it's not going to be rod rosenstein.going to be the person who conducted the investigation, bob mueller. one question i have, because when you read the 200 pages of the links between the russians and the trump campaign and bob mueller did not find collusion, remember he was not allowed to pursue any money laundering or any follow the money type of investigation. the question will be why wasn't he allowed to do that? was that rod rosenstein protecting the president by not allowing that to be part of the investigation. >> you're joining us from iowa, we're grateful to have you, we were going to talk about other things today and this story broke. we appreciate your flexibility. do you think about how to communicate what this picture looks like to voters in a way that's meaningful to them. i think voters are very smart. i spent more time in politics than television. it's not that they can't make sense of this. i think it's stitching this together, rolling like you're above the law, this corrupting absolutely everybody around

rod 2.0 was appointing mueller. then rod 3.0 was saying we're not going to be extorted. we're up to 4 or 5.0. unlike apple products, rod's later iterations get worse, not better. what does barr look like with a president who thinks he's getting away with these things? thank you for being on "the beat" this friday evening. >> thank you. >>> appreciate it. now, let me tell what you we have coming up. we speak live to a member of the judiciary and landing the plane as well as what happens if donald trump's aides continue to defy congress. and then i hope you'll stay with me, chambers, six members on beat beat talking about the wu-tang klan. ...we're open just pass the ball! no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. yea. [quartet singing] shoot the j! shoot, shoot, shoot the jaaaaaay... believe it! geico could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. bill's back needed a afvacation from his vacation. an amusement park... so he stepped on the dr. scholl's kiosk. it recommends our best custom fit orthotic to relie

rod 2.0 was appointing mueller. then rod 3.0 was saying we're not going to be extorted. we're up to 4 or 5.0. unlike apple products, rod's later iterations get worse, not better. what does barr look like with a president who thinks he's getting away with these things? thank you for being on "the beat" this friday evening. >> thank you. >>> appreciate it. now, let me tell what you we have coming up. we speak live to a member of the judiciary and landing the plane as well as what happens if donald trump's aides continue to defy congress. and then i hope you'll stay with me, chambers, six members on beat beat talking about the wu-tang klan. openturning 50 opens theuard. door to a lot of new things... like now your doctor may be talking to you about screening for colon cancer. luckily there's me, cologuard. the noninvasive test you use at home. it all starts when your doctor orders me. then it's as easy as get, go, gone. you get me when i'm delivered... right to your front door and in the privacy of your own home. there's no prep or special diet needed. you just go to the ba

rod rosenstein read this investigation for two full years.lowed it closely and i've written about it. i cannot think of anything that rod rosenstein did in two years other than that memo he wrote, that first or second night when trump said justify my firing of james comey. i can't think of anything in two years that would cause people at the justice department to be anything but mightily proud of his leadership and the way he handled the mueller investigation. in the last month, attorney general barr has made at least four or five critical moves that cause a lot of us who were in professionals in law enforcement to scratch our heads and say, why did he do that and the answer seems to be he has a different notion of who his client is than perhaps rod rosenstein -- >> you say for -- i assume you're talking about the release of the four-page summary and the testimony he gave -- >> and waiting a month for the redactions. >> it shouldn't have taken that long. >> it was very convenient it is released in the middle of a two-week congressional recess

he removed rod rosenstein who was the target of that ire. >> look at rod rosenstein. >> he left with a love letter. do you as a former fbi official, do you think that someone like congressman schiff, the democrats who see the world and see these principles as worthwhile of protecting, do you think they can move public opinion along in their way? >> i think sunshine is the best disinfectant to use a cliche. i think if we begin hearings and we air out the key witnesses and we can get them to the table without going to the supreme court each and every time, i think the american people will begin to see and it will resonate with many that this is a krumt president. ironically impeachment may be the way not only to target a corrupt president, but as it's been said, to actually ensure we're not redefining the presidency. that's what's happening here. like it or not or under it or not, the president is trying to redefine what being president means. trying to have three branches of government where one is more powerful than the other. if the only way to safeguard that and preserve our equal

