lindsey graham. what we have been talking a lot about, senator john mccain this week, what a disappointment the new lindsey graham would be to senator mccain. >> and stewart, what do you make of what we've seen lindsey graham do just in the last couple of months, especial rly e last couple of weeks. somebody who said holy hell to pay if you think about firing jeff session. now lindsey graham enabling the firing of jeff sessions saying of course the president deserves an attorney general who he can have confidence in. >> well, look, it's someone who has admired senator graham, it makes my heart hurt and my head hurt. i just don't understand it. they all served with senator session. they all seemed to like senator sessions. it seems to be the sin senator sessions committed here is actually doing his job that he was appointed to do and caring more about that job than about serving a political patron, which, you know, i would have thought that the senator graham that i admire would applaud that. it is ju

senator lindsey graham has taken the floor. let's listen. >> this is the anecdote that has come their way. this is a tough time for the family. john has seven wonderful children. cindy, devoted wife. really did well by john. before anything else, i want to know -- i'm going to try to make this somewhat fun even though i don't feel in a funny mood right now. the bottom line let's start off with the tie. to anybody that may be watching on television, this is the naval academy tie. i wore this today, john, to honor you and to annoy you at the same time. he would tell me, lindsey, i wish you were in my naval academy class. i said that's very nice, john. you know why, lindsey? i said no. why, john? if you had been in my class, i would be sixed from the bottom, not fifth. thanks very much, john. humiliation and affection were constant companions. the more he humiliated you, the more he liked you. in that regard, i was well-served. to my colleagues, thank you again so much for what you have done. the only way i know to put this in wor

lindsey graham said the president is entitled to an attorney general he has faith in and lindsey graham knows the only attorney general this president would have faith in is an attorney general that would always protect the president of the united states, which now means protect the president from his friends, michael cohen and david pecker, the friends who federal prosecutors and new york city say colluded to commit crimes with the president of the united states to effect an election. joining our discussion, jill wine-banks, brett stevens and eugene robinson. all three are now msnbc contributors. jill, i wanted to get your reaction to what we saw here today in terms of the president actually once again going after the attorney general and the weakness we are seeing in the republicans in the senate very publically now talking about the possibility of replacing jeff sessions. >> it is appalling, of course, to hear this kind of conversation. the president once again is really obstructing justice in plain sight. his tweets are constantly attacking our systems, our institutions of justice a

this is something coming from the hill from senator lindsey graham. although graham is a close ally of trump's and someone who golfs with him and spends time with him pretty regularly. >> we've been having this conversation. we've also just gotten word that jeff sessions is headed to the white house, but we are told this was a preplanned meeting between the president and his attorney general that mr. sessions is going there to talk about criminal sentencing reform. but one would assume, jonathan, that this is something that would likely come up between the two men. i would imagine. why wouldn't jeff sessions just say the heck to this and resign? >> i believe he believes in the job he's doing. there are many republicans, conservatives, who feel like jeff sessions has not only been perhaps the most loyal member of the cabinet but perhaps the most effective. the make america great again agenda. and of course the forced separation at the border, a month or so back, is someone who is carrying out what the president wants. he told people around him he's not

>> lindsey graham, senator from south carolina, is one of them. rudy giuliani, with the president on the phone. based on my reporting they're all telling the president if you wait until mueller issues his report, he finishes report on the president's conduct, even if the president doesn't do an interview, that's the time can you get rid of the attorney general and make a change but not before then. >> glenn, what about that? robert mentioned the possibility there, saying that the president being counseled to move on sessions now for these reasons. there might be an exposure there on this question of obstruction of justice and also, apparently, the president being told wait until after the mueller report. then the issue goes away. what do you make of that reasoning from trump's lawyers? >> well, steve, when i looked at this evening's reporting from the washington post, there were two things that struck me. one was the president's take on this, which was that jeff sessions is saddling his presidency with controversy. i think that's a strange way to

