back to toluse and jack for all of this. your reaction? >> well, it is a sign the president realizes his days in office are numbered and the ability the kind of power that is given to the president to pardon people. he is going to lose that power very soon and he'll use it as much as possible even know clear the slate of somebody who lied to the fbi. i wouldn

he, michael flynn, cooperated with robert mueller, then withheld cooperation. eems clear he got some sort of signal to expect this kind of protection, so he stopped providing information to mueller. paul manafort did the same thing. paul manafort is someone also in line for a pardon, and so is roger stone, who held out, said he wasn't going to flip on president trump, got his sentence commuted. and today after flynn got his pardon, roger stone said, i want one too. because roger stone still has leverage over donald trump, you can bet donald trump will very seriously consider doing that. >> the idea of what about me. and of course you contrast that to the way in which donald trump spoke about his former fixer and attorney michael cohen, and he certainly did not have those words to say about unfairness when it came to him. i think he even called him a rat at one point. maybe the writing was clear. i want to go to you because the white house chief of staff mark meadows actually congratulated michael flynn on twitter, writing n part, what the left did to his family

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he was withholding the truth from robert mueller. the president dangled the pardon the whole time.ready commuted the sentence of roger stone, somebody who hung tough for him. michael flynn is somebody who pled guilty and was prosecuted but the trump justice department tried to walk back that prosecution. judge sullivan is holding up that. the other option for michael flynn is to get a pardon, which could potentially serve to protect donald trump going forward once he's no longer president. >> and we should note michael flynn in recent days has been sharing some of the president's conspiracy theories as well about the election. john harwood at the white house, thank you very much. >> you bet. >>> the trump administration is now giving formal approval for president-elect biden to receive, as presidents do, the daily presidential briefing. >> it is about time. joining us now is the president and ceo of nonpartisan and nonprofit partnership for public service. good morning. we're in a better place than we were a few weeks ago because at leasts transiti least the transition is happening

robert mueller's russia investigation who pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. also breaking just a short time ago, president-elect joe biden delivered a sober compassionate thanksgiving address to a nation in the grips of a worsening pandemic. his message, "we're at war with the virus, not with one another." the u.s. death toll from the coronavirus has now topped 261,000 with more than 12.7 million confirmed cases. experts are make one final plea to americans to avoid travel and celebrating thanksgiving safely with one doctor warning the holiday could become, "the mother of all superspreader events." first to cnn's kaitlan collins at the white house for more of president trump's pardoning of michael flynn. kaitlan, give us the latest. >> reporter: jim, he announced it by tweet that he is going to pardon his first national security adviser mike flynn, who only lasted on the job for 24 days before donald trump fired him in 2017 for lying. at the time he said to vice president mike pence of course we later learned that flynn had actually pleaded guilty to lying to

including the number one bestseller the only plane in the sky an oral history of 9/11 and inside robert mueller's fbi about the government's cold war plans. he also did a great interview in the manchester. hopefully we will do that again. and then i'm so pleased to welcome to the setting he was saying before we came on tonight but he's done events for months and his last four books we were lucky enough to host him when his wonderful richard nixon biography of a man against the world was released five years ago. he's won the pulitzer prize and national book award for reporting and writing on national security and intelligence and he covered the cia, the war in afghanistan and crisis and conflict in 14 nations for "the new york times." writing at princeton columbia and tonight to talk about his brand-new book. please join me in welcoming jim. >> thank you, everybody. america, russia, warfare the history of the last 75 years of warfare between america and russia, its political warfare. political warfare is the means of a nation's disposal. the full spectrum from diplomacy to covert operation, from f