the "new york times" said rod rosenstein talked about wearing a wire and that he was -- in rod rosenstein's view it might have been a joking matter but there was a question whether or not his loyalty to the president was at all in doubt. so he went to the white house that day, in september rod rosenstein did. he had a phone conversation with the president. that's where he made the case. why this is is interesting because he ended up being along with bill barr saying the president didn't obstruct justice. the two of them signed off on all of this. the president has this odd relationship with the report. he claims it vindicates him while at the same time it was an attempt to remove him from office. >> this was a coup. this was an attempted overthrow of the united states government. they are trying to infiltrate the administration to, really, it's a coup. it's spying. it's everything that you can imagine. this was an overthrow and it's a disgraceful thing. and i think it's far bigger than watergate. this was a coup. this wasn't stealing information from an office in the watergate apartments. t

everyone had been expecting rod rosenstein to go.ething of a surprise that he didn't resign late last year, when it was revealed that at one stage he'd actually suggested wearing a wire to secretly record president trump. that was just one thing that had made him unpopular with the president, his involvement with appointing robert mueller to head up investigation into rough nonaggression interference,. his constant defence of that process, that investigation, was another thing that made him unpopular with the president, even though at one stage he is alleged to have said that he would make sure the president was protected from that investigation. so rod rosenstein has been a figure who throughout, really, his two years in office has trodden a difficult tightrope of trying to maintain the support of the president, to retain hisjob, but also trying to maintain the impartiality of the law and the office that he held as number two in the justice department. but in terms of the russia investigation, he was a more important figure, because

so rod rosenstein really had been facing a ticking clock.the us. —— let's stay in the us. presidential hopefuljoe biden has kicked off his campaign for the democratic nomination. the former vice president addressed a rally in pittsburgh, laying out his vision for the country's middle class. mr biden announced his 2020 bid last week and opinion polls suggest he is currently leading the democratic field. the head of boeing has defended the safety of the 737 max aircraft, saying he is sorry for the loss of life and insisting the company has a duty to eliminate risk. dennis muilenburg made the comments as he appeared in front of shareholders just hours after it was revealed the us aviation regulator has received four phone calls from current and former boeing employees about the safety of the aircraft. indonesia's president has announced plans to relocate the country's capital city. jakarta is on the crowded main island of java, and is plagued by flooding and subsidence. the indonesian planning minister says the new site for the capital has yet

thanks, rod. >> thank you. >> yep. i'd also like to thank special counsel robert mueller for his service, and the thoroughness of his investigation, particularly his work exposing the nature of russia's attempt to interview in our electoral process. as you know, one of the primary purposes of the special counsel's investigation was to determine whether president trump's campaign or any individual associated with it conspired or coordinated with a russian government to interfere in the 2016 election. volume one of the special counsel's report describes the result of that investigation. as you will see the special counsel's report states that his, quote, investigation did not establish that members of the trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the russian government in its election interference activities. i am sure that all americans share my concern about the efforts of the russian government to interfere in our presidential election. as the special counsel report makes clear, the russian government sought to int

what you said, call rod, tell rod that mueller has conflicts and can't be the special counsel. the president responded "i never said that." the report continues the president then asked what about these notes? why do you take notes? lawyers don't take notes. i never had a lawyer who takes notes. mcgahn responded that he keeps notes because he is a real lawyer -- you find that funny, jeffrey toobin? >> i find that funny. >> okay. settle down. you have plenty of time. >> i know. anyway. please continue. it's your program. >> and explain that notes create a record and are not a bad thing. the president went on to say, "i've had a lot of great lawyers like roy roacohn. he did not take notes." he also got disbarred if memory serves. it didn't end well for roy cohn. clearly roy cohn was no don mcgahn. in event, this isn't only such incident. there is also the firing of james comey and the bogus reason given for it at the time. >> so what's your response to these rank and file fbi agents who disagree with your contention that they lost faith in director comey? >> look, we've heard fro