this is not lindsey graham changing his mind about jeff sessions. lindsey graham has decided to carry water for trump, for whatever reason. he wouldn't mind been in the trump cabinet. this is part of the trump assault on sessions. don't kid yourself a lot of republican senators decided their former colleague, jeff sessions shouldn't be there. mcconnell knows what is going on and it would be disastrous for him to fire sessions. that's why he stepped up. >> he has made public statements like that. >> mcconnell is deliberate and careful about how he speaks. he doesn't talk about full kofs in somebody if he doesn't feel that way. he doesn't want upheaval. we need to understand, when we look at candidates or senators like lindsey graham and others, some are going to have republican primaries coming up in 2020. in a state like south carolina, where the president is going to have a lot of loyal support among the republican base, it could be that lindsey graham is making sure he is on the right side of the republican primary electorate. how do you do that?

so lindsey graham is emotional. here he is talking about john mccain. >> this man was the conscience of the senate, at times the conscience of the nation and if i had to pick one person in this great land to explain to someone from a different planet who are these americans, it would be john mccain with an assist from mark salter. he had a romantic view of our nation to his last breath and literally almost the last thing he said to me was i love you, i have not been cheated. he was not cheated. >> so beautiful and so touching, josh, and so -- we also got to hear john mccain's words as i think lindsey graham was alluding to. i guess this whole episode, the controversy about the president struggling to memorialize john mccain, i guess after these two and a half days we can move on? >> i hope so. that's probably up to trump and whether he has more feelings about mccain that he wants to share in the hours ahead but barring that i think it's time to move on to a more appropriate way to remember john mccain. we'll see tha

show more of you. >>> senator lindsey graham fueled controversy today. his remarks on the senate floor about his old friend john mccain brought tears to the eyes of many whoa heard them, not to mention his own. here is what he had to say. >> i learned that failure and success are the different sides of the same coin. that john told me i have become better from my favors because it teaches us, and i've been tempted by my success. and without my failures, i never would have been successful. so to those who are striving as a young person, remember john mccain. he failed a lot but he never quit. and the reason we're talking about him today and the reason i'm crying is because he was successful in spite of his failures. he taught me that honor and imperfection are always in competition. i do not cry for a perfect man. i cry for a man who had honor and always was willing to admit to his imperfection. if you're thinking about getting in politics, the one thing i would ask you to look at when it comes to the life of john mccain, that it's okay to tell people i s

your thoughts on what you just heard from lindsey graham. a veriariful, but determined it seems to me to continue the legacy of john mccain. >> in this moment, we don't usually see this sort of authentic emotion play out in political settings. doesn't happen very often. takes a person who could generate the loyalty, friendships, at times the controversy to make the feelings you saw displayed by lindsey graham so vivid and so important to him and other senate colleagues. this will kind of attribute is the kind of thing the mccain family wants to see going forward in terms of inspiration. can an imperfect yet honorable person as lindsey graham described his friend inspire other leaders. those thinking about politics in their future some day. those entering the arena now. those presently office holders who might see there was not always a negative price to be paid for someone in public life. if he stood up to his own party or reached across the aisle for compromise. those prices can be very steep in modern politics in terms of political bases o

you could say the same about lindsey graham. lindsey graham during the time president clinton was being impeached said the american presidency has to be about honor and integrity, honor and integrity. i ask any reasonable person to consider whether what we're seeing and hearing out of the white house now have been hearing and seeing for quite some time meets the standard of honor and integrity. >> there is chuck grassley citing the idea that george washington never told a lie, and therefore there is the standard that presidents have to live by. there is not a single senator now in the senate who voted for the removal of bill clinton from office, who has said one thing this week objecting to anything they learned about donald trump in federal court on tuesday when michael cohen pled guilty. >> and that's the reason we should not underest kate donald trump going forward. he's not a knock down these last 48 to 60 hours. we're now about to found out what kind of fighter he is. while it may be unpleasant for some people, i ask that t

