will the scathing document written about lying james comey by the man in charge of the case, rod rosenstein also signed the fisa warrant, be a big part of the report? referencing the special counsel report. isn't rod therefore totally conflicted? elie, what's your answer in. >> the tweet storm itself was completely unhinged. you would hope the commander in chief of the military would have a little better poker face and be able to hide it a little better when he's feeling stressed. that said, i agree with michael it's inappropriate for the president to lash out at his own nominated deputy attorney general. but the issue about rod rosenstein potentially having a conflict is a legitimate one was rosenstein himself could be a key witness on the obstruction of justice issue here. when comey was fired, the president based that on a memo that rod rosenstein wrote saying we, the department of justice, i recommend he be removed because he mishandled the hillary clinton e-mail situation. trump himself, however, shortly thereafter told lester holt, i got rid of comey because of the russia thing. those

that's when there was this discussion about whether deputy attorney general rod rosenstein should maybe wear a wire around the presidet. rosenstein of course has denied that. we're now learning that then the head of the fbi andrew mccabe, he was the acting director, decided to take a pretty incredible step, which was to open an obstruction of justice investigation. this was of course before they even made the decision that the special counsel was going to be appointed, don. >> sarah, so why would rosenstein open an investigation like this when it was his own memo that the white house used to justify firing comey in the first place? >> first of all, awkward situation. it's continued to be an awkward situation with rod rosenstein in the justice department. he's obviously had a rocky relationship with the president. but i think there are a couple things at play here. obviously, this spitballing, this feeling that the president was somehow out of control, now one justice department official says this is not how rod rosenstein felt, they're denying it. but there are other things that play ou

bought me a letter or a rod rosenstein, whitaker, bill barr.t has been handled appropriately. >> dana: catherine herridge is live in washington. >> this story broke this morning, they have revealed more details about the deliberations, painting a more nuanced picture of the decision-making. the ethics review concluded that there was no actual conflict for matt whitaker to oversee the mueller problem. however, a senior ethics official was concerned over the objects that whitaker made previous negative comments about the case. recusal was "a close call," and they recommended in favor. they considered it an issue, we are told, recommended against recusal. today, rod rosenstein, pardon me, asked separately about the stalled legislation to protect the special counsel. >> the investigation is being conducted in accordance with the department of regulations, and nothing anybody says is going to affect that, so i believe that that investigation is being handled appropriately under the existing department regulations. >> one of the big changes, you will

of accusing william barr or matt whitaker of a conflict of interest, let's all take a look at rod rosensteinve been kicked off of this case from the beginning. >> dan: it's amazing. everyone wants recuse also accept rosenstein. for a gentleman, thanks a lot for joining me. i appreciate it. after the break, one democratic congressman had a christmas themed melted down on capitol hill. we'll show you the tape. you don't want to miss it. stay with us. ♪ ♪ >> dan: welcome back to a special edition of "hannity": law and order in america. the trump administration is hard at work trying to secure they,y, border.. dhs secretary nielsen announced the deal with mexico to overhaul the asylum process and combat catch and release. secretary nielsen was on capitol hill today to discuss the agreement where she was confronted by democratic congressman luis gutierrez. he won't believe what he had to say. >> there is one thing that this administrationas has done better than any other administration in american history and that is alive. it is repugnant to me and astonishing to me that during christmas -- they

rod rosenstein is at the white house at a hanukkah reception.e'll get reaction now from congressman eric swalwell. thanks for being with us. what does it say to you that there was already an obstruction case opened before robert mueller was even appointed? >> they had good reason to be concerned. it looks like they were trying to prevent a five-alarm fire from turning into a six-alarm fire. the president at this point would have just fired the fbi director. we later learned that there were multiple versions of stories given as to why he fired him and then his own admission to lester holt was because of the russia investigation. so thank god they were preparing to act, because we will later see the president continue to obstruct, tamper with witnesses, and just outright lie about the investigation. so i think their cause was one that was rooted in real credible concern. >> i mean, the irony is, and it's not the first time we have realized this, that had the president not fired comey, he might have spared himself the special counsel portion of thi

