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that's why i'm implying that mueller owns whitaker. if whitaker isn't bright enough to figure that out, he shouldn't be sitting in the department of justice. >> my last question. frank, do you think that chris christie saying on television that matt whitaker's job as acting ag is to land the plane of the mueller probe is another piece of evidence to suggest that this was all a premeditated and incompetent effort to obstruct justice? >> yeah, it certainly implies that there's been prior conversation about what the mission is for whitaker. and chris christie is begging to be interviewed, by the way. people just cannot keep their mouth shut. and believe me, there are people inside the special counsel's office who are monitoring media statements, social media platforms. they've got christie's statement and they're just figuring out whether they need to interview christie. >> matt miller, people also like to write really long memos where they impugn the validity and even the existence of the mueller investigation. the new -- i guess he's no

the president lashes out at whitaker, two instances, tell us more. >> that's right.st two discussions that we know about. the first took place a few weeks after whitaker took over and trump was angry after special counsel robert mueller charged michael cohen with making false statements about the trump tower project in moscow. then you recall part of the prosecution description at the time was that cohen talked with the president about the project well into the election season contrary to his congressional testimony. then over a week later federal prosecutors in manhattan implicated the president in campaign finance charges officially in those charges against cohen. now trump and his attorneys maintain these payments are not illegal. of course other experts fiercely disagree and we should add that while not confirming any of these conversations with the president, his lawyer, rudy giuliani, said in a statement to us that the president and his lawyers are upset about the professional prosecutors in the southern district of new york going after a non-crime and the innu

however, whitaker was given a heads-up. the president trump's former attorney michael cohen would plead guilty before it was publicly announced. meanwhile, rod rosenstein promised the investigation would continue to be managed properly. >> we've continued to manage the investigation as we have in the past, and it's being handled appropriately. >> reporter: rosenstein's office will manage the special counsel investigation day-to-day, but whitaker can block any significant steps mueller wants to take for now. an investigation whitaker long criticized before joining the justice department. >> the attorney general doesn't fire bob mueller but reduces the budget so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt. >> reporter: even echos president trump's words saying the special counsel investigation could become a, quote, witch-hunt in a cnn op-ed last year. whitaker's decision not to recuse himself explained in a letter sent to lawmakers saying an ethics official told whitaker's staff he should recuse himself from supervisi

whitaker in a second would listen and recuse. for example, loretta lynch recused after the unfortunate incident where she actually talked to bill clinton on the tarmac. >> right. >> eric holder recused in the investigation into senator edwards. ashcroft recused a number of times. no, yes, absolutely there would be a recusal. here not only is there the issue of the recusal in the mueller report because of the appearance of impropriety -- of bias, now we have the improper behavior with whitaker discussing with the president of the united states an investigation for which he is involved and his family is involved and whitaker and the president were talking about it. that enough makes whitaker a fact witness and is a second reason he should be recusing in the southern district of new york case. apparently he is not willing to do that and that tells us a lot about the motives of the acting attorney general. >> and it also makes it highly unusual. ariana, i want to turn quickly to william barr. senator dianne feinstein had this to say

you remember matthew whitaker. trump passed over top officials to personally appoint him as acting ag. well, democrats immediately cried foul. they accused president trump of installing whitaker to derail the special counsel investigation. well, cnn has now learned that at least twice in the last month, president trump has lashed out at his new appointee. the first time, after trump's former attorney, michael cohen, pleaded guilty. the second, after trump was implicated in some of cohen's crimes. we are told president trump wanted to know why more wasn't being done to control prosecutors from bringing charges in the first place. this revelation comes the very same week we learn that whitaker is ignoring advice from an ethics official at the justice department who recommended whitaker recuse himself from overseeing the mueller investigation. instead, whitaker is staying on. i want to bring in a former prosecutor for the department of justice, joseph moreno. joe, when you hear all this, do you think president trump v