lindsey graham said that well earlier. and, for me, this place, the senate, and the country for that matter is better off because of him. he dedicated his life to those liberties we enjoy as americans and he took it upon himself to defend and represent them and try to spread them around the globe. he joined the u.s. navy to protect our country, spent five years as a prisoner of war and served in the house of representatives and the u.s. senate representing not just his arizona constituents, which he did well, but, as he viewed it, the entire country. country first. now is a gesture of our nation's gratitudor the -- gratitude, senator mccain will lie in state in the capitol. john mccain was a hero in the flesh right here in this century and i feel blessed for having known him. the last conversation i remember having with john was right out here in the an telephone -- ante room. he was in a wheelchair. he had a brace on his leg necessary because of the chemotherapy and his voice was faltering. we sat and we talked first abou

there's every recognition that has senator lindsey graham said the damage to the relationship between the president and attorney general is likely irrelevant represent personal. but the damage to republicans politically going given his recusal from the russia investigation is very real and a relevant concern. i will tell you this. there's also the procedural issue that the fact that senate leaders don't think they would be able to get a new attorney confirmed not because democrats would be so opposed to things but also republicans as well. so while you have sen several republicans come out and mention the idea of a new attorney general, i'm told explicitly and you heard from the majority leader top republicans right now, they don't want any part of it. >> phil mattingly on capitol hill. thank you. >>> we're following new developments in robert mueller's prosecution of paul manafort. there's been a delay in the former trump campaign chairman's second trial. the judge now granting a request by the defense to push back opening statements a week to september 24th. let's bring in our justi

lindsey graham was talking about it this morning. graham last year indicated there would be holy hell to pay if the president fired jeff sessions. now, he's saying, they have a bad relationship. maybe it is not the worst thing. here's what he added. >> this relationship is beyond repair, i think. >> senator graham, i mean, the only beef the president seems to have -- >> no. >> -- against him is he's not going to get rid of the investigation into president trump. >> let me finish the second part. it is much steeper than that. >> what are we missing? >> we won't say on the show, but it is a pretty deep breach. here's what i'm suggesting, that he's not the only man in the country that can be attorney general. >> what? what is the deep breach? >> give me a break. if lindsey graham has a breach he wants to talk about, he should talk about it, not hold out. oh, there's something else. it is not just the russia investigation. donald trump is good about telling us what's on his mind. he has for a year and a half now told everyone in the worl

graham and lindsey graham simply pressed the president to hold off on that until after the midterm elections. lindsey graham last year said there would be holy hell to pay if the president fired attorney general jeff sessions. "politico" goes on to report that the president is, quote, seized by par rox sins of anger. it says if sessions' recusal was his original sin, trump has come to resent him for other reasons, griping to aids and lawmakers that the attorney general doesn't have the ivy league pedigree the president prefers, that he can't stand his southern accent and that sessions isn't a capable defender of the president on television in part because he, quote, talks like he has marbles in his mouth. the president has told aids. we are joined now by jonathan and jill wine-banks. and jonathan, i guess we can just skip over donald trump's queens accent that some people in alabama might be occasion ly uncomfortable with. this is one attempt to explain the flipping that we have seen this week, most recently lindsey graham, most dramatically lindsey graham going from there's holy hell to pay

giuliani saying -- >> his telling admission comes as key republican senator lindsey graham gives trump cover in his sustained campaign against attorney general jeff sessions, who first ignited trump's rage when he recused himself from the russia investigation. senator graham now agreeing with president trump that sessions has got to go. >> we need an attorney general that can work with the president, that can lead the department of justice. this relationship is beyond repair, i think. he's not the only man in the country that can be attorney general. he's a fine man. i'm not asking him to be fired, but the relationship is not working. to replace him, you have to replace him with somebody who is highly qualified and will commit to the senate to allow mueller to do his job. >> the president's campaign against sessions, of course, escalated in recent days after trump's former fixer, michael cohen, implicated him in campaign finance violations the same week his campaign chairman paul manafort was confiktvicted tax fraud charges. and now "the wall street journal" is reporting that paul mana