member of the special counsel robert mueller's team. >>> all right, that does it for us tonight.achel's likely back here tomorrow, but as you heard from her own mouth, it will be soon. i'm going to see you saturday morning on my show, "velshi" at 8:00 eastern. "way too early" with my friend, kasie hunt, is up next. >>> we have to have masks. we have to limit indoor crowded spaces. if we do not do that, we will lose tens of thousands of americans by the time the vaccine is out and widely distributed. so, i am urging everyone, and you will hear every doc on the task force saying the same thing, that this is really crunch time. this is not crying wolf. this is a time that we need to really double down, because we are at the most serious and dangerous part of the pandemic that we have been in, in the united states, until this time. >> a dire warning from the assistant u.s. health secretary as the covid crisis rages ahead of the thanksgiving

inside robert mueller's fbi, government's - also at the north shire bookstore, and they do things like that and will do that again. i am so pleased to welcome tim weiner. and the last four books. and the wonderful richard nixon biography. i remember it very fondly. and national security and intelligence, he covered the cia, war in afghanistan, 14 nations for the new york times, at princeton and columbia, to talk about his brand-new book "the folly and the glory: america, russia, and political warfare 1945-2020". please join me in welcoming tim weiner and garrett pratt. >> america, russia, and warfare, the history of the last 75 years of warfare in america and russia. political warfare at the nation's disposal, he is the full spectrum of diplomacy and covert operations, from friendly persuasion to sabotage and the story of the book, the 21st in a nutshell. you can see their pursuit of political warfare against the political system and american democracy and the american body politic every day. we will see if we can win the best battle on election day. garrett, over to you. >> great to t

andrew, it's important to remember at one point, flynn was cooperating with robert mueller's investigation but he stopped. that is unusual. i guess what do you make of the comment that we were discussing with carrie a few moments ago that the president appears to be trying to pardon people who were central to this russia investigation. he is trying to rewrite the history of the russian investigate through these pardons? >> it certainly seems that way, jim. no question that the president would like to do everything he possibly can to cut the legs out from under the conclusions in the mueller report and if pardoning his friends and associates and people who could potentially expose him to who knows what kind of investigative liability down the road is way to secure his own future that is the only thing that this president is really concerned about is himself and his own fortune. so if he thinks that is a wise thing that he needs to do before he walks out the door then i'm sure we will see that. i think it's also important, jim, to note that the thing about what general flynn did, the reason

that leads to robert mueller's investigation that goes on for a couple of years. so the flynn case has been at the heart of this president's troubles for a long time. but you're right, the reason i tweeted that is because the president acts as if this was only the fbi or the justice department involved. he was the one who fired mike flynn, and he's never apologized for that to mike flynn or suggested that he was wrong to do so. if he thinks mike flynn has gotten a wrong deal, then why hasn't the president disowned his own actions against mike flynn? he of course doesn't want to take any responsibility, he's made clear he doesn't take responsibility in a general sense, and he clearly doesn't want to take it in this case. it's part of his narrative of persecution, his narrative of grievance and victimhood. >> it seems like maybe mike flynn is taking this pardon as an apology from the president, it doesn't necessarily seem like he's jockeying for an apology at this point given the tweets we've seen from mike flynn's family after the pardon last night. two of your col

of a deep state plot by the obama administration and an unfair prosecution by special counsel robert mueller, all of which ignores the fact that flynn, himself, admitted under oath, two times in court, to lying to fbi agents about his discussions with the russian ambassador to washington during the transition and that he once served as a cooperating witness as part of the mueller investigation. it was trump, after all, who fired flynn from his job just three weeks into his tenure as national security adviser after president obama explicitly warned trump about hiring him in the first place. and it was michael flynn specifically trump's pressuring of fbi director james comey to, quote, let the flynn case go, that actually resulted in the appointment of the special counsel, robert mueller. today, the white house announced that, "the president has pardoned general flynn because he should never have been prosecuted." but nothing could be further from the truth. it's important to remember what it was exactly that flynn did and why it was so problematic. remember, flynn came under fbi suspicion in