. >>> coming up -- next for us breaking news, new reporting that sheds fresh light on rod rosenstein and the political tightrope he walked as he scrambled to protect robert mueller and as well his job. the promise to the president, i can land the plane. find out more about what exactly he meant >>> and later the case of the missing press secretary, what our white house correspondent has to say about that. sam donaldson joins us. red lobster's new weekday five days.s here: five deals. for fifteen dollars get a different deal every weekday til six pm like endless shrimp monday admiral's feast tuesday four course feast wednesday and more. five days. five deals. fifteen dollars. see you before six. ten detailed acts of obstruction of justice. robert mueller's report lays out a roadmap for impeachment proceedings against this president and challenges congress to do its job. i'm tom steyer and we can't let this president destroy the public trust, break his oath of office and get away with it. congress has to do its job and hold him accountable. please call them at this number. tell them to

now, at times rod rosenstein has appeared to be loyal to the president. have taken actions to protect the president, especially in relation to the mueller enquiry into russian collusion. that is the investigation that he himself, rod rosenstein, was in charge of, was overseeing, after the attorney general, jeff sessions, had to step back from that because of potential conflicts of interests. so it looked like rod rosenstein would be forced out, but president trump allowed him to stay on, i think, really, until the mueller enquiry was actually concluded and dealt with, and now that that has been finished, it is time for rod rosenstein to move on. indeed, the new attorney general, william barr, had already recommended a replacement when he came into office back in february, so came into office back in february, so rod rosenstein's time in office really has been overdue, really. everyone was expecting him to go, but he has announced today that he will go in the next two weeks. his letter really i think is an attempt to defend thejustice department and the po

rod rosenstein offering public support for bill barr. we're going to speak with a reporter who interviewed him. we'll ask why rosenstein supports barr's summary of the muller report. but is less vocal on barr's talk of spying. >>> also, retaliation plot. nbc news has new reporting on the white house plot to bus migrants to sanctuary cities and why it was directed at people like nancy pelosi. >>> faith in politics. vice president mike pence and a candidate inject two interpretations of their faith. >>> we start with rod rosenstein. speaking out, defending his boss, attorney general, bill barr, over his handling of the muller report. in his first interview since the release of the four-page summary of the two year long muller investigation, rosenstein said barr is being as forthcoming as he can. the notion that he's trying to mislead people, i think it is just completely bizarre. his comments coming days before the time when barr said he's going to release the entire muller report with redactions, of course, to congress. joining me now is

recognizing that rod rosenstein and mr. barr are not going to be any help here. i think our patience should be at an end. investigate, do it respectfully but when people do not show up to testify, arrest them. get the jail ready and get the fines ready to insure that there's enforcement. >> congressman huffman, this is our first chance to talk since the reports about speaker pelosi's conference call with democratic members about how to proceed at this point in the investigations of the president. what can you share with us about your contribution in that call? >> in that call and in other opportunities my message to colleagues and everyone who will listen to me on this is to think about the downside of not acting in this hick moment that has been forced upon us really. i am not haunted by the political uncertainty of moving forward and doing our job under the constitution. i am haunted by the thought of not doing that job especially as the lawlessness and defiance from this president continues unfolding every day. >> i want to read a report in yahoo news from pau

rosenstein and it was at rod rosenstein's direction that we decided to make this decision. mueller report makes it very clear it was president trump's decision to fire james comey and instead he decided to pin his reasoning on the deputy attorney general. >> right. and the president tried to get the deposit attorney general to hold a press conference and lie about it and the white house press office according to the mueller report tried to get the deputy attorney general to issue a statement in which he would lie about it. sarah murray, appreciate the details there. >>> those details about the president's top advisers ignoring orders lend credence to the op-ed published in "the new york times" of september of last year. said the senior official described how many in the inner circle are working from within to frustrate his inclinations and went on to explain how meetings with trump veer off topic and off the rails and he engaged in repetitive rants and half-baked and ill-informed and reckless decisions that have to be walked back. joining me now elliott williams from the ob