lindsey graham had on the possibility of donald trump firing jeff sessions back then. take a listen. >> this effort to basically marginalize and humiliate the attorney general is not going over well in the senate. if jeff sessions is fired there will be holy hell to pay. >> e.j., what happened? >> you began the show with these very powerful tributes to john mccain and it's worth remembering that going back it was both john mccain and lindsey graham who said jeff sessions had a problem taking over an investigation where he was going to be the subject. john mccain also very forcefully asked a lot of questions of sessions at a hearing about that meeting with the russian ambassador and lindsey graham's flip is really a metaphor for what's happened to the republican party, that even parts of the party, most of the party had gone over to trump already and there were roots of trumpism in the earlier behavior of republicans but lindsey graham was a holdout and he is no longer a holdout. he has, if i can use the word, flipped and i think that donald trump is looking at this and

he used to joke about lindsey graham and call him his illegitimate son. the way mccain showed affection was sometimes with a sharp elbow, but it's part of the reason he has been so beloved up here across the political spectrum. and that ability to reach such a diverse group of americans with his own personna was one of the other things that lindsey graham highlighted in his speech that i think was important. take a listen. >> don't look to me to replace this man. look to me to remember what he was all about and try to follow in his footsteps. if you want to help me, join the march. if you want to help the country, be more like john mccain. i believe there's a little john mccain in all of us. >> reporter: graham addressed the question of whether it's better to do something like renaming the russell building after mccain. he said, no matter what we rename after mccain, and maybe we should rename lots of things, that the point there, we should all try to be more like john mccain was the far more important takeaway. >> and you talked to him separately from th

later, senator lindsey graham pays a tribute to senator john mccain. those stories and of course a check of your weather when we come right back. eck of your wea come right back. mom: okay we need to get all your school supplies today... school... grade... done. done. hit the snooze button and get low prices on school supplies all summer long. like this case of paper for only $29.99 at office depot officemax. little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats moderate to severe plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla . it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with... ...an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have  a history of depression or suicidal thoughts,... ...or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your docto

hope. >> it's interesting to hear senator lindsey graham say that president trump brought it up about 20 times so it is beleveling hbelevel i -- bedevilling him. is this mostly because it's encroaching on don jr.? >> i know that's a meme right now or a theme or whatever word we use. i think it is certainly true that he is concerned that it will touch his son and i think that has become more concerning simply not because of some new fact set but because you had michael cohen making statements that are -- his lawyer making statements that i think became of concern to the president but i don't think it was because of some new piece of information or that mueller made some move toward don jr. that is not different. i don't think the president is in any different state of mind than he was a year ago. he might be talking about his son getting picked on but the president doesn't often say these things directly and flatly so he's not running around saying to aides i'm very worried about don jr. i think people are surmising that must be what he is thinking about and he has displayed as one per

was so vocal so quickly and more importantly just a year ago lindsey graham had said it would have been i care about what the word was there was armageddon if if the president something like that and if the president were to fire the attorney general so it's unfortunate that. i'm surprised to hear myself saying this but that the fortunes of jeff sessions at least with respect to senate republicans have fallen so dramatically lindsey graham's an odd cases in the oh absolutely because it again it's for the well and i also think he's an odd case what's striking with respect to the president and sessions as well is that sessions is largely aligned with the president on so much of the president's agenda he's sort of been the president's conscience a better term on immigration and on criminal justice reform on any number of conservative issues that the president there are important to the president. and so whatever it is and if you saw the interviewed graham and said there's something private that we don't know about that has led to this disconnect between these two individuals it is fascinat