was the only white house official to be convicted as part of the russia investigation led by robert mueller he was also an early supporter of mr. trump's presidential campaign the move ending a long, drawn out legal battle and coming after repeated complaints from the president that his ally was being mistreated we begin with kelly o'donnell at the white house. >> reporter: tonight a show of presidential power undimmed by his electoral defeat president trump wiping out the conviction of his former national security adviser michael flynn. who had pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi in a russian investigation. the president on twitter, it is my great honor to announce that general michael t. flynn has been granted a full pardon i know you will have a truly fantastic thanksgiving the president's clemency was anticipated bu still striking as he long complained that flynn had been mistreated by the justice department. >> we went through two and a half years of ruining people's lives like general flynn and many others. ruining their lives. >> reporter: fired in 2017 for lying about his contact wit

michael flynn was the only one to be convicted as part of the russia investigation by robert mueller. he pled guilty twice to lying the fbi. meanwhile president-elect joe biden presented an thanksgiving speech yesterday. >> remember, we're at war with the virus, not with one another, not with each other. this is the moment where we need to steel our spines, redouble our efforts, and recommit ourselves to the fight so hang on don't let yourself surrender to the fatigue. >> the official transition is also getting under way on monday president-elect biden will receive his first daily intelligence briefing. >> what are some of the things you look forward to about thanksgiving turkey, football, parades, maybe a little shopping. one more thanksgiving day tradition you can't forget dogs mark barger is previewing the national dog show coming up this afternoon. >> reporter: 19 years in, the national dog show becomes a thanksgiving tradition. >> it's remarkable you're looking at number 19 normally i kill shows a lot quicker than that. >> reporter: but john o'hurley says dogs capture everyone's

weinstein, and you're on the record saying you would have represented president trump against robert mueller. the lincoln project is going after attorneys representing presidentrump right now. publicly criticizing them saying that, quote, these people he now decided that attempting to undermine the just and fair election is to their legal practices. is it wrong for lawrs to be attacked representing president trump in these cases? which you have said don't have validity. >> i think it is misguided and indeed, dangerous, to try to demonize lawyers because of the clients they represent. i think that every lawyer has a responsibility to make sure that lawsuits that they brin the claims they assert in court are plausible, reasonable, good faith claims. what i think is up to the courts to make those decisions, not the lincoln project or not social media. i think it is up to the courts to decide what are vid lawsuitsr not and they will and they are, right now, the courts are throwing these wsui lawsuits. that's the way these things should be resolved. going to court is the right way to resolve disp

he later admitted lying to the fbi as part of a plea deal with the special counsel robert mueller who investigatingin thuence by pressure on president trump's victory delays, he had aew legal team that had been trying to withdraw the skill -- the plea. what trump has done it basically taken michael flynn's case out of the court and out of president biden controlled justice department. this is donald trump's final wes in office. he is doing what many presidents do.g he is approachhat time when he is making controversial paons. i imagine quite a few me are their way. laura: thanks so much for joining us live from washington, d.c. just before president trump announced the pardon, president-elect joe biden was addressing the nation from warmington, paying tribute to those who have been combating the coronavirus pandemic. he spoke of putting politics aside and coming together in the face of a long, hard winter ahead. mr. biden: i know the country has grown weary of the fight. we need to remember, we are at war with the virus, not with one another. not with each other. this is the moment wh

he is a former senior member of the special counsel robert mueller's team.rved as fbi general counsel and as the former head of the department of justice's criminal fraud section. his inside account of the mueller investigation is called "where law ends." andrew, good to see you again. thank you for being with us. you know, when we were talking about impeachment, there were a lot of -- there was a lot of political pressure not to impeach the president when the democrats won control of the house. there was some sense of get on with the work of the people. and others said, and a lot of people used the legal argument that there's an obligation to do something if the president has committed impeachable offenses. there's an obligation. it's not a preference. where do you stand on this? is there an obligation for the biden administration to pursue donald trump's criminality from when he was in office or prior? >> so we're going to be in a very different situation. we're going to be, as of january 20th, 2021, in the situation where we no longer are talking about in