matthe whitaker will say it's judge me by my actions. democr said you should err on the side of caution and step where do we go? there another person nomina >> that's a couple months away. >> and there is time for him to appear he would have exploded given the histor >> satisfies the president, >> he was put there to give the if he refused himself, it would >> jerry nadler will bring him >> his decision was better that. >> to be fair to mr. whitaker, by the time he is >> it looks like he will not himsel she between a rock and a hard >> one of the many fascinating this i normally the slow time. we live in a different age. the president is meeting about briann starts righ >> brianna keilar live from under right now, a surprise lawmak scrambling over a open. at center of it all, the fury within his own party. donald facing backlash he officially in charge of ag matthew whitaker is not probe. we

that appearance of a conflict not enough to convince whitaker to recuse.ustice department outlining his reasons in the same letter saying ethics commercials could find no personal or financial interest that would require recusal, that whitaker had not made comments about the investigation since rejoining the d.o.j. to work forever sessions and whitaker thought mueller was quote a good mab and would only after legitimate targets. >> he was my first choice from day one. >> the administration about to face similar eeshes for bill barr, the former attorney general on former george chbush saying the investigation, fatally miscon seefbd, with potentially disastrous implications for the presidency. saying trump's firing of former fbi director james comey was squarely within the power of the president. >> i find that very troubling as well. but we see this constant pattern. >> democrats now crying foul on the president's choices. >> it appears that the number one qualification donald trump is looking for in an attorney general is someone that will try to undermine

that whitaker can put inside a desk and lock it?in theory, he could, ali, but we have reporting he's told associates that he believes there's a need to make at least some of this public. there will be issue said with classified information and grand jury secrecy and it's not going to be an easy process and it may take a long time, but i think everyone in washington understands that you can't just put the mueller report in a drawer. there's a public demand to get some answers on this investigation. >> joining us now is matt miller. matt, ken was speaking about something that i think most of our viewers know but i think it's worth reminding them of stuff that matt whitaker has said. here's just one example from july 26, 2017, it's what he had about the mueller report. >> i could see a scenario where jeff sessions is replaced with recess appointment and that attorney general doesn't fire bob mueller but he just reduces the budget so low his investigation grinds to almost a halt. >> what we weren't clear at the time is that seemed to be

do we know how whitaker responded to the presidential scolding?> well, we don't know exact will you how he responded but we know la the president did. that was express his frustration and one event took place after the special counsel charged michael cohen over making false statements that included details of him talking to the president well into the election year about the trump tower moscow, as you'll also, after we reported that. and then a week later, trump again voiced his anger at whitaker after prosecutors implicated him to guy silence around the 2016 campaign. something they nearly maintained. we're told the president pressed whitaker on why more was not done. suggesting that they were going rogue. we should add that rudolph giuliani, the president's attorney, said this. the president and his lawyers are upset about the professional prosecutors in the southern district of new york. going after a noncrime. an innuendo the president was involved. and the justice department declined to comment. >> thanks very much. i know we'll continue to f

in a separate instance, a week later, trump reportedly blew up at whitaker again. this time over the southern district's decision to imple kate h -- imp implicate him in the scheme. he pushed him on why more wasn't being done to control prosecutors in new york who brought it in the first place. while they continue to investigate whether or not trump obstructed justice in the russia investigation, these new allegations could raise a whole new set of questions about whether the president could be trying to obstruct the southern district of new york's investigation as well. the panel will help me break down the allegations in this new report and what it could mean for the president, next. report and what it could mean for the president, next. hi there, this is a commercial about insurance. but let's be honest. nobody likes dealing with insurance. see, esurance knows it's confusing. i literally have no idea what i'm getting. i don't know either. i'm just the spokesperson. but that's why they're making it simple - so that even actors, like us, can understand it. i'm not

, that whitaker will be an honest broker. >> we will leave is there for now.anks so much. >> thank you, fred. >>> u.s. supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg is recovering from surgery to remove a pair of cancerous nodules from her lung. the 85-year-old justice underwent the surgery six weeks after she fell at her office and fractured three ribs. so that is at the same time doctors discovered the malg nant nodules. a court spokesperson says there is no evidence of disease anywhere else in her body. she is expected to remain in the hospital for several days. >>> still ahead, police in colorado make an raefrt in the case of a mother missing for nearly a month. why authorities are now charging her fiance with first-degree murder. next. if you have moderate to severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis

and if whitaker had half an ounce of ethics he would have said mr. president stop, do not talk to me about this. and he would have called mueller on the phone and told him about it or he would have called the southern district on the phone and toll them about it and would have been prepared to testify before the grand jury about it. it is improper. it is obstruction. it also makes him a fact witness and means for reason number 742 that he should not be overseeing this investigation and he should recuse himself. >> do you think, mimi, whitaker could now be considered a direct subject himself in this obstruction investigation? >> yes, but with one qualifier. it is not actually totally clear to me that the obstruction that we are talking about is the same obstruction that mueller and the special consell's office is looking at. i now that sounds a bit technical but prosecutors would have to think i have it that way. what investigation -- he can be trying to obstruct both, the special counsel's investigation and the southern district. it is not clear he p

. >>> reports that president has been pressuring acting attorney general matt whitaker to intervene in the prosecutions that could ensnare the president. >>> distressed, concerned, frightened, those are the words of growing bipartisan panic after defense secretary james mattis resigned in protest and condemned donald trump's approach to foreign policy. tonight learning new details about why mattis quit over trump's hasty decision to withdraw troops from syria. said made in phone call with erdogan, ignored talking points prepared for him and when pressed on the need for troops, president quickly capt ititulat about withdrawing, shocking them both. reverberating around the world and rattling u.s. allies. defense strategist said who is left in u.s. cabinet who we regard as adult? we both scratched our heads. report said germany's chair said now we have unrestrained trump, dangerous signal for the year ahead. former army colonel in china expressed concern, chooses lackey who isn't willing to serve as balance to his instincts, worry is world become even more unstable. >> joining me, john an

whitaker and mr.ident not in spite of their conflict of interest, but because of their conflict of interest. the only reason donald trump is aware mr. whitaker exists is because he was on cnn criticizing mueller. he's an undistinguished attorney. mr. barr, a very different story. a very distinguished attorney. the only reason he is attorney general is because he criticized mueller. he is a perfect example of why he should be recused, but he didn't do it. he knew that was what jeff sessions got fired of, because he recused himself. >> one was in the justice department, and you know what it's like to work in the justice department. should whitaker asked for an official ethics review? >> yes. i think the processes and procedures of the justice department are terribly important. those procedures have integrity and it's very wise to follow those procedures, turn square corners. we expect that of government officials. i take a different view than jeffrey with respect to bill barr. i served under bill barr u

isn't it true that whitaker or barr could take mueller's report and put it in a drawer?h, 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 the justice department usually takes a very aggressive approach when it comes to recusal decisions, because of the fear that the public will not trust their decision, whichever way it comes out, either that they favored president trump or that they were trying to prove to the world that they didn't favor president trump. and that's why most officials take those recusal recommendations very seriously. but as

now, whitaker has been in these ongoing talks, and it is expected that whitaker will inform senatorshat the ethics team has cleared him to oversee the special counsel. there's been a lot of question about whitaker's ability to oversee this probe since before he went to the justice department, he repeatedly criticized the investigation, and he talked about the ways that any replacement to former attorney general jeff sessions might be able to effectively shut down the russia probe by cutting off the funding. so pam, for now, whitaker will continue overseeing it. of course, though, rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, does manage really it day to day of all this. >> you also have some new information, jessica, on this newly surfaced memo written by president trump's pick for attorney general william barr, in which he slams mueller's obstruction inquiry in the strongest terms. what does this memo say? >> yeah, he does, pam. it shows william barr as a private attorney, he wrote this unsolicited memo to senior justice department officials, in june of this year, just a few months a

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

attorney general matt whitaker appears to have hit a bump in the road.trump has lashed out at whitaker at least twice in recent weeks. trump was angry that federal prosecutors overseas referenced the president's actions implicating him, in fact, in crimes his former lawyer michael cohen pleaded guilty to. but sources say trump has not directed whitaker to stop the investigations. all this after whitaker disregards advice from a department of justice ethics official to recuse himself from the mueller probe, and that's raising concerns on capitol hill. let's bring in our legal experts, ava freeman, a civil rights attorney and law professor joining us from cleveland. and criminal defense attorney richard herman joining us if las vegas. good to see you as well. happy holidays to both. >> richard, you first, while the ethics official recommended whitaker recruise himseuse hims note there was no legal conflict that would require a recusal. do you agree? >> well, it's an ethics opinion, fred, and for some reason, you know, when you think it can't get anymore ab