celebration at the white house. >> rod rosenstein, and where is rod? where where is rod? ro rod, whe rod, where are you? you are entitled to a much better place. okay. thank you very much. >> and how do you -- thank you very much. how do you square that circle? >> well, i cannot square if circle, bun of the things that rod rosenstein did and precise ly the right thing to do was to seek the ethics advice of the p professionals within the office, and so to the extent that the president is tweet iing or sayi that he is conflicted the career department officials have looked at what rod said and knows and wrote and decided that he can remain in the case which is frankly looking like good thing for the rule of law. >> and is he the still in charge of the probe or matt whitaker? >> the person who runs the department of justice is matt whitaker, but the deputy attorney general is overseeing everything, and he or she is the chief operating operator of the office, and so even if he has the official sign-off, rosenstein is overseeing the investigation. >> and he

and invoking the 25th. >> i have a doubt that he rod rosenstein testifies.ion to become aware would you believe you could record the president? how would you believe the 25th amendment is appropriate? what, in fact, prompted you to believe that when you are not a cabin officer and lacked the authority even to be conducting those conversations? >> in a statement, rosenstein denied the "the new york times" reporting is accurate. a source close to the general said he was being sarcastic. just of footnotes, if you will. on monday we expect the same ground rules with comey. a transcript released within 24 hours, and on a personal note, congratulations, harris! forgetting the interview with the president! well done. >> harris: thank you, that means a lot. i respect your work so much, catherine. thank you very much. for more on this, let's bring in one of the lawmakers who will be questioning james comey. republican targets men matt gaetz of the judiciary committee. >> before we get to the judiciary work, i know you just give reporting on the white house chief of s

attorney in that southern district, that person was forced to recuse himself by rod rosenstein.hat you is the -- lou: who is the only man who does not recuse himself. >> what you have is the democratic holdovers who are running this case and they clearly, when you read their sentencing memo on cohen with campaign finance, they make it sound like the holy grail of government. lou: obama, for example, would never have violated campaign finance laws. >> no, no. he got off with a fine. lou: 375,000 dollars. >> but i think the total -- lou: very quietly snuck it in. >> and the tone of that speak making in that sentencing memo is all about a partisan tone. lou: where is the border wall, gina, and why is this president reluctant and why is the republican leadership reluctant to fund a lousy $5 billion for a $25 billion wall. and the dimms are so cocky about it they're insulting the president with a $1.5 million offer so long as this money doesn't go to build a wall. >> well the democrats might want to wake up and it wouldn't hurt the republican to wake up to the fact as well. it is thi

rod rosenstein made him special counsel to investigate the president the day after rod rosenstein escorted him to the white house to interview for the job left fbi director again. robert mueller crashed and burned in that interview. the president said it, no, i need new blood, you will not be the new director. less than 24 hours later, rod rosenstein makes him the special counsel. how could he be an investigator? >> thank you so much. coming up, we will preview the looming government shutdown as the funding for the wall on our southern border now hangs in the balance. stay with us. ♪ chological? psychological. small town or big city? small town. methodists...or mules? mules. how's this? signed?! no way. nobody knows thrill seekers like we do... barnes & noble ♪ he eats a bowl of hammers at every meal ♪ ♪ he holds your house in the palm of his hand ♪ ♪ he's your home and auto man ♪ big jim, he's got you covered ♪ ♪ great big jim, there ain't no other ♪ -so, this is covered, right? -yes, ma'am. take care of it for you right now. giddyup! hi! this is jamie. we need some help. >> judge jeanine

rod rosenstein is at the white house at a hanukkah reception. we'll get reaction now from someone who had a front row seat sot drama. congressman eric swalwell. thanks for being with us. what does it say to you that there was already an obstruction case opened before robert mueller was even appointed? >> they had good reason to be concerned. it looks like they were trying to prevent a five-alarm fire from turning into a six-alarm fire. the president at this point would have just fired the fbi director. we later learned that there were multiple versions of stories given as to why he fired him and then his own admission to lester holt was because of the russia investigation. so thank god they were preparing to act, because we will later see the president continue to obstruct, tamper with witnesses, and just outright lie about the investigation. so i think their cause was one that was rooted in real credible concern. >> i mean, the irony is, and it's not the first time we have realized this, that had the president not fired comey, he might have spa