told the american people what's happening i was the first to call for the termination of robert mueller i was on the first to defend the president with the ukraine impeachment on - - impeachment ever pretty good record telling the truth calling the scandals for what they are saying the president is innocent and then in terms of policies. >> a refreshingly honest straightforward tale i hope four years from now if president trump is reelected or not we can continue to follow the journey of a guy with courage and heart that i hope to see in the futur future. >> if we are doing this in four years with us enjoy the wonders in the great beauty of the reagan library and thank you for what you do to preserve the last great transformation one that inspired so many americans. the more we learn about the connectivity between the reagan movement and the trump movement to learn how politics on the right can be at its most successful self. >> you are welcome any time. thank you congressman. take care. >> welcome to the crowd cast and the event

stemmed from the robert mueller special counsel investigation into allegations of trumped russia. collusion. it was alleged that michael flynn essentially misled the f.b.i. about russian contacts. however, at this point, we did see previously moves from the u.s. department of justice indicating that they might be dropping charges. they said that the interview that was conducted with michael flynn was untethered and unnecessary in regards to the f.b.i.'s counterintelligence investigation. the deal, geez, not persuaded that the general 24th 2017 interview was conducted with a legitimate investigative basis. and therefore does not believe mr. flynn statements were material, even if untrue. moreover, we do not believe that the government can prove either the relevant full statements or there materiality beyond a reasonable doubt. now the judge overseeing the case tros, to continue proceedings against michael flynn, despite what the department of justice said. however, at this point, the presidential pardon makes michael flynn a free man, joe biden will not be able to bring new charges

admitted what he did as part of admitted what he did as part of a plea deal with special counsel robert muelleras investigating russian influence but in the last two years he has been trying to withdraw the guilty plea while awaiting sentencing. president trump off pa rt sentencing. president trump off part and has now taken the matter out of the courts and away from a president biden controlled justice department. speaker of the house, the democrat nancy pelosi, called itan act democrat nancy pelosi, called it an act of corruption and a former employer of the president backed that view. it's no surprise that his loyalty to donald trump has paid off and expect to see of these types of pardons for chump loyalists, no matter how previous their crimes were. in his tweed, trump showed his loyalty back, and wish michael flynn and his family a happy thanksgiving. it followed a different message from the man who beat him in the election. joe biden address the country on the need to call the coronavirus pandemic and urged americans to think twice about the traditional plan of travelling home for the ho

flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi and was part of the special counsel robert mueller investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election. the flynn pardon comes just months after the president commuted the sentence of his friend and former advisor roger stone. >>> meantime, president-elect joe biden called on all americans to have hope and remain vigilant in the fight against the coronavirus. cbs reporter natalie brand live with more for us tonight, natalie? >> reporter: and allen, before announcing that pardon today, president trump from the white house called into a hearing held by pennsylvania state republican lawmakers on the election and again falsely claimed he won. and that call came just before president-elect joe biden gave this presidential-style holiday address in which he praised fair and free elections and also called on americans to redouble their efforts in fighting the pandemic. >> my fellow americans. >> reporter: on the day before thanksgiving, president-elect joe biden delivered a message of unity to the nation. >> it's been a really hard year, particula

chapter of this trilogy indicted an fbi attorney working not only on the clinton emails but with robert mueller is at the center of what durham is investigating and what horowitz was looking into it. i hope once the facts are out there and they will support a logical conclusion which will be full pardon. >> why do you think the president hasn't taken up your case yet? >> i don't know. i can't speak for the president. the pardon power rests with the president. he can pardon whomever he would like. i set out my case and testified under oath to congress in front of ratcliff and mark meadows. i wrote a book on this story. and what happened to me involving the spying scandal, that targeted me to harm president trump is in the center of a massive global criminal case. maybe the president is waiting for the right time it look into the exact facts of what happened in my particular situation. others, we will see what happens. the president has been unpredictable with his pardon power. >> george papadopoulos, thanks for joining us tonight. former president obama paints evangelicals and hispanics with a b