that appearance of a conflict not enough to convince whitaker to recuse. outlining his reasons in the same letter, saying, ethics officials could find no personal or financial interest that would require recusal that whitaker had not made comments about the investigation since rejoining doj to work for jeff sessions, and that whitaker thought mueller was, quote, a good man and would only go after legitimate targets. >> he was my first choice from day one. >> reporter: the administration now about to face similar issues with bill barr, the pick for attorney general, also a mueller critic. the former attorney general under president george h.w. bush writing in an unsolicited memo this past june, calling the special counsel's obstruction of justice, quote, fatally misconceived with potentially disastrous implications. saying the firing of james comey was squarely within the power of the president. >> i find that very troubling, as well. but we see this constant pattern. >> reporter: democrats now crying foul on the president's choices. >> it appears that the

whitaker, if he is act g actin defies logic, if whitaker wants to stay out of trouble, he can't do anything that president has asked him to do. >> why get involved. the issue is here, except that president wants to impede the investigation. the investigation, we have the tonight, it is he is all colonel musarded in the lib air. it is abund anti. he will will be to that i can risks, no other president under investigation or anything close to this is willing to do. he is make it is he is worried he will be directly why else would he take the. the question we talk about, what should the president do. be less gifty. >>o just be quiet. >> there are no good answers, be less gltdy, or you will be in a lot of trouble. >> we try to find human nature to try to find a complicated answer to a question question. the simple answer is that donald he did something wrong, he is stlm book in the summer of 2015, the day donald trump declares his president see, as a real estate developer in new york, he was government guilty, it doesn't mean that each and everything that he is accused of, the law of averages,

the other thing about whitaker -- this is sort of the flip side of the whitaker.just say whitaker does a great job and does everything right. let's give him that. still, because he's done all these -- the obstruction and because his appointment was so improper, no one will ever have confidence in what he does and what happens at the doj. and that's the great tragedy. if you look at it from defending trump or believing trump has done something wrong, once you get to whitaker, now nobody can trust what's happened. and that's the great tragedy of the whitaker and also the bar appointments. >> cynthia, that's actually joyce's argument in a new piece she has up to slate about william barr, the president's nominee for attorney general. and, joyce, you say that the integrity of the justice department is indeed at stake with the appointment of william barr. and this is a view that i have heard from some former bush 41 individuals who served alongside william barr saying that it was actually a master stroke for donald trump to appoint barr at the moment he did right after

that was not enough to convince whitaker to recuse.nt outlining his reasons in the same letter saying ethics officials could find no personal or financial interest that would require recus recusal. and that whitaker thought mueller was quote, a good man and would only go after legitimate targets. >> he was my first choice from day one. >> the administration now about to face similar issues with the president's permanent pick for attorney general who is also a mueller critic. writing in an unsolicited memo this past june calling it fatally misconceived with potentially disastrous implications for the presidency saying trump's firing of former fbi director james comey was squarely within the power of the president. >> i find that very troubling as well. but we see this constant pattern. >> now crying foul on the president's choices. >> it appears the number one qualification he's looking for is someone that will try to undermine the mueller investigation. >>> well, coming up, the incoming white house chief of staff went to capitol hill o

whitaker decided to not take that ethics advice.instead cleared himself to oversee that investigation. despite the advice of ethics officials. tonight we have a new headline which gives us some insight into what president trump may be expecting matt whitaker to do with regard to the mueller investigation. this from cnn. quote, trump lashed out at whitaker after explosive cohen revelations. at least guys this the past weeks donald trump has vented to his acting attorney general angered by prosecutors who referenced the president's actions in crimes michael cohen pleaded guilty to. mueller filed charges that made trump look bad. none of the sources suggested that the president directed whitaker to stop the investigation. rather he lashed out at what he felt was an unfair situation. the first incident took place after michael cohen pled guilty november 29th to lying to congress about a proposed trump tower in moscow. he enthis, trump again voiced his anger at whitaker after federal prosecutors in manhattan officially implicated the pre