senate than lindsey graham. senator graham is going to be here to talk about his friend up next. >> the bottom line is, folks, that the people that he served with in jail will tell you the same thing in prison that i will tell you. he is loyal to his friends. he loves his country. and if he has to stand up for his country, so be it. he would die for this country. i love him to death. it was here. i couldn't catch my breath. it was the last song of the night. it felt like my heart was skipping beats. they said i had afib. what's afib? i knew that meant i was at a greater risk of stroke. i needed answers. my doctor and i chose xarelto® to help keep me protected from a stroke. once-daily xarelto®, a latest-generation blood thinner significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your body's natural blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor. for afib patients well managed on warfarin, the

we heard oren hatch, lindsey graham repeatedly say jeff sessions is a good man. now it is like let's wait for 80 more days and then you can can him. what happened to the being a good guy? >> i think sentence reform is what happened. the fact that he was building up against grassley and he is never happy about it. >> let's turn to the michael cohen front. david pecker who runs the parent company of the national enquirer, we have learned that he has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony before the federal prosecutors. first of all, in order for them to give him immunity he has to know a lot about hush money payments to stormy daniels, all that other stuff that michael cohen under oath yesterday before a federal judge spoke about it. >> i'm glad you used the phrase all of the other stuff. remember in the audio recording that his client recorded to himself and candidate donald trump. he said all of that stuff. in case david pecker were to be hit by a bus. the presumption has been that karen mcdugal -- all of those things can come to pass. i would never

is lindsey graham giving him a nudge? >> he hasn't said them because republicans on the hill have been telling him do not fire jeff sessions. the wall of protection around sessions we have seen for the past year is starting to crumble. we are on the hill -- we were on the hill yesterday talking to senators. basically, you heard from lindsey graham. there are others that think it is the president's prerogative to fire sessions. there has been a shift in tone to say don't fire him. leave him alone. to if you don't like him, you can pick somebody else. another front on this, the alabama delegation, congressional delegation, they have been sessions' top defenders since sessions is from alabama. they have been out front defending him when the president comes after him. you are hearing silence from them right now. i was speaking to one yesterday who is close with sessions. gary palmer of alabama. he has issues with sessions in terms of not firing rod rosenstein. i don't think that is good for him. it is a matter of time before

lindsey graham borrowed a page from the president's playbook with a krcryptic warning about attorney general jeff sessions. >> it's a deep breach. here's what i'm suggesting -- he's not the only man in the country that can be attorney general. >> this morning, you talked about some other major breach between president trump and attorney general sessions -- >> i don't want to talk about that now -- >> can you plane at all what you -- explain at all what you were alluding to? >> nope. >> later, senator graham did. later on the hill, he said that there is not some situation we don't know about and all he meant was that disagreements between president of the united states and sessions is piling up so the breach is wider. jeff sessions isn't the only justice department official in the cross hairs of house gop today. several house members returned early why their august recess to question career doj official brews orr. they're scrutinizing orr over his relationship with the former british spy who authored the infamous dossier about president trump. we're back with the panel. alexi, michael

graham and tim scott were two who voted against a measure in congress just a few weeks ago that would have taken some of the that authority back from the president because the president has used these tariffs on the premise of national security. tim scott voted against a measure that would have called for congress to have more oversight of the tariffs. while he's going around the state here, plans like this, 126 employees are who are looking at their future with uncertainty. >> great reporting. vaun hill yard, as always. >>> up next, kansas secretary of state kris kobach now in charge of recounting votes in his own race. how is that allowed? ♪ introducing e*trade personalized investments

i was so touched by lindsey graham's tribute on the floor of the u.s. senate, whether he intended to or not to, he was paraphrasing the famous remarks of winston churchill, when churchill said, success is not final. failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts. and that was john mccain. i can't think of another person in my lifetime suffered and endured so many trials and tribulations, and yet continued to persevere and to try out. it is a testament to what a fine man he was in a -- and a loving husband and father. and i think people everywhere whether they agree with him were not politically, you kind of love the guy. i always loved interviewing him because unlike most politicians he would actually answer my questions. >> yes he waited. most politicians sort of bob and weave and they do the whole muhammad ali rope-a-dope and evade the question. but john mccain wouldn't do that. >> i just want to say he would love that reference because he was a sports fan through and through and i think the last time that i saw senator mccain, he was