so has rod rosenstein. his new comments tonight on how the mueller report is being handled. >>> we got a rare glimpse of julian assange today. the problem for him is it came as he was arrested, dragged off to the slammer, indicted in london, and in this country, trump has now changed his tune on wikileaks. >>> and an exclusive in "the washington post" tonight about where the white house wanted to send the people coming in over the border as "the 11th hour" gets under way on a thursday night. >>> well, good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. day 812 of the trump administration. and as we await the release of the mueller report, days away, there are increasing questions about whether attorney general william barr sees the american people as his client or the president. after barr said in an open hearing yesterday that he thinks the trump campaign was spied upon, barr received the president's full-throated endorsement today. >> are you pleased that your attorney general yesterd

i did not think rod a change. i think these are really hard jobs and we are in an environment where we disagree with the decision you may, therefore he must be correct. i'm glad i'm not there anymore. >> martha: here's eric swalwell and what he said about his ongoing commitment to the story that was largely debunked. watch this. >> i accept that i probably should have been out there a little bit earlier because who knew how many links there were, 200 pages of links. but here's what we know. the russians health donald trump. >> sure, but to be clear you are no longer maintaining that he is effectively a "russian asset." >> no, i think he acts on russia's behalf and i challenge him to show me otherwise. >> martha: what do you think? >> president eric swalwell, that ought to scare the ever living hell out of you. the last sentence is the difference between a senator and a publication. politicians make you prove you did not. you'll hear his last sentence? i challenge president trump to prove that he did not do somethi

. >>> coming up -- next for us breaking news, new reporting that sheds fresh light on rod rosenstein and the political tightrope he walked as he scrambled to protect robert mueller and as well his job. the promise to the president, i can land the plane. >>> and later the case of the missing press secretary, what our white house correspondent has to say about that. sam donaldson joins us. yesss, i'm doing it all. the water. the exercise. the fiber. month after month, and i still have belly pain and recurring constipation. so i asked my doctor what else i could do, and i said yesss to linzess. linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. linzess is not a laxative, it works differently. it helps relieve belly pain and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. do not give linzess to children less than 6, and it should not be given to children 6 to less than 18, it may harm them. do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most co

on the road, rod rosenstein, what do we know about what went down there? >> that's one of the key questions about this, what assurances did rod rosenstein give the president on whether or not he would land the investigation a certain way? he said i'll be able to land the plane. we should all know this is being reported by "the washington post" and not independently confirmed this but we know rod rosenstein was emotional at the time and there was tension at times between him and the president. rosenstein was speaking to us just the other day and here's what he had to say talking about what he thought the media's responsibility in all of this was. >> some of the nonsense that passes for breaking news today would not be worth the paper it was printed on if anybody bothered to print news these days. one silly question that i have yet from reporters is is it true that you got angry and emotional a few times over the past few years? heck, yes, didn't you? >> so that's a lighter approach to some very serious, weighty issues, philip. i think what we may learn here

we met in binghamton, new york, where rod serling grew up.t people know is the man in the suit and the cigarette in black and white introducing each episode. but we know nothing about what he was like at home. >> my dad was the funniest person in the world. he would dress the animals up in human clothes and talk for the animals and put lamps on his head. >> reporter: by the end of ttoo '50s, early '60s, he was kind of a superstar, wasn't he in the industry? >> he was, he was. >> reporter: did that reflect at all in his parenting? was he around? >> when he was in his study and the door was shut, we knew that was offlimits. but most of the time he was open to talk to us when we wanted to talk to him or play with him. i never felt he was ever absent in my life at all. >> reporter: serling enlisted in the army immediately after high school. world war ii was in full swing. he was a paratrooper in the pacific. a shattering experience that his family says haunted him for the rest of his life. >> my mom said that lots of times he'd wake up sweating,