that was -- it was the first member of congress to call for the termination of robert mueller and i was one of the first to defend the present in the impeachment but i think i've got a pretty good record of telling the truth and calling these scandals what they are and defending a president who is innocent and in terms of policies. >> let me saying closing congressman this is such a refreshingly honest straightforward tale and i hope four years from now if president trump's electorate cannot you write the next book so we can continue the journey of a guy with a lot of courage and heart. >> thank you and a flare doing this in four years let it not be over zoom call. let us enjoy the wonders and the great duty of the reagan library. thank you for what you'd do to preserve what i think was the last great transformational presidency in one that i think inspired so many americans to continue and the more resort of learned about the connectivity between the reagan movement and the trump movement we learn about how politics on the right could be its successful self. >> we look forward to seein

that was the first book i learned for instance robert mueller steam past on the opportunity to look at the letter william barr was going to put out. in hindsight that seems like a big mistake. it was not in any way what dominated the discourse. the same thing with a book like rage by the bob woodward where 17 or 18 conversations between woodward and trump were the dominant coverage around the book the first half of the book is about major national security challenges largely through the eyes of the defense secretary and how worried they were about nuclear conflict with north korea. that seemed like a really big deal and those parts of the book are often overshadowed because of the phenomenon we are looking for for the mayhem and insanity but they became commonplace. michael wolf's second book on the trump white house speech came and went i think because after a while this was the president see that shocked without surprising us anymore. we were kind of use to the chaos. >> it feels like we are constantly saying about the internet and the news cycle it's so fast we hardly have time to c

upcoming arguments over whether congress should have access to secret injury testimony from robert mueller'sigation. the counsel for house democrats says the new incoming judiciary committee should determine whether to pursue the application. the material was originally sought in 2019 as part of an investigation into whether president trump obstructed the mueller probe. bloomberg has learned boris johnson is considering ending local lockdowns in favor of tougher restrictions on broader regions beginning next month. the u.k. is currently under a nationwide lockdown that to end on december 2. the shift in approach could result in local political backlash. as coronavirus cases continue to surge in connecticut, the democratic governor spoke on bloomberg's "balance of power" about his plan to keep public schools open. >> i am doing everything i can to keep our schools open. it is vital to the kids' mental health,

december 2017, flynn cut a deal with special counsel robert mueller pleading guilty to a single felonyf willfully and knowingly making false statements to the fbi. in january of this year, he moved to withdraw that plea and in may the doj announced intended to drop all charges. the case was still on hold when the president issued a pardon today and last over, general flynn tweeted "fight like a flynn, god bless family." they told fox they would reserve to see the matter resolved in court but this was "obviously an appropriate use of the preside president's power." mark. >> mark: thank you. i would have liked to see him acquitted in court. that old dirty rotten stinking federal justice system really stitched him up from top to toe. joe biden, thank you for that, rick. joe biden plans to start his administration with corporate lobbyists and establishment swamp creatures. he's quite open about it, and like trump or obama. biden isn't even pledging to keep out of his administration. the incoming administration allegedly is widely seen as a return to the pretrump status quo and the media ab

that sparked the appointment of special counsel robert mueller. >> he said, i've heard you were part of the resistance. >> andrew mccabe replaced jim comey. mccabe says he met with the president the very day comey was fired. >> i said to him, i'm not sure what you were referring to, sir. i heard you were one of the people who didn't agree with jim comey. and i said, no, sir, that's not true. he was looking for me to adopt his false narrative. >> the president's false narrative that comey was fired for mishandling the hillary clinton email probe. >> we had to consider, was he truly fired because the president didn't want us to continue investigating this idea of russian collusion? >> investigators felt confident of that after president trump said this on primetime tv. >> and, in fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story. it's an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election. >> it's ridiculous. it's ridiculous. with the probe. >> a ridiculous probe the president attempted to discredit in an