lindsey graham in one of the most stunning reversals since the invention of video recording. it's as if he does not know that we have recordings of what he said about this last year. but lindsey graham personifies what looks like a collapse of republican support in the senate for jeff sessions. >> there's another thing they think people don't know, and that is what day it is. this is now the end of august of an election year in which the republicans are probably going to do quite badly. president trump throughout this struggle with robert mueller has had a political strategy. to defame and denounce the investigation, to try to disit, discredit it and to hold on to enough republicans to gird him against whatever mueller reveals. but that political strategy looks like it's going to pay diminishing dividends after november. the president now needs a legal strategy and he hasn't got a very good one because firing jeff sessions simply means a giant battle over the confirmation of the next attorney general before a senate that is almost certainly going to be less republican than th

but i think chris makes a good point that the key thing in what lindsey graham said is this needs to be a person to protect the mueller investigation. that, of course, in contrast to president trump's own view of the mueller investigation which is that he's constantly calling it a russia witch hunt and it is politically motivated. >> quick note to everyone. we will be seeing senator graham on the floor of the u.s. senate in a couple of minutes speaking about his dear friend, the late senator john mccain. we'll take it live when we see him. michael, i want to move to you. dana bash has new reporting that the president's lawyer rudy giuliani said they have not heard back to robert mueller's office in nearly three weeks. any idea why and might the answer start with a "s"? >> well, firstly, i guess i have to take issue with rudy giuliani being trump's lawyer as it relates to the mueller investigation. he is not in communication with the special counsel's office. it is the raskins and flood who have done that. they said here's the terms under which we could proceed. mueller has not respon

. >> that is senator lindsey graham taking to the floor to honor his friend, john mccain. today a five-day tribute will begin starting in arizona. let's bring back our guests and add joe lockhart. lindsey graham sure put a lump in your throat, you know the history, you know how close they were. i was on "straight talk express" in 2000, and they were together every day. >> the speech on the floor reminded me of a younger brother more than anything else. a younger senator that lost a guiding light, and they have that kind of relationship, it is particular in these times, it is still special when you see that relationship in politics. >> friendship is a beautiful thing, i'm not sure it has anything to do with politics, but lindsey graham lost a dear, dear friend and it was emotional and moving to see him talk about it. >> and they were so funny, both of them, they're so funny individually and so fun any together. and they could make fun of each other. john mccain told a few dumb jokes over and over, and we know he did, and he said the more he humiliated you the more he liked

lindsey graham saying this. think this president, like every other president, deserves the chance to have an attorney general they have confidence in. you have other senators like ben sasse who say don't you dare fire the attorney general. he usually follows his own tune to those types of things, chris, but bottom line, lawmakers on capitol hill signaling they may be willing to consider a new attorney general. but not until after the critical midterm elections. i don't think we're going to see any type of activity until then. president trump heads to ohio. he's attending a state dinner a little later on today. we'll have the chance if the weather holds to try to ask him some questions. >> the shift on capitol hill is fascinating. kristen, thank you. i want to bring in my panel. matt welch. zefer teachout is still here, constitutional law professor at fordham, running for new york a.g. chris wilson is a republican pollster. i want to play a little more of what lindsey graham had to say. basically -- well, maybe i