we have 0 get rod rosenstein in front of us.t's been almost 12 weeks since the "new york times" reported the rod rosenstein said he was thinking about wearing a wire to record the president and thinking of invoking the 25th amendment and we have yet to ask him question one. we need to get rod rosenstein in. judge jeanine: do it. you guys come on and talk about it all the time. you know i love you but enough of this nonsense. the american public has had it with you guys. >> mark meadows and i are pushing to get this done. judge jeanine: i said with obamacare ryan should have been gone and i took a lot of heat for it. that was a year and a half ago. this guy doesn't have the american people's interest at heart. jim comey decide he's going to take all these notes and leak them to his friend at columbia law school who is a non-government employee, an egomaniac who has to be at the center of everything. he's used to keeping this close to the vest because he's part of and close to the deep state and he's going to get away with it, isn

and reviving his attacks against his own deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein asking isn't rod totally conflicted? a dramatic difference from mr. trump's playful tone last night when rosenstein was at the white house for a hanukkah event. >> attorney general rod rosenstein. where is rod. rod, where are you? why? he's entitled to a much better location than that. thank you, rod, very much. >> reporter: president trump tweeted about the new filings late tonight totally clears the president thank you but those filings say mr. trump directed his lawyer to commit two felonies. >> kristen welker, thank you. >>> the president also making some big announcements today revealing his nominees for attorney general and u.n. ambassador as reports swirl his chief of staff is heading for the exit. with more, here is peter alexander. >> reporter: president trump tonight tapping his pick to be america's top law enforcement official, long-time washington lawyer william barr. >> he was my first choice from day one, respected by republicans and democrats. >> reporter: if confirmed, barr would return to a p

this is the first public acknowledgment that whitaker in fact not rod rosenstein is really in charge.lked to reporters today. >> as we have described previously, we have continued to manage the investigation as we have in the past, and it is being handled appropriately. whether it is bob mueller or rod rosenstein or matt with whitaker or bill barr, that is going to be handled appropriately by the department of juses tis. >> and joining me now is nbc justice and security analysis matt miller under attorney general eric holder ther. there is a lot to unpack here, because they were announcing a indictment against some chinese hackers today, and that is why he was in front of the cameras with chris wray, but the bottom line is the mueller probe. and so rod rosenstein is in chargek, but the ethics probe is when matt whitaker was on the private world and various cable networks criticizing the mueller probe, that it was as a private citizen and it does not affect his role as acting attorney general and so in replacing jeff sessions, he does not have to recuse himself, but at the same time th

and remember that the attorney general rod rosenstein is the guy who laid out the case of fire in comey, so it is not unique. >> melissa: but for some of those reasons barr is such a clever picket, because you have someone out there, how can you not confirm him when he has held the job before previously? how can democrats take a shot at him? how can the never-trumpers take a shot at him. but he does agree with the president's point of view where he wrote about the usurping of executive power. in addressing james comey usurping the doj power when he stood up they are outrageously and talked about what should or should not be pursued by the doj, which was never his role. so this is a very clever pick on the president's part. >> harris: barr served as attorney general during the first bush administration from '91-'93. i want your last thought on tha that. >> brian: i love the pick. i think it is incredibly smart. and when you can try to tar and feather barr on some of the questions, the fact is that these are very legitimate questions known by people in good faith on both of the sides of t

rod rosenstein sought to assure the public that everything is just fine. >> we've continued to manage the investigation as we have in the past. and it's being handled appropriately. whether it's bob mueller or rod rosenstein or matt whitaker or bill barr, the investigation is going to be handled appropriately by the department of justice. >> here's hoping. but the twin developments of whitaker not recusing from the mueller probe and barr being an extremist on the validity of the probe itself could undermine the investigation's independence at a crucial time. the house intel committee voted to release to the special counsel its transcript from roger stone's appearance before that committee. this follows the post reporting, last friday mueller requested an official trance crypt of stone's 2017 human. the first time the special counsel had asked the committee to turn over material it has gathered during its investigation. so what is robert mueller up to? to help us figure that out, let's bring in frank figliuzzi and matt miller, former chief spokesman for the justice department. eli, don