one national bestseller the only plane in the sky and oral history of 9/11 as well as inside robert mueller's fbi about the government's cold war escape plan. he's at memorably did a great interview in february in the manchester -- when we could do things like that are hopefully will do that again. i'm so pleased to welcome tim weiner into the virtual setting. he has got events in vermont for his last four books and we were lucky enough to post them in our store in 2016 with this wonderful richard nixon either fade. that was five years ago. he has won the pulitzer prize and national book award for his writing a national security and intelligence. he covers his cia the worn and stan the conflict in 14 nations for their times. he's here to talk about his brand-new book gil cisneros. please join me in welcoming tim weiner an era graph. >> thank you everybody. its the history of the last 75 years of warfare between america and russia and political warfare. clinical warfare is all the means at our nation's disposal. it's the full spectrum from diplomacy to covid operations from friendly persuasion

the president fired james comey and that led to the appointment of robert mueller and that played outo it did alter donald trump's time in office. it is coming to a close and as you are looking back on it and see massive moments and chaos of the presidency, this is one of them that jump started so many others we have seen. >> the president trying to overturn the results of the election. do you think this pardon is a sign that he knows he's leaving office in 56 days. >> that's how i read it. it is not just michael flynn and other people getting their sentences commuted and roger stone. what the president is saying publicly and telling his supporters that he's not given up and won this race and he's continuing to fund raise off of it. he's doing something does when they know they're out the door when he's trying to use his pardon power. kaitlan collins, thank you so much for being with us, have a wonderful thanksgiving. >>> we want to read that tweet in 2017 that kaitlan referred to, why trump forced flynn out of office. "i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the vice president

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robert mueller went out of his way to say that in court papers. for some reason, he stopped. and dozens of cooperators and then go back, it's as a criminal defendant. the fact he stopped, he put himself in jeopardy unless he believed someone would be come ing down the line to help him. >> but presidents are allowed to do this. so he can do this. when it comes also to bill clinton. when you look at the words of judge emmit sullivan. this whole thing wasn't over. and two years ago, the words that judge sullivan said in court about flynn are this. quote, all along you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser to the president of the united states. that undermines everything this flag over here stands for. arguably, you sold out your country. and i read that because last night when this news broke they made a great point. he did damage to national security while being the national security adviser. >> absolutely. this is not the first bad pardon we have seen that's an abuse of power. but this one is different. the judge said mi

was accused by robert mueller of having agreed to cooperate and lying to investigators. got additional prosecution. you could see a pardon for paul manafort as well as other people in the president's inner circle, those who might have legal exposure not to exclude the president himself. don't know that he has it. laura, you can speak to this whether he has the legal authority to pardon himself. if he concludes he does and he thinks he needs it, he would do it. >> well, of course, a long list of people to include in that, including maybe preemptive pardons. people who already have these convictions. what about those who might be investigated right now. also we've known a record number of americans are hospitalized with coronavirus tonight. you look at this graph on the screen. we get more than 2100 deaths were just reported today. president-elect biden has plans for joon anuary 20th. president trump is still in charge for another 57 days. what is his plan to do something about this? we really can't take 57 more days of this. >> well, i don't think, laura, the president --

and to me that was far from the interesting stuff of the book and where i learned for instance robert mueller steam passed up on the opportunity to take a look at the letter that william barr was going to put out characterizing the report. in hindsight, that seems like a big mistake. i wish that they had looked at it later and weighed in. i look at that in that book. but it wasn't in any way what dominated the discourse around it. the same with a book like rage by bob woodward where the 17 or 18 conversations between woodward and trump were the dominant part of the coverage surrounding the book but the first half of the book is about major national security challenges largely through the director of intelligence and how worried they were about an actual nuclear conflict with north korea. to me that seemed like a very big deal and those parts of the books often get overshadowed because they were looking for the mayhem for the insanity but they became more commonplace. michael wolf's second book on the trump white house kind of came and went and didn't receive the same kind of attention i think