and rod rosenstein had a role in that.aps he did play a key role in having justice brought out, at least that far. on the other hand, the way he handled, wolf, the firing of jim comey, offering the may 9th memo that gave hillary clinton asa e plausible reason why jim comey should be let go by a republican president, i think he got rolled by the trump white house. >> by the president himself. >> so, again, hero or goat, i don't know. >> we just -- the thing about him is, he's so central, and yet we don't really -- there's been so much reporting about him, but he doesn't, with the exception of the speech last week, he doesn't talk publicly all that much, so there's so much that we don't know. he was alleged to have wear a wire, bringing up the 25th amendment. they say he was joking. there's reporting that says he wasn't joking. we don't really -- you can't pin him down, he's not waiting, i guess the rosenstein memoir is not that far away. >> let's see if he testifies before the house and/or senate judiciary committee, some t

we are following some breaking news, deputy attorney general rod rose rose ju rod rosenstein just submitted resignation. this was expected and now it's actually happened. what do we know? >> right, the only thing surprising about this is how long rod rosenstein stayed in this job after it appeared he was going to leave. this is the letter, if you will come back to me here, steve. this is the letter he just sent to the president and the key date is right here where he says, look, the median tenure of a deputy attorney general is 16 months and few serve longer than two years, but he said his resignation will be effective may 11th. so that's when his successor, jeffrey rosenstein, we expect, will have been confirmed by the senate and rosenstein did say early on he will stay until his successor was nominated and confirmed by the senate. there was some question here early on whether he would step down as soon as the new attorney general, bill barr, took his office. but it's clear he and barr got along well. you may remember barr has talked repeatedly about the advice he got from rod rosenstein i

rod rosenstein is not all one thing.s got a lot on enforcing the law, you hear that in all his speeches. then he has bizarre lines about the president's courtesy and humor and their personal relationship, making it seem like they're so close and buddy buddy. he almost lost his job because of reporting about the fact that he contemplated wearing a wire on the president after the firing of fbi director james comey. the president tweeted a picture of him behind bars. he is one of the more complicated multi facetted figures of the entire investigation i think. >> jeffrey toobin, what do you think? >> you know, deputy attorney general is usually a pretty obscure role. i don't think there's any doubt that rod rosenstein is the most famous deputy attorney general in american history. because as laura said, he is all over the place in this story in some respects. he acts like he's trump's pawn. he comes up with this ridiculous memo to justify the firing of james comey, just a completely preposterous document, and then turns arou

thanks, rod. i would also like to thank special counsel robert mueller for his service, and the thoroughness of his investigation, particularly his work exposing the nature of russia's attempts to interfere in our electoral process. as you know, one of the primary purposes of the special counsel's investigation was to determine whether president trump's campaign or individuals associated with it conspired and coordinated with the russian government to interfere in the 2016 election. volume one of the special counsel's report describes the results of that investigation. as you will see, the special counsel's report states that "the investigation did not establish that members of the trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the russian government and its election interference activities." i am sure all americans share my concern about the russian interference in our election. as the special counsel report makes clear, the russian government sought to interfere in our election process. but thanks

he gave us the investigation, one rod rosenstein. and the questions about him tonight like how savvy and inside player is he really? this career federal prosecutor, harvard law graduate who was in internship was for a massachusetts u.s. attorney named robert mueller, this man who the president has privately called mr. peepers. has he been currying the favor of the president all along to keep his job? here is what raises all of the question tonight. "the washington post" today detailed that rosenstein reportedly told trump something certain to remain in charge of the investigation. it focuses on the fallout and the article from "the new york times." you will recall it september 2018 we reported on it widely at the time. it's sad that after the 2017 firing of james comey he suggested wearing a wire to secretly record the president. he talked about the 25th amendment. the "post" now said after that rosenstein was called on the carpet and he was forced to explain himself to a furious white house and was reportedly teary-eyed in a meeting