of accusing william barr or matt whitaker of a conflict of interest, let's all take a look at rod rosensteinuld have been kicked off of this case from the beginning. >> dan: it's amazing that everyone wants recusal's except for rosenstein. after the break, one democratic congressman had a christmas themed meltdown on capitol hill. we will show you the tape that you don't want to miss, coming up. >> dan: welcome back to a special edition of "hannity," "law & order" in america. the top administrations hard at work trying to secure the border today. dhs secretary nielsen announced a deal with mexico to combat catch and release. he was confronted by luis gutierrez. speak out there's one thing this administration has done better than any other administration, and that is a lie. it is repugnant to me and astonishing to me that during christmas -- i have to call them the holiday seasons to be inclusive but, it's christmas. because the majority always wants to call it christmas. during christmas, a time in which we celebrate the birth of jesus christ, a jesus christ who had to flee for his life with

that is what i don't get with rod rosenstein.e is going to get a report looking into the firing of james comey. he was one of the critical players. whether heissues is was used or played by the white house. so mueller is coming to him and saying, help me define the scope and helped me to find whether we give this report to congress, when he is reading about himself? it is otherworldly that he is involved in this case. perhaps you are right, i'm not saying you are right, but perhaps you are right here but hasn't that been corrected by the appointment of matt whitaker? we have and attorney general. we read these reports that rosenstein is still receiving information from bob mueller, but that can only be with the approbation of the attorney general. >> he was in charge for most of the investigation. ff sessions did the ethically correct >> i am really curious, let us say the special counsel columns out and proves that it is would ifby a jury or the process is that the donald trump gained the presidency illegally. he had conspiracy

rod rosenstein being near tears. john kelly reportedly over the labor day holiday screamed at in a way he's never been screamed at. whatever your politics, these are grown men being treated abusively by the president they serve. >> i'll tell you a couple things that i'm listening to joyce and chuck talk about this. i'm thinking about my career as a reporter. i've done some books. you're familiar with that work. when you're trying to do reconstructive history if you're writing narrative nongiks things that happened in a presidential campaign, you want to talk on any given thing, any event, any scene you're trying to write. you want to talk to everybody in the room. get notes, e-mails sent before, after the meeting, anything on audio anybody has and try to talk to anyone because the reality is people's memories are terrible. also the -- even people being honest with you remember things differently. on top of that, then there are people who lie. in this white house, people who lie a lot. so if you are trying to get to t

and actually, justice department officials are telling us that rod rosenstein will play the leading rolet oversight, but matt whitaker retains the decision to make the ultimate decision. >> so when whitaker says, whatever happens in the mueller investigation is going to be treated appropriately, not that we have any reason to doubt rod rosenstein's integrity in this, but what does that actually mean, appropriately? isn't it true that whitaker or barr could take mueller's report and put it in a drawer? >> yeah, they definitely play an important role here of oversight. and recusal is all about guaranteeing the appearances and public trust in justice and what's happening and independence and objectivity. so when you have someone like whitaker, who's been -- it's been recommended to that he ought to recuse, it isn't so much for having a direct conflict of interest, in that he has some monetary relationship or something that could be compromised, but based on prior statements that any decision that they make is going to be viewed with some skepticism by members of the public. and that's why t

cnn learned in the days before mueller was appointed and right after james comey was fired, rod rosenstein and top fbi officials discussed ways to reign in president trump. those options included rosenstein wearing a wire, which he later denied. sources say, and this is big, that acting fbi director mccabe took the step of opening an obstruction of justice investigation. >>> and also, president trump is expected to name heather nauert as the new u.s. ambassador to replace nikki haley. >> kevin hart stepping down as host of the academy awards two days after he got the job. the reason? he refused to apologize for gay statements in past tweets. that has plenty of people talking this morning. >>> we will start on the mueller investigation. this is one of the rare days where we know by the end of the day we will know more than we know right now. joining us now is the chief investigative correspondent for yahoo news and tauthor, and phi mudd, and cnn chief legal analyst, jeffrey toobin. i want to start with you. the president is on this rampage this morning four tweets and running going all afte

bob mueller or rod rosenstein or matt whitaker or bill barr, that investigation is going to be handledtice. >> mr. deputy attorney general, since we have the benefit of you here today, would you mind weighing in on the memo that was revealed last night from the president's pick to lead the department, bill barr, that weighs in on the mueller investigation, calling the obstruction inquiry fatally misconceived and also given the barr nomination, should we expect that the ultimate report on the mueller investigation would be deferred until he's confirmed? >> bill barr was an excellent attorney general during the approximately 14 month he served in 1991 to 1993. bill barr will be an outstanding attorney general when he's confirmed next year. the memo that you made reference to reflects mr. barr's personal opinion. he shared his personal opinion with the department. lots of people offer opinions to the department of justice, but they don't influence our own decision making. we have very experienced lawyers. and obviously, our decisions are informed by our knowledge of the actual facts of th