he is lashing out at acting attorney general, matt whitaker. the president saying why didn't he do more to control those that brought the charges against michael cohen. >>> start with the shutdown. 800,000 federal workers are in limbo, days before christmas. suzanne malveaux joins us live from capitol hill. what are we expecting? >> good morning, fred. we're waiting within the hour so the senate will reconvene on the hill. it is likely that mitch mcconnell will speak and what he will say will be critical. will negotiators come up with a deal that's favorable for democrats, republicans, and most importantly the president. it is far from clear whether or not that's true. we saw negotiating of fast and furious on the hill, vice president mike pence, jared kushner, and the omb director, nick mulvaney meeting with democratic and republican leadership to see if there was something all three sides could come together on the president insisting $5 billion for a border wall, democrats looking at 1.3 billion. i spoke with one senator this morning, a repu

it was whitaker's decision whether to recuse himself.e from ethics officials will raise questions from democrats on capitol hill. >> the officials concluded there was no legal conflict, but based on whitaker's past public comments, it was a close call and he should recuse himself. assistant attorney general steve boyd said he had not made comments for 16 months and has a lot of respect for mueller. >> mark warner calling on president trump to withdrawal the nomination of william barr for the next attorney general. that request coming one day after barr sent a memo in june calling mueller's obstruction of justice investigation fatally miss kco misconceived. if confirmed, he would oversee the mueller probe. >> it is clearly that donald trump is looking for someone that will try to undermine the mueller investigation. the most tacky way he has used the memo as a way to solicit the position is at the very least unseem unseemly. >> cristiano ronalronald deputy rosenstein admits it had no issue in the nomination. in my opinion, this begs the q

i think the president vented thinking he could have pressured whitaker, but now he almost tied whitaker'sker can't do anything that wouldn't look like acting on behest of the president's orders. >> we know there's a company that seems to be under civil indictment that is that fighting handing over records and justice roberts issued a stay so they wouldn't have to, and what do we know about this case? >> this is the mystery case, the mystery subpoena case where there was only sealed arguments happening in the d.c. federal courts. on friday we learned the recipient of the individual was not an individual, and some were speculating it was the president or vice president, and turns out it's a corporation that is owned by a foreign state. there's plenty of speculation about what that could be. >> who could fall into that category? >> the most likely category would be a foreign bank. the president has a long relationship with deutsch bank. that is my guess, and it's only a guess. what we know is this company does not want to turn over this information. it's fairly rare for a corporation to figh

. ♪ >>> maybe matt whitaker is getting a taste of what it was like to be jeff sessions for so long.telling cnn president trump has ripped into whitaker, his acting attorney general, at least twice in the last two weeks. why? well, sources say the president was upset that federal prosecutors under whitaker filed charges against his former personal attorney, michael cohen, charges that implicate the president. none of the sources suggest the president directed whitaker to do anything about it, but the incoming head of the house intelligence committee says the damage is done. >> the president of the united states is discussing a case in which he is implicated with the attorney general. that is wrong at every level. and of course, it will taint anything that this acting attorney general does. any role he plays in this investigation. this is a real esalt on the rule of law. and we're going to scrutinize every single action by matt whitaker to make sure that the public knows just what he does. >> joining me now, former federal prosecutor and cnn legal analyst elie honig. great to see you.

the only guy that mueller reports to is whitaker. whitaker will have access to everything that mueller is doing in his investigation of the president of the united states. >> and there's also this interesting question now about whether that appointment is legal. george conway, who appeared on my podcast this week, sku skullduggery. >> one fascinating interview. >> i hear it's fascinating and illuminating. >> and very funny, too, by the way. >> but, anyway, he's one of a number of republican and legal experts who i won't get into the details who say that you can't put a person like matt whitaker hasn't been kwon firmed by congress, into the head of the justice department. so there's some question if he were to fire mueller, whether mueller could challenge that in court and say, he has no authority to do that. so i mean, there could be a constitutional crisis that's also a constitutional mess if matt whitaker takes any overt steps to cut things out and in some ways, this is such a blatant, brazen move that it might almost back fire on

whitaker, the acting ag, is fully committed to doing that.e we've got a permanent targ nominee who thinks along the same vain. to me the most important takeaway from the last couple of days was when i read the letter written by the office of legal counsel at doj and sent up to the hill on behalf of an acting attorney general whitaker. and it made a point of saying, you know, nothing has changed at doj. rod rosenstein is still in charge of the mueller investigation. but at the same time, the acting attorney general has declined to recu recuse, and that means he can step in at any moment in time. so on the one hand, he's trying to pacify us and tell us, you know, nothing to look at here. move along. but at the same time, we know he's a threat to the investigation. a threat we shouldn't ignore at this point. >> mike schmidt, donald trump said to you in an interview about a year ago that this is exactly what he wanted. >> he has been very open about the fact that the attorney general is someone whose most important thing is to be working for him.