rod rosenstein then oversaw the mueller investigation.ow helped bill barr by all accounts craft that four-page letter essential exonerating the president. so we need to look at what rod rosenstein is seeing through that lens. i'm not saying we shouldn't trust him but he has incentives that may no align with the american people. we'll see how transparent and candid rod rosenstein will be and how forthcoming the department of justice is regarding the findings that we see next week presumably. >> ned, putting on your former cia officer hat, what's the difference between spying and surveillance? >> you know, it's a difference and a distinction i'm sure william barr himself knows. it's worth noting that bill barr started his career at the cia where i started my career. bill barr knows, he learned back then and i'm sure he's since been reminded that spying, when cia officers spy around the world, when they conduct espionage, they are breaking the law. but when we are operating on foreign soil, they are breaking the law of that country. when the

even in the rod rosenstein situation, i can't believe this.ed up the subject of an investigation that he was overseeing to say let me land the plane. this adds more for congress and they have to look at this. i don't know what they will decide. i have been through impeachment and it was tough in the senate. it was awful. one of my worst times i spent in the senate. it takes the air out of the room. we know that. you have to look this in the eye and if it leads you there, so be it. >> ben, as you read the mueller report, most people come to the conclusion that the first pass that william barr took, it was a liberal interpretation. >> it was deficient. >> given what you have read, what basic question should congress be asking of bill barr knowing he provided a deficient explanation to start with? >> i guess my question to bill barr would be, why did you produce that account of this document, given that you knew you were making it public and you knew people were going to be able to see what it actually said. is this because you actually believed

did rod rosenstein talk about it? >> no, not at all.e wouldn't talk about the attorney general's review and it's unclear if that review would look at the actions that rod himself took. nevertheless, he said generally speaking that he is okay with scrutiny. he's open to it. he's used to it. as long as it's objective. >> neil: now, let's said he's in his waning days from your article. what is he going to do? do we know? >> he's saying that he doesn't know what he's going to do next. it's against justice department rules to look for a job while you're in the department. he says he hopes to have a new job by the end of the summer. his replacement is awaiting confirmation. so those days are any time now. >> dana: >> neil: all right. thanks very much, sadie. very revealing. the first interview post all of this with rod rosenstein. i want to go right now to katie, our former federal prosecutor. katie, rod rosenstein is saying essentially these characterizations of the attorney general overanalyzing things or doing something to cover up for his

rod rosenstein's unblinking stare held viewers captivated.0 seconds in between. it looks like he just came from the tax i determinist, like he was added later in photoshop. rod rosenstein's eyes got their own twitter account, hostage to the department of justice is my soul now with chris christie's a reference to another famous blank stare over president trump's shoulder. >> it's abysmal. >> reporter: how abysmal? >> he's actually the deputy attorney general did adjust his glasses. >> i will now have a few questions. he even eked out a couple weak smiles, for instance when his new boss think he was over his other shoulder. >> thank you, rod. >> the mystery bearded guy inspired a comparison. he's edward ocallahan, principal associate deputy attorney general. colonel sounds higher, but it was rosenstein is winning a staring contest against all of us right now, when it comes to an unblinking gates, rosenstein almost beat the eagle, and in a blink someone added a soundtrack. ♪ hello darkness my old friend >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn. ♪ i've com

so has rod rosenstein.t on how the mueller report is being handled. >>> we got a rare glimpse of julian assange today. the problem for him is it came as he was arrested, dragged off to the slammer, indicted in london, and in this country, trump has now changed his tune on wikileaks. >>> and an exclusive in "the

so has rod rosenstein.t on how the mueller report is being handled. >>> we got a rare glimpse of julian assange today. the problem for him is it came as he was