believe he did not recuse himself, something raised by department of justice lawyers correctly rod rosensteined as his memo for the original reason for firing james comey. and there was that famous conflict between rosenstein and the white house. he was directly involved in events under investigation. so there has been a failure in my view to create these bright lines. greta: do you agree that rosenstein is a witness? if you have that conflict, and i think many lawyers would agree i couldn't figure out why he was involved in and in light of the fact that he was a witness, is that you are handing ammunition to people who will be suspicious, or on the fence about the integrity of the investigation when you have those things from the start. mr. starr: i have confidence in the integrity of rod rosenstein. he was on that original trial team and we stayed close. if he was advised by ethics advisers and the justice department i might take a different view, because those pieces of advice have to be taken carefully. i'm going to say, in the law we say presumption of regularity, what he was doing. gret

the article also quotes rod rosenstein saying the memo had no impact on any of the investigations. of course, the memo will be sent to the to the senate judiciary committee tonight or sometime tomorrow. shannon? >> shannon: trace gallagher on the west coast. thank you very much. okay, barr's memo describing the approach on this issue of obstruction of justice as grossly irresponsible which potentially disastrous implications, so let's bring in alan dershowitz for reaction to the report. professor, welcome, but to have you with us. >> thank you, thank you. >> shannon: i want to read a little bit of what we're getting from the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. he says many people do offer unsolicited advice directly or through the news media, about legal issues they believe are pending before the department of justice. at no time did former attorney general barr sequel receipt for me any nonpublic information. so a two-part question for you. should it and fill it, because of the political optics that they left may want to use to their advantage? >> no and no. i have read "the w

i didn't care what rod rosenstein said, i was getting rid of this guy which blows the whole pretense ringing rosenstein in the picture in the first place. that isn't enough to say this isn't just dismissing the head of the fbi because that's what he gets to do. it's why he did it. mustn't that matter? >> you can say it matters if obstruction was appropriate. but, look, there were a lot of reasons to fire comey and you're talking to somebody who is advocating it as early as the previous summer, as did alan dershowitz on this very station. and, you know, that was happening almost a year before trump fired him. so there were plenty of reasons for him to be let go. you've just named two, two of the list -- >> because it came out of the president's mouth and his lawyer's mouth. that's why. >> right. you quoted him for one sentence. but there are plenty of other reasons. and he himself offered many other complaints over the course of the time running up to the actual firing. he being the president. >> right. look -- >> i've already told you i didn't think this was appropriate going forward.

earlier deputy attorney general rod rosenstein assured reporters that the mueller investigation would be handled, quote, appropriately. >> as we've described previously, we've continued to manage the investigation as we have in the past, and it's being handled appropriately. whether it's bob mueller or rod rosenstein or matthew whitaker or bill barr, that will be handled appropriately. >> if only we knew what handled appropriately actually means. joining us now is ken dilanian and loyola law school professor jessica levinson. ken, let's talk about this. what's the news in this decision from the ethics officials at the justice department? >> well, the news is that matthew whitaker, a man who roundly criticized the mueller investigation as a tv commentator is now the guy in charge of major decisions. let's explain what that means. it doesn't mean he's managing robert mueller or looking over his shoulder. the regulations say specifically that robert mueller doesn't answer on a day-to-day basis to anybody at the justice department. but he has to update them regularly. >> ken, i've got to

we'll see what happens. >> do you know anything about rod rosenstein wearing a wire? discussions? >> i can't comment on that. enjoy your weekend. >> charles: james comey wrapping up a short speaking with the press there. quickly, on the mueller investigation, he said it's proceeding quickly and professionally. on fisa abuse, he has total confidence. he said there was no abuse. on the firing of jeff sessions, he said it was deeply troubling and everybody should speak out on this. of course, he's frustrated that republicans still want to talk and get questions or answers rather with respect to hillary clinton's e-mails. with that, i want to bring in fbi, former fbi assistant director, chris swecker. what are your thoughts? >> having served in the fbi for 25 years at the highest level, retired from the number 3 dealt him, i think most of us are very disappointed in his the book, he leaked, made new rules. he's basically confirmed at least in the perception of the american public pretty extensive bias on the part of himself and his inner circle. so i think he's been thoro