the assistant attorney general steve boyd defending whitaker's decision.as not made public comments for 16 months and quote has a lot of respect for mueller. >>> mark warner, the top democrat on the senate committee, calling on trump to pull william barr's nomination. he called mueller's object instruction of justice obje obstruction of justice investigation fatally misconstrued. >> he seems to be someone to undermine the mueller investigation. the most tacky way he has used the memo as a way to solicit the position is at the very least unseemly. >> deputy attorney general rod rosenstein admits it had no impact on the mueller investigation. this memo unsolicited if he did not have the knowledge? these are the questions the democrats will ask before the confirmation. >>> what is held as a bipartisan victory. the criminal justice reform bill. it is a big win for president trump who is expected to sign the criminal justice reform bill today at 11:00 a.m. the first step act will allow thousands of federal inmates early release. it eases mandatory minimum sente

. >> daniel, let me turn to matthew whitaker, the acting attorney general. i believe this week 400 former doj officials came out in opposition to his appointment. "the washington post" ed board sums up the still-unanswered questions around the whitaker appointment. did he examine the flynn sentencing memo? has he seen the material that mueller redacted from that document? has he sought the advice of justice department ethics experts on how much he should be involved in the russia investigation and, if so, what do those experts say? i guess if you have any insights into the answers of any of those questions is my first question to you. and the second part is, what kind of exposure does matthew whitaker have if he takes a wrong step. he seems young enough, ambitious enough and in buddying up to donald trump, craven enough to know better than to reach into the mueller probe and mess it up too badly. >> i think that's right, and i think matthew whitaker now, assuming this really significant powerful role, may look at things a little differently. from a technical

just this week, whitaker refused to recuse from overseeing the russia investigation. until this week, whitaker hadn't been briefed on the special counsel investigation, i'm told, but he was given a heads-up about the cohen probe, the cohen guilty plea i should say, the night before. and we learned that whitaker will soon now get briefings on the mueller investigation now that that ethics review is complete, don. >> laura jarrett in washington, thank you very much. i appreciate it. >>> straight ahead, more on our breaking news coverage now. the partial shutdown of the federal government at midnight eastern. i'm going to talk with senator jeff merkley of oregon. ♪ can you feel it ♪ can you feel it put a smile on everyone's face this holiday with great gifts from amazon. with low prices and fast, free delivery with prime. ♪ can you feel it for everything you need this holiday, visit amazon. they call me maxie but i prefer tripod. i was your above-average four-legged homie and then wham bam--minivan. some people pity me-- now that's lame. i still run, fetch, and swim. and

whitaker has no plans to step aside.ning me now is jill wine-banks, and msnbc legal analyst, and ben wittes. jill, is this as shady and as wrong as it looks to me? >> yes, it is, it's a real wow. i'm just stunned. first of all, there was an announcement that the ethics people had advised that he did not need to recuse himself. and then they withdrew it and said, actually, the ethics people had advised that he should recuse himself because it looked bad because it looked like there was a conflict of interest and the appearance was enough to require him to recuse himself. and yet here he is saying he will not recuse himself. it is wrong. it is just plain wrong. his opinions have been expressed both factually and legally, and that bars him from making an objective decision on it that isn't predetermined. >> what do you think, ben? >> i largely agree with that. i think the -- look, he received advice apparently from the ethics people that it was a close call, that there was no actual conflict of interest. but there was an ap

he is a president who appointed whitaker, directly criticizing whitaker for not keeping him shieldedthat might hurt him. arguably that is more concerning. >> the president should not be getting involved in these investigations. he should not be publicly or privately scolding the attorney general in connection with these investigations. that's not what i'm saying. i'm saying that whitaker is going to do the right thing and do the right thing as the attorney general of the united states. i don't think it's going to have any impact. but there is a striking difference between a private citizen going in and having a discussion with loretta lynch, if that discussion had something to do with the investigation of his wife. >> understood. although you could argue that a sitting president has more power over the attorney general, could you not, than a former president. listen, you've made the point. you're saying it's not interference that the attorney general should listen to. i think i hear you correctly. >> correct. >> okay. jim schultz, wishing you and your family the best on the holidays.