senator lindsey graham a moment ago said that maybe the president should fire jeff sessions. but if he does, do it after the midterms. listen. >> the president's entitled to an attorney general he has faith in. somebody that's qualified for the job. and i think there will come a time sooner rather than later where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the department of justice. clearly, attorney general sessions doesn't have the confidence of the president, and all i can say is that i have a lot of respect for the attorney general, but that's an important office in the country. after the election i think there will be some serious discussions about a new attorney general. >> not just that. senator grassley, the current judiciary dhar, reversed course in what he was saying, which is that the judiciary committee had no time to confirm a new a.g. now he is saying, yes, they do have time. so lindsey graham and then there is chuck grassley, who are saying maybe it's time to get somebody new in there. when you hear this, charlie sykes, i don't see republicans runn

today, senator lindsey graham wrote a letter to the director of the fbi, christopher wray and expressed his concerns about the, quote: double standard and mounting evidence of bias trump campaign during the 2016 election. joining us with more from washington is kristin fisher. kristin. >> judge, senator lindsey graham is accusing the fbi of a double standard because of the difference in terms of how it handled russian contacts with the trump campaign. first thousand handled a suspected chinese spy on democratic senator dianne feinstein's staff. sent a letter to fbi director christopher wray today senator graham said that quote so i appreciate the fbi's diligence in identifying the staff with potential ties to the chinese government and providing senator dianne feinstein with a defensive briefing i'm deeply troubled that the trump campaign was not afforded the same treatment. this letter comes just bays after senator graham said on "fox news sunday" that he wants to appoint another special counsel. this one to investigate the fbi and why a department of justice official bruce ohr was all

for lindsey graham. it was not too long ago he said holy hell before it would happen and there are a lot of people wondering why lindsey graham is doing this. there's some speculation he did it to slow roll it, to keep trump from doing it for a couple of months but there's also some speculation that maybe lindsey graham might like to be attorney general. >> very interesting. david swerdlick, the president tried to argue falsely that nbc and lester holt, they played around, they fudged that very important interview that the president gave in which he blamed the russia probe for the firing of comey. he tweeted this. lester holt got caught fudging my tape on russia. that's simply not true. let me play the tape. you'll see specifically what the president said. >> regardless of recommendation i was going to fire comey knowing there was no good time to do it, and in fact when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made up story, it's an excuse b

what we know what lindsey graham said to the president is only from lindsey graham's mouth and who knows what he actually said to the president. where democrats have to be and why democrats are actually on the campaign trail is because they're actually talking about the administration taking away health care. they're talking about, you know, children being put in cages at the borders. they're talking about a tax cut going exclusively to wealthy corporation. that actually is working on the campaign trail. i think you'll see that continuing. the more that donald trump screams about mueller and the russian hoax i think that, you know, he is actually trying to drown out the facts of what they're -- >> but you know what you don't hear about a lot anymore, draining the swamp. that's the whole idea -- that's the reason -- only the best people, right remember only the best people. i want to take a look at some of the folks in the trump orbit with serious legal or ethical troubles. michael flynn, a former national security advisor, pled guilty to lying to the fbi. manafort's former campaign chair

and listening to your interview with lindsey graham, t guys were so close. and i have so many memories of those guys going on the trips to iraq, be endless conversations about the war aho whatd be done, what shouldn't be done. but i remember interviewing senator mccains a he wasng run for president and i was talking about the plane crashes which lindsey graham mentioned this morning. of them. and i said hom 34r5e7b crplane enktth exactly? and he said i crashed a lot more campaigns. and i interviewed in washingtonw years ago awere talking about the iraq war. and there was no handler, no aide, no anything. we get outside and there is an old pants y ald upon the old pontiac. >> and he was immensely likeable. you saw in that clip with chuck todd, they are wrestling on air about whatever given subject, but he knew this was part of the give and take. and at the end of the day, you forget about your s.differen the thing he said that i think was maybe the most important is there is more that unites us than guides us. a divides us. o and he did a lot toy try unite us