lincoln would say that at the very beginning was rod rosenstein now can hat theconclusion is rod rosensnttesting to the integrity of the process that's unfolded in these recent weeks. i hope that symbolism is not lost on people on capitol hill that's very, very powerful. ed: he made that point, ainsley, that having rod rosenstein there is pivotal. remember who bill barr is democrats are trying to paint him as some sort of trump partisan. served in the bush 41 administration. is he not someone who has been close to this president. brian: cia attorney as well. i would bring this up, too. this is the way the department of justice acts. jeff sessions was out of his element and way over his head. he recused himself. when you see and read i'm sure it's there the president of the united states ranting on jeff sessions and how he wanted to get him back in and involved. and doing it to maybe don mcdan who is the president's attorney who really had a problem with. then you understand that anything the president might have obstructed was actually out in public. so he probably could have came to a d

the president derided rod rosenstein as a democrat from baltimore even though rod rosenstein is a republicanerent part of maryland who the president appointed. but this call did give the president some kind of assurance that rosenstein was going to be loyal to him. even though rosenstein used somewhat vague language, it wasn't like he was promising to end the mueller probe, that is what he said, so that was the president's reaction. he was convinced. >> and that assurance coming while that investigation is still underway. he was overseeing it. matt, thank you very much. >>> "outfront" now, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, kerry sandic and nia malika henderson. so harry, what does this mean for rosenstein? does that make you question his impartiality as he was still overseeing this investigation? >> it does to some extent. it is not advisable for the deputy attorney general supervising an investigation into the president to meet with the president and give him any assurances or give him anyin siep -- any insight into the investigation. going back months pe

. >>> lightning rod. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. we have breaking news in a stunning new report "the washington post" reveals that deputy attorney general rod rosenstein had an effort to keep his own job with the president after the "new york times" reported last september that he offered to wear a wire to record the president. when trump called him demanding answers, he sought to diffuse the situation and assures the president he was on his team, assuring him he would make sure trump was treated fairly. according to the new administration official, rosenstein said i give the investigation credibility. here's the key line. i can land the plane. i can land the plane. his reassurance to the president was ominous given that he and the attorney general cleared the president of obstruction of justice after the special counsel had not. the other big story is that the president is waging a pervasive disinformation campaign in the wake of the mueller report itself. he is going to say anything to elevates him in the eyes of his people. he is

rod rosenstein's eyes got their own twitter account.oul now with chris christie's, a reference to another famous blank stare over president trump's shoulder. >> it's abysmal. >> reporter: how abysmal? >> chris christie looks like a guy who suddenly isn't sure if he turned the stove off before he left for work. >> reporter: actually, the deputy did adjust his glasses. >> i will now have a few questions. >> reporter: he even eked out a couple of weak smiles. for instance, when his new boss thanked him, even if bill barr did think he was over his other shoulder. >> thanks, rod. >> thank you. >> yep. >> reporter: the other human backdrop, the mystery beauty guy, inspired a comparison to a confederate colonel. actually, he's edward lonel sou. but it was rosenstein who mesmerized the internet. rod rosenstein is winning a staring contest against all of us right now. when it comes to an unblinking gaze, rosenstein almost beat the eagle. and in a blink, someone added a sound track. ♪ hello darkness, my old friend ♪ . >> reporter: jeanne moos, cn

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authorized by a fisa warrant signed by the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. but if you're the sitting attorney general and you've actually sat as the country's attorney general before, you don't mix up the word spying with the word authorized surveillance, authorized by a fisa application signed by the sitting deputy attorney general, do you? >> no, you don't, nicole. it was a shame to see bill barr, one of our nation's most respected lawyers, a two-time attorney general. turn in his glasses for a tinfoil hat. what he was talking about was the craziest trump conspiracy theories out there. that only the president's most fringe allies dare to advance. what we know is that this has been investigated five times previously by republican-led committees and nothing came of it. the justice department has been defending its practices here, they've been investigated internally and externally, and when senator reed in that clip you showed, pressed the attorney general, do you have evidence for this claim, he said, well, no. so it was irresponsible, flaky and way out of