he dangled a pashd to paul manafort while manafort was being prosecuted by robert mueller.ueller feigned cooperation and then mueller said he was lying to investigators, he was withholding information to protect the president. roger stone said he was withholding information for the president, would not flip on him. and michael flynn may also know things that are legally dangerous for president trump. and so the trump justice department had tried to walk back the prosecution of michael flim, the judge is holding up that process, delaying that process. and now there's serious consideration beginning to just pardon michael flynn, which would serve to shield the president for potential legal exposure after he leaves the presidency on january 20th. >> and likely not the only person who will be getting a pardon on his way out the door. good to see you, jeff. thank you. >>> coming up, in the first sit-down interview since winning the election, president biden declares his administration will not be a third obama term. so what it be? the support we've had over the last few months h

. >> at one point, flynn was cooperating with robert mueller, but then he stopped.his pardon was inevitable because suddenly he's not doing anything? was that a sign? >> it was a sign that he was gaming for it, including his firing his counsel and bringing on, who? sidney powell, the same counsel who was, you know, kicked off the island by rudy giuliani this last weekend. but yes, he changed his tactics completely and it was an out and out play for a pardon, possibly even connected with conversations between counsel that we don't know about. but it was a strategic move by a guilty man. and you know what? it worked out for him. he made the right calculation hoping that the corrupt president would see it his way and see that granting him, flynn, a pardon, would work to trump's own advantage. >> we're told that the president is considering multiple pardons. who do you think could be next on his list? roger stone already said today he's hoping for one. >> yeah. so he would want one. manafort is a big-ticket item here. you know, this is one aspect of it that's odd, don.

michael flynn was in the process of cooperating with prosecutors, with robert mueller when the presidenty of a pardon. here we are kaupa couple of yea later, flynn has been paid in full. he did not cooperate. that's what separates this from other pardons. >> who else? flynn is expected to be first of several. what other names are you watching for in. >> oh, boy. you have the look at the other people from the mueller case. paul manafort, roger stone. george papadopoulos. family members. don junior. potentially ivanka. jared kushner's father was convicted of federal equipment krooims a few years ago and the big question, will the president have the gall to try to pardon himself. >> what do you think? >> he has said by tweet, i have the right to pardon myself and the other day he retweeted something suggesting he could do that. if he does, we could end up with a major constitutional battle. we don't know the answer. no one has ever done it before. if he does it, he'll be the first. he would probably argue the constitution doesn't limit the pardon power. i can do whatever i want including gi

contact with the russian ambassador, one of the first major courtroom victories for special counsel robert muellerut a year ago flynn tried to withdraw the guilty plea. 's attorneys argued he had been entrapped by people like the fired fbi agent kim jong un when it will try to have the case dismissed, accused them of setting up a perjury trap, a charge that he dismissed as ludicrous. the case to get the case dismissed was pending when donald trump granted the full pardon this afternoon. democrats are furious. congressman adam schiff said donald trump has repeatedly abuse the pardon power to reward friends, protect those who covered up for him, this time michael flynn who lied to high dealings with the russians, no surprise trump would go out as he came in, crooked to the end. today's pardon brings to end the years long battle for the retired lieutenant general. he was one of the people identified as a potential threat way back in the summer of 2016 when the fbi first opened the counterintelligence investigation into the trump campaign which was codenamed crossfire hurricane. another of those peopl