. >> reporter: after the election, south carolina republican lindsey graham suggests there could be a new attorney general. >> i think there will come a time where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the department of justice. clearly attorney general sessions doesn't have the confidence of the president. >> reporter: for all of the president's bluster on fox, according to sources today at a meeting at white house president trump did not bring up sessions' statement at all. sessions didn't say a word about it and the attorney general is still on the job. >> seems like a healthy relationship. appreciate it. so according to lindsey graham, senator from south carolina, republican and friend of president trump, sessions is living on borrowed time and maybe after the election president trump will replace him. >> as if sessions wasn't living on borrowed time. >> i didn't know he had an expiration date like a bottle of milk. >> they looked at instances where they wanted to get rid of him but they know it is an uphill political battle. the senate has put up a fight in the

ths suessful. >> senator lindsey graham deliveng a tearful fairwell to senator john mccain. he will lie in wait at the state capitol on what would have been his 82nd birthday. the week of tributes continues. then his body will be flown to d.c. where he will lie in state on friday. a funeral will follow saturday and a private ceremony sunday at the u.s. naval academy. >>> the body of aretha franklin arriving in a vintage cadillac hearse that previously carried her father and civil rights icon, rosa parks. it will continue through today until a star stded funeral friday. >>> and c.k. take thing stage in a surprise performance. for many there's nothing funny about it. th a year after he admitted to sexual misconduct. >> reporter: louis ck's performance was just 15 minutes. his appearance unannounced. the crowd gave him a standing ovation. his first appearance after being accused of touching himself. >> i think it would have been much better for him. i think it would have taken some of the heat off of us. >> reporter: in november he admitted that accusations of sexual misconduct

lindsey graham said, did trump ask that question? he must have mentioned it about 20 times on the golf course. we laugh about it. that's another form of interference. i'm sorry. it really kind of us. >> well, it's interesting. there's always reporting that trump is obsessed with the mueller probe. he tweets about it. people on background talk about it, how this is a thing. for lindsey graham to come out and say, yeah, he would not stop talking about it, but, yeah, congress is currently investigating it. lindsey graham is not on the committee, but still, that's why richard burr doesn't go to the white house anymore. he does not want to be caught in a conversation with trump about this investigation. >> i have to say, i think richard burr has handled this as well as anybody in that situation. he has kept himself above the fray as well as anybody. i want to talk about one of the other big developments in the manafort trial. i think it's going to be a big part of the mueller probe story overall. this is an e-mail. the jury was shown an e

close friend and colleague senator lindsey graham urging a continuation of mccain's legacy. >> if you want to help the country be more like john mccain. i believe there is a little john mccain in all of us. and the little of john mccain practiced by a lot of people can make this a really great nation. >> reporter: there will be a memorial service here in phoenix tomorrow before his body is brought to washington, d.c. for two more days of ceremonies celebrating the late senator's life. marcy gonzalez abc news, phoenix. >>> a bay area catholic leader and mccain family friend delivered the invocation. >> let these tears bring blooms in the desert he loved in the country he served and in all our hearts, amen. our husband. >> thfather reese met senator mccain when he worked in phoenix as the head of the high school where his sons attended. >>> san francisco showing off a model of what a safe injection site for drug users would look like. mayor london breed will be touring the facility around 11: 11:30. state lawmakers passed a bill for a pilot program which allows people to use heroin and

is lindsey graham, everyone knows lindsey, few people like him. that was the kind of way john would introduce you and, you know, it was just an honor to be in his presence and to watch the kind of respect world leaders had for him, to watch the way he struck up such an easy relationship demeanor with others. it was a treat to be around him. >> i know that if he were here he would be telling me don't only talk about me with adam schiff a lot happened in the news this week and you need to talk about it. he believed intensely in the oversight responsibilities of the congress when it came to the executive branch, even if many of his republican colleagues have forgotten about that obligation. so let me ask you in that vein, michael cohen said this week under oath that president trump when he was a candidate directed him to violate federal election laws. what's your take on that? >> well, this is pretty serious business. i mean, this is the first witness who under oath has basically said during a guilty plea that he was part of a criminal conspiracy wit