what is the advice that whitaker got and why isn't he following it? is he learned whitaker never sought a formal recommendation, but instead got guidance according to a source. as part of that guidance, a senior career ethics official told whitaker he should recuse himself because of his extensive public comments disparaging the probe before he joined the justice department. the reason they suggested he recuse is people might question his impartiality. that was an opinion that was not binding and they recommended he not recuse, especially because there was no actual legal conflict like a personal relationship like jeff sessions had with the trump campaign and no family member that was involved in the russia probe. those were the reasons for not recusing. matthew whitaker decided since it was a close call here and he department want to bind any of his successors by the press depth of recusal, he decided he would continue overseeing the probe. the doj sent a letter. this is it right here. they sent it to paul ryan and nancy pelosi, explaining why whitak

whitaker's supervision of the investigation should be reviewed.ls concluded that after considering the facts there wasn't a personal or political relationship from whitaker or any person requiring recusal, however mr. whitaker made public comments prior to his rejoining the department that could constitute circumstances other than those specifically described in the ethics rules which do raise an appearance of impartiality issue. having been so advised, he then decided that he would not recuse. so this letter to congress tonight from the justice department spells out a little bit about what happened here. but the bottom line as far as we understand it is that the president's choice for acting attorney general, despite advice to recuse, decided he won't. and the president's likely nominee to be attorney general is already on the record saying that he basically objects to a core issue within the mueller investigation. this seems like sort of dramatic turn of events. congressman jerry nadler is the top democrat on the judiciary committee and the inco

just this week, whitaker refused to recuse from overseeing the russia investigation. until this week, whitaker hadn't been briefed on the special counsel investigation, i'm told, but he was given a heads-up about the cohen probe, the cohen guilty plea i should say, the night before. and we learned that whitaker will soon now get briefings on the mueller investigation now that that ethics review is complete, don. >> laura jarrett in washington, thank you very much. i appreciate it. >>> straight ahead, more on our breaking news coverage now. the partial shutdown of the federal government at midnight eastern. i'm going to talk with senator jeff merkley of oregon. >>> so here's the breaking news. the federal government will shut down, partially shut down in less than two hours at midnight eastern. the third shutdown this year. i want to talk about this with senator jeff merkley, democrat of oregon. good evening, senator. thank you so much for joining us. a government shutdown is less than two hours away. you were on this show for the last two shutdowns. i hope you remembe

i'm pretty sure that the chairman will have matt whitaker before us. for the senate to confirm barr. i am uncomfortable with having an acting attorney general. not as a result of the russian investigation but i think we need a permanent attorney general so we can clear up the whitaker tenure by having the senate confirm someone like mr. barr and both sides would have more confidence with a permanent attorney general as opposed to someone in an acting capacity. >> what do you know about shanahan's philosophy? is it different from mattis? >> shanahan is an ultimate like operations guy. he is very effective at the business enterprise of the pentagon. y believe mr. shanahan will be asked to serve in a permanent capacity in that role. i believe others are being considered. shanahan will be able to keep the trains running on time. our troops will have the support of an acting secretary of defense who knows the enterprise very well and i think he is absolutely qualified to run the place until we get full-time secretary of defense confirmed. >> congressman mat

but the justice department has come out defending matthew whitaker. not going to recuse himself from over seeing the special couns counsel's russia investigation. in that, the department of justice sent that letter to paul ryan and nancy pelosi saying that matthew whitaker, though he did talk about the special counsel's probe in a derogatory manner before he came to the justice department as chief of staff for jeff sessions, they say he hasn't made any comments about the special counsel's investigation, that he has talked about what an upstanding probe it is. all indications are even though the president seems to be trying to put the pressure on matthew whitaker, it does seem like the acting attorney general has taken a step back. although, he will not be recusing himself from overseeing the probe. all signs are that he's still letting it play out. of course we'll see what happens when a report is eventually released from robert mueller, how much of that is released, if any. you know, if the white house exerts total executive privilege and decides not