ambassadorad sergey kislyak, it was one of the first courtroom victories for special counsel robert muellerabout a year ago he tried to withdraw the guilty plea, his attorneys argued he had been entrapped by people t like fired fbi agent peter strzokr and then in sprin, attorney general bill barr tried to have the case against him dismissed. he accused peter strzok of setting up a perjury trap, a charge at the time peter strzok dismissed as ludicrous. democrats are furious, congressman adam schiff said in response donald trump has repeatedly abused the pardonen power to reward friends and protect those who covered up for him, the stumpy he parted michael flynn who lied at the height's dealings with the russians come it's no surprise that trump would go out as he came in, crooked to the end. today's pardon brings to an end a year's worth long battle for the retired lieutenant general, he was one o one of the people identified as a potential threat way back in the summer of 2016 when the fbi first open that counterintelligence investigation into the trump campaign which was codenamed crossfir

you know, chris wray was a close associate of his, so was robert mueller. tone, we know the temperament, we know the direction of their ideologies. this is not a salve that is likely to be very effective right now with this fbi. this is the same fbi, by the way, not commenting about these elections who were quick to confirm an investigation into a convoy of trump supporters who were's escorting a -- who were escorting a biden/harris bus out of the state of texas. i mean, i have have to -- you have to put me down as one who thinks this fbi is rotten to the core -- >> i got you something to make you smile. let me give you something to try to make you smile on this, lou. lou: all right. go for it. >> i am told next week, postelection, but next week i think we will see some public action in the russia collusion case, something that was pending that now will take place. i know it's not satisfying to know what happened after the election, but to see some form of justice, to see some form of activity in the john durham-barr investigation, i think, will be good new

the 2000 election robert mueller, the day he took office as head of the fbi was the day before 9/11. everything got backlogged in 2000. imagine if he was in office two months earlier which could have been the case had the transition started in a normal process. the point is you don't know what you don't know. we know there's vaccine distribution to hand off. we know there are certain things about iran right now that we have to be nervous about like we did after 2000 and the 9/11 attacks. >> i do take exception to your comment that no work happens on thanksgiving. we in news always work. >> i haven't had a thanksgiving week off myself. >> i know. >> friends and family who don't seem to have anything to do. >> exactly, exactly. happy thanksgiving to you. we look forward to seeing you next week. be sure to join chuck for this morning's "meet the press." exclusive interviews with the white house office director richmond and senator kevin cramer that is an exclusive plus an extra from chuck's interview with dr. anthony fauci. we hope you stick right here and tune in at 8:00 a.m. right aft

during the russia probe by robert mueller he dangled the possibility of a pardon for paul manafort, his former campaign chairman. there's ever reason to think when we get closer to january 20th when he thinks of how he can come out ahead he'll use that power as he used every otherl other lever of the presidency to benefit himself. >> thank you both so much. >>> joining me david challion for more on all of this. back to where we began, is with what we're seeing from donald trump with regard to concession or not. do you think what we're seeing from the president in this moment is as close to a concession as we're going to get from this president? if's in a the case, what's the impact of that? >> he's made clear that he will not concede. those were his words in his tweet. this is as close as we are likely to see a concession, which is allowing the formal process of the transition to get under way and instructing his team to abide by those rules. you ask what the impact is of this. the impact is that donald trump is looking for every possibly avenue to hang onto political power inside the

the flynn case sparked the firing of gjim comey and hiring of robert mueller and trump's campaign toted of unrelated crimes roger stone's seven years sentence was commuted in july and manafort and steve bannon and rick gates those individuals shave not bee pardoned president trump has used his power to pardonless frequently in modern times. that could change with flynn shep, now questions about whether president trump could choose the preemptive pardon himself because the constitutional power to pardon is broad >> we all know that has not been tested with the supreme court. i guess there are a lot of things he could do i wonder if there is a short list of who else he could pardon >> well, certainly, president trump has done it less than other presidents we just showed you a list of the campaign officials who have then convicted four different crimes. steve bannon at one time he was the campaign chair, he was in charge with a crime related to a funding that was advertised feds' falsely for funding for the president's border wall and you have paul manafort and rick gates who were sente