rod rosenstein is not incorrect justice department are extremely opinionated. does the thing that barr take issue with, is that thing going to be so important in mueller's investigation. nobody knows the scope of the investigation. i do think if what he's looking at is whether or not russia interfered in the election and whether or not the trump campaign worked with russia and knew that was going on. that's much larger than just firing of director comey. >> understood. thanks for your reporting on this. just wrap this up. it's safe to say this week has been unsettling for the president. a week that would seem like an entire year of news. if you need a refresher of what's gone down in the last week, let's start with wall street. the stock market is on pace for its worst december performance since the great depression. after the federal reserve raised its interest rates for the fourth time this year. the dow fell below 23,000 for the first time in 14 months amid all the uncertainty of what's been happening in washington. for example, the president announcing he i

rod rosenstein presented the documentation to fire him. he should have been fired.ou: that would be the general view. it's certainly the republican view. my responsibility runs to the republican conference itself the past two years. time is about to expire. you watched your leadership stall this president, subvert this president, and particularly the judiciary committee helped the democrats run out the clock on any kind of meaningful result from investigation, only the house intelligence committee can claim that under devin nunes. your thoughts on what they mean now for a president encumbered by a democratic house. >> we squandered two years, lou. i have been one of those people that happily joined the fray in trying to hold our leadership accountable trying to get stuff done. but we'll find ourselves looking back saying i wish i woulda coulda shoulda. they have taken the fight out of the legislative process. now we'll have to depend upon the president standing by his word of vetoing a bad bill coming. that's what's coming. everybody is lined up right before christm

deputy attorney general rod rosenstein said this on wednesday. many people offer unsolicited advice and barr's memo has no impact on the investigation. >>> some voters in south carolina could forgo their primary in 2020. the state's gop chairman asking why taxpayers pay for a primary when the party totally supports mr. trump. the decision is expected by next summer. this would not be the first time republicans nix the first in the state's primary. they does for reagan in '84 and 2004 for george w. bush. one difference, the primary was paid by the state, but now it is paid by taxpayers. they would have all of the press asking them questions for that entire time. they would have the national stage to themselves. >> we will know soon. >>> the catholic church abuse scandal is widening in illinois. new accusations that diocese failed to release accusations against 500 priests. today is the day you're going to get motivated... get stronger... get closer. start listening today to the world's largest selection of audiobooks on audible. and now, get more.

so we'll see what happens. >> do you know anything about rod rosenstein wearing a wire? did that ever come up in any of your discussions? >> i can't comment on that. enjoy your weekend. [ inaudible question ] >> we have some breaking news. federal prosecutors in manhattan have filed their sentencing memo on michael cohen. the president's former lawyer and fixer. cnn's shimon prokupecz joins me now. what are they recommending? do they want cohen to go to prison? >> let's just say, jake, this is not looking good for michael cohen, based on my initial read of this. it's 40 pages. so we're still getting through this. but, yes, they are recommending significant jail time. more importantly, i think, what people need to understand, what this filing says is that they are not filing any kind of cooperation agreement, this 5k1 letter on behalf of michael cohen so he would get a downgrade in this prison sentence. why this is important, what they say here is that cohen repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may

deputy attorney general rod rosenstein said this on wednesday. many people offer unsolicited advice and barr's memo has no impact on the investigation. >>> the house intelligence committee trying to decide if turning over roger stone's testimony to robert mueller. this has been a focus of the special counsel investigation. mueller looking to the back channels with wikileaks during the campaign. a vote to give to mueller would raise the legal stakes for stone. several republicans and democrats tell cnn they are willing to turnover the transcript of the special counsel's team. >>> south carolina republicans could forgo the presidential primary in 2020 to show support for president trump. the move would be designed to frustrate the challengers to the president. the state's gop chairman asking why have taxpayers pay for a primary when the party totally supports mr. trump. a decision is expected by next summer. this would not be the first time republicans nix the first in the south primary. they did for president reagan in 1984 and again in 2004 for g