this is exactly what we feared about whitaker's appointment.his is a real assault on the rule of law. and we are going to carefully scrutinize every single action by matt whitaker. >> joining me now is attorney becky legrand and former prosecutor liam brand. liam, i'm going to pick up with you, but listen to what adam schiff is saying, a new assault on the rule of law. it's a pretty strong statement there. do you agree with that? >> i basically do, alex. it is a strong statement, but it is the case in this situation. we don't know exactly what was said between whitaker and the president during that meeting, but just the fact that whitaker is maintaining his position over this investigation, even when his own ethics lawyers have told him to recuse himself, is a real problem for the legitimacy of the department of justice and for his position. that's the whole purpose we have a nonpartisan civil service, so they can give advice like this apart from partisan politics and it's being disregarded. that underlines the whole legitimacy and the clarity.

whitaker is not expected to be briefed on the mueller investigation.he's the acting attorney general. president trump has nominated william barr to that post. barr's opinion on the mueller investigation is now a little bit clearer. thanks to the release of an un -- he wrote "argo"ing an obstruction of justice investigation into the president was not legally justifiable. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein downplayed the importance of the memo to reporters. >> personal opinion within 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 the case which mr. barr didn't have. >> but according to the "wall street journal" barr also shared the memo with the lawyer representing the white house in the mueller investigation. now you have to ask, was barr, who was last in public service when he served under president george h.w. bush's attorney as his attorney general, was he p

the president is going to replace matt whitaker with a bush 41 a.g. if approved. this is even as president trush unleashes a twitter tirade against mr. mueller. >> i think that he is seeing more and more walls closing in on him, and that is why he is increasingly desperate. >>> and the president has chosen a former fox anchor to be the next ambassador to the united nations. >> she is very talent and very smart and quick, and i believe that she is going to be be respect respected with by all. >> and dirty laundry and while he is talking tough about illegal immigration, the president's private club and home in new bedford, new jersey, is requiring undocumented immigrants to clean up after him. >> reporter: how did you get the job without documentation. >> translator: i told them that i didn't have papers and i don't speak english and they said, no, it doesn't matter. >>> goodday, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington where today, president trump is going to nominate anthony barr who was bush 41's attorney general to take over. >> one of the most highly respect

this headline from cnn, trump lashed out at whitaker after explosive cohen revelations. at least twice in the last week he has vented to his attorney general angered by special prosecutors. trump was frustrated, he said, that he filed charges that made trump look bad. none of the sources suggested that the president directed whitaker to stop the investigation, but lashed out at what he felt was an unfair situation. the first instance was after cohen pled guilty on november 29th. the president made his displeasure clear to acting attorney general matt whitaker after that happened. then, he voiced his anger after officials manhattan officially implicated the president in a hush money scheme to buy the silence of women around the 2016 vote. trump wondering why there wasn't more being done to control the prosecutors who brought the charges in the first place. so this is brand new reporting from cnn raising serious issues about the mueller investigation and the president's efforts to quash it. this arising as we know that the mueller investigation and law enforcement generall

acting attorney general matt whitaker who apparently does not have to recuse himself now in the special counsel investigation. our team is set up and ready to go on this incredibly busy thursday. we start this morning with a whole bunch of anger directed at donald trump, anger from some corners over a promise he kept on syria and anger from others over a promise he didn't. the border wall. that bill to keep the government open passed overnight by the senate does not have the money to pay for the wall the president wants. conservative allies are red hot about this, accusing the president of blowing his last best chance to keep his promise to his base before democrats take control of the house. then there's syria. the timing of that troop withdrawal, starting almost all of washington. the president, he says this morning, it's no surprise at all. he has been campaigning on this for years. garrett haake is on the hill for us. kristen welker is joining us from the white house. garrett, let me begin with you. fill us in on what the latest is with the shutdown discussion in the house as paul r