this point where rod rosenstein stands.oes he agree with barr that perhaps there was unauthorized surveillance or is he on the side of the rod rosenstein who signed the fisa documents in the first place? so a lot of questions, but our money is on next week for us to try to get this redacted version of the report, and then we'll see where the court fight goes after that. >> betsy let me give you the last word what we're likely to see on the obstruction of justice report, which would appear from the tea leaves we're able to leave, may be the most fullsome side of the report, there's a lot of interviews with white staffers, reporting on the president's conduct, barr illuding to the fact that the president's reputation wouldn't be taken into consideration and he said in the past he would make decisions about privilege. any sense -- i've been told that laid out chronologically marshalling the evidence of obstruction which we know is there from barr's letter it could be devastating to this president. >> there shouldn't be anythin

additionally, thanks to bill barr and rod rosenstein who released that letter initially we no there's there's criminal culpability for the president. lou: the interesting thing here too there's no charge, therefore why should we be expecting as some insist they are salacious and defamatory information about the president of any kind? there's no charge. why would there be any narrative associated with that? >> well, there shouldn't be, if rod rosenstein's rationale for why james comey needed to be fired continues. remember, rod rosenstein, deputy attorney general sends a letter to the president saying fire james comey because he revealed too much defamatory information about hilary clinton during the 2016 election, without charging her. so rod rosenstein in charge of the special counsel bob mueller, he's overseeing this report, there shouldn't be any defamatory information about the president if rod rosenstein has any degree of consistency here. lou: i have not a single degree of confidence that will be the case. >> i know you don't. lou: thank you very much. always great to see you. w

and we learned more today about deputy attorney general rod rosenstein's discussions about using the 25th amendment to remove president trump from office after the president fired fbi director james comey. we'll have that for you later in this hour. but first, within a week -- that was one of the more important things that attorney general william barr said today, if not the most important thing, about the mueller report. >> as i said, my first agenda item here is to get the public report out, what can be gotten out publicly. that's going to be within a week. >> so that means by monday at the latest. we'll all be reading the william barr redacted version of the several hundred page mueller report. if the attorney general waits until monday, which is the deadline that he gave himself today, that means that he would be delivering his redacted version of the mueller report to congress when he knows the house and senate will be on their scheduled easter recess. they won't be in washington. so to avoid being accused of delivering his version of the mueller report in such a way that congre

i hope by now rod has two or three dogs around the house.gain, people just draw lines around him to defend him. but then when they don't like the way the report comes out or don't think it's a blueprint for impeachment. suddenly decide he is a conservative hack. i think it's not a giant surprise to him and thankfully i don't think rod is a person i'm friends with i don't think that he draws his energy off the political world. is he not really letting him bother it him either way if he has criticism or not. >> neil: you know, you obviously read the report thoroughly. i went through it i'm no lawyer. but i -- it seemed to jive with the initial bullet point findings that bill barr had. now, we can differ over whether an obstruction of justice was warranted. there were charges to that effect. but i believe barr characterized it the way i guess the mueller folks meant it they couldn't prove it one way or the other. so i don't know what barr would have somehow misrepresented or am i missing something? >> no. i'm totally with you on that. i mean, l

kind of like, like rod rosenstein. another deep state rat talking about wearing a wire because they wanted to spy on the president. conspiring and talking about using the 25th amendment to remove the president from offic office. there are officials right now in our doj right now that actually had those real conversations but none of them are being charged with the crime because they didn't act. he didn't commit. one in this case, maybe the other is dead which we will get to. in this case they didn't wear the wire and they didn't use the 25th amendment. he never acted and i talked about it, talking is not a crim crime. the heat medium mom and if they really cared about obstruction and when you hear these people tomorrow, okay, have a great case for them. why oh why did they ignore the blatant obstruction of justice committed by one of their own, their favorite candidate, hillary clinton. we know she violated the espionage act, it is a fact. she stole classified information on an unsecured server. here is the law. irrefu