>> i think you can't tell right now. >> reporter: scott fredericksen is a former federal prosecutor. >> it could be a misleading press statement for political purposes only. >> reporter: and that's not illegal? >> that's not illegal. >> reporter: so it's about intent? >> it's about proving corrupt intent. >> reporter: the specter of obstruction of justice had already emerged in mail when trump fired fbi director james comey, then told an interviewer it was because of the russia investigation. >> 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 that they should have won. >> reporter: fredericksen says special counsel robert mueller who was investigating russian meddling in the 2016 campaign has to be careful about bringing a case against the president. >> the saying is you don't take on the king unless you know, you know you're right and you can win. and so when i say special counsel mueller will approach this carefully, he will. >> legal scholars di

. >> reporter: scott fredericksen is a former federal prosecutor. >> it could be a misleading press statement political purposes only. >> reporter: and that's not illegal. >> that's not illegal. >> reporter: so it's about intent. >> it's about proving a corrupt cotent. >> the specter of obstruction of justice had already emerged in whe when trump fired f.b.i. director james comey, then told an interviewer it was because of ere russia investigation. >> 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 that they should have won." >> reporter: fredericksen says special counsel robert mueller, gao is investigating russian meddling in the 2016 campaign, has to be careful about bringing a case against the president. >> the saying is, you don't take on the king unless you know, you know you're right and you can win. and so, when i say special counsel mueller will approach this carefully, he will. >> reporter: legal scholars disagree on whether a president can even

scott fredericksen is a former federal prosecutor. do you think the president is in gave legal jeopardy? >> i don't think i would put it at that level of warning. >> reporter: where would you put it? >> he is in a most serious situation. with the special counsel looking right at him. >> reporter: according to "the new york times," president trump described the russia investigation as fabricated and politically motivated in a letter to then fbi director comey. but white house aides stopped him from sending that letter. norah. >> jeff, thank you. >>> the dow jones industrials began the day above 25,000 for the first time. stocks are trading higher after the december employment report this morning showed the economy added 148,000 jobs last month. the employment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%. cbs news financial contributor mellody hobson is in chicago. what a start to the new year. what's fueling this growth? >> wow, that's all i can say, it's quite a start. we've broken through lots and lots of records last year. started this year off