i want to play you comments by r rod rosenstein responding to that.s talk about it. this is rod rosenstein just a few days ago. >> lots of people offer opinions to the department of justice, but they don't influence our own decision-making. we have very experienced lawyers and obviously our decisions are informed by our knowledge of the actual facts of the case, which mr. barr didn't have. any i didn't share any confidential information with mr. barr. and that memo had no impact on our investigation. >> so in there, listen to those points. we have very experienced lawyers. we are informed by our knowledge of the actual facts in this case, which mr. barr didn't have. is he messaging that once barr seeing those actual facts, if he were to be confirmed as ag that he would know this investigation has turned up important things? >> i think he is. and i think also from an institutional point of view, rosenstein is laying the foundation for barr to be able to back off those opinions so there could be a reconciliation of his role as attorney general. i think

. >> rod rosenstein is day to day that hasn't changed. that's a lot of people are >> to that point, the special inis telejens voted to give him wikile what did you know about >> either they are preparing an what they are going to charge there nothing there and they eviden >> for could be either of these >> there is a 30 and mueller is that's a possibility. >> stone said he has not been >> a bad sign. >> usu a bad sign. one is challenging his authority and all the grand jury work >> for could. there press depth fcedent facts. it's not the usual way you use again, we don't know what it may well be that he will look at roger stone and say he's not it may be that these guys are let's put this in the report and have a public hearing. >> to exact point, the wikile is it a protected news servic muelle to figure out does could lose? >> from the special counse we'll keep following a of breaking and developing storie washington. the president meeting wit house republ the white house. will he demand changes to a plan they thought was on the way to p

as rod rosenstein said, just that hasn't influenced them yet.t mean his opinions won't influence them if he becomes the a.g. >> it's probably an opinion the president agrees with. jennifer rodgers, thank you very much. >> still ahead, facebook under fire. some are asking did ceo mark zuckerberg lie to congress when he testified about user privacy? we'll discuss that next. meet the roots. a family with a serious root problem. they see a bit of gray and think... [screams] luckily, there's magic root cover up from looréal. three seconds to flawless roots 3 2 1 ...done! magic root cover up from l'oreal paris. follow l'oreals roots famil_ru. your insurance rates skyrocket you could fix it with a pen. how about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead? for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ...and i found out that i'm

really, i think what ultimately the president is going to start doing is putting pressure on rod rosenstein-- who is in charge of this investigation, is acting attorney general-- and really try to get rod to maybe even cut the budget of bob mueller. >> stephen: good point. trump could take all the money away from bob mueller. and, just out of habit, give it to a porn star. ( laughter and applause ) ( piano riff ) so-- allegedly. so trump just hand-picked a guy who wants to stop the investigation into donald trump to be in charge of the investigation of donald trump. that's like a defendant at a murder trial saying, "your honor, you're fired. i'm going to have my friend terry take your seat. now, then, terry, if it please the court, did you throw that knife into the river like i asked? the correct answer is no." ( laughter ) and if all that's not unsettling enough-- and it is-- last year, whitaker also retweeted an article titled, "note to trump's lawyer: do not cooperate with the mueller lynch mob." that's going to be an awkward first day on the job. ( laughter ) "hey, bob, i'm your new bos

maria: our economy of jim comey and loretta lynch next week as well.what is a potential rod rosensteinst a talk to chairman goodlatte. he is still working on it. i certainly, rosenstein would like to avoid it but i think we will get him.spent congressman, it is good to see you. we will watch developers tomorrow and all week. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> up next the i'm ken jacobus and i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. and last year, i earned $36,000 in cash back. which i used to offer health insurance to my employees. what's in your wallet? ...starts with a december to remember at the lexus december to remember sales event. lease the 2019 nx 300 for $319 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. for $319 a month for 36 months. our new, hot, fresh breakfast will get you the readiest. holiday inn express. book now for at least 20% off during our annual sale. maria: welcome back. president trump will nominate william bar once again leave the department. he was in position 91 to 1993. review f

but to their credit in the justice department from former attorney general sessions to rod rosenstein, they havebowed to the president's pressure and they have allowed this process to move forward understandably and professional. that does not mean there were not mistakes made in the investigation and the president may have a reason to be frustrated with aspects of it. but he fired flynn because he was lying to him, and he did. yet, they're going to say he was ambushed by the fbi? i mean, it obviously makes no sense. i think what's unfortunate about the decision that sara sanders has made, she's not there under duress. she could leave at any time. if she's going to do these things at the behest of president trump, that is on her. the rest of the world has to know when the white house spokesperson says something, it's true. i have covered a lot of these people under a lot of pressure who don't deliberately say something that isn't true. it's just wrong. >> if i could just reiterate that and i agree with david. we have to remember that every decision that is being made as part of the mu

based corporations deputy attorney general rod rosenstein wrapped up a news conference awhile back eamoners is in washington and has the story. >> reporter: that's right. here's the indictment that department of justice unsealed against two chinese individuals who were working for a private company that the department of justice says was affiliated with the chinese ministry of state security in a global hacking scheme that impacted a significant number of american corporations two individuals, the u.s. government says they were involved in a years long conspiracy with chinese intelligence to steal technology from american corporations that began as early as 2006 the government is saying they stole ultimately hundreds of gig by thes of data, and that included companies in aviation, space and satellite, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, communications, computer processing and maritime industries a range of american companies effected here, the u.s. government says, by the hacking by these two individuals at a press conference rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general said the c

back in june he wrote a memo to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein it lays out his argument for why the law does not support any obstruction of justice case against the president. the journal says the memo was unsolicited and written in his capacity as former attorney general. the concern of course is whether the memo factored into the president's decision to nominate him but he claims he told the president about the memo and sources close to the confirmation process told the journal the white house attorney and bill barbeau say the sequence was donald trump met with bar, offered the job, then they talked about potential confirmation pitfalls. the article also quotes rod rosenstein saying the memo had no impact on any of the current investigations, the memo will be sent to the senate judiciary committee tonight or tomorrow. >> thank you very much. the memo describes special counsel robert mueller's approach and the issue of obstruction of justice is irresponsible with disastrous implications for the executive branch. let's bring in alan dershowitz for reaction to the report. welcome

maria: our economy of jim comey and loretta lynch next week as well.what is a potential rod rosensteinalk to chairman goodlatte. he is still working on it. i certainly, rosenstein would like to avoid it but i think we will get him.spent congressman, it is good to see you. we will watch developers tomorrow and all week. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> up next the i'm at this wing joint telling people that geico has been offering savings for over 75 years. that's longer than the buffalo wing's been around. dozen wings. and did you know that geico... (lips smacking) offers mo... (coughing) motorcycle insurance? ho-ho... my lips are burning. (laughs) ah... no, my lips are actually burning. geico. over 75 years of savings and service. see how much you could save at geico.com. it's too hot. oh, this is too hot, mate. it's too hot. i never thought i'd say this but i found bladder leak underwear that's actually pretty. always discreet boutique. hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel. so i feel protected and pretty. always discreet boutique. o

maria: our economy of jim comey and loretta lynch next week as well.what is a potential rod rosensteinman goodlatte. he is still working on it. i certainly, rosenstein would like to avoid it but i think we will get him.spent congressman, it is good to see you. we will watch developers tomorrow and all week. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> up next the -- fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. some only call when they have something to sell. fisher calls regularly so you stay informed. and while some advisors are happy to earn commissions whether you do well or not. fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. whenshe was pregnant,ter failed, in-laws were coming, a little bit of water, it really- it rocked our world. i had no idea the amount of damage that water could do. we called usaa. and they greeted me as they always do. sergeant baker, how are you? they were on it. it was unbelievable. having insurance is

i'm not sure, nobody has seen an unredacted scope letter, so we do not know what rod rosenstein gave him authority to do. so he has been wondering all of the sudden. that does not have anything to do with conspiracy and the effect of the election plate having a strong attorney general will bring some oversight into that. and i think people need to understand, nobody is talking about pulling the plug on the mueller investigation. there needs to be some kind of constraint bringing back into the mold that he was supposed to be in. i think that it's one of the aspects that i like about the nomination. >> harris: that is very interesting. meanwhile, i have been talking about it. let's jump right in, a busy friday afternoon, we are expecting with the regard to the russian probe, robert mueller filing this and sending memos, he will do so now with paul manafort and michael cohen, could reveal how manafort had his plea deal. maybe give more details about how much michael cohen cooperated with the special counsel. releasing similar documents as a mention on michael flynn and heavily redacted,