if special counsel robert mueller feels that this agreement is not broad enough. if he feels he needs to expand his remit, if he wants clause 2 to manage directly or indirectly, can he request an expansion and who does he request it from? also, what resorts will he have. we're told already that robert mueller is bringing with him to had this job, his chief paragraph at a asasharyu from that school with him. how many people does he get to hire? and who and we're funding both research why is will the special council make a publi. he says, i'll do my best, and then he disappears for months and years, while we the public and congress are kept in the dark as to whatever it is that he is doing. i believe these are all answerable questions. we're going to try to answer as many of them as we can over the course of this hour. joining me now is sari whorowit. >> very happy to have you here. >> thank you for having me, andrea. >> do you know how it's, whether or not this is a properly investigated investigation. >> yes. huge news. the attorney rod rosenstein was so you asked

that's why we have people like robert mueller, the cia. and they're going to be doing their job, and members of congress better understand they've got to back off and let our fbi, our cia find out what's been going on so this never happens again. >> richard painter, good to see you again. a former ethics lawyer for president george bush. >>> coming up president trump has denied or down-played russian hacking at every opportunity. but the problem didn't begin with with president trump. one of our next guests says we should expect more and right now the russians are winning when "the 11th hour" continues. >>> if putin likes donald trump, i consider that an asset not a liability because we have a horrible relationship with russia. if putin likes donald trump, guess what, folks? that's called an asset not a liability. now, i don't know that i'm going to get along with vladimir putin. i hope i do. yesterday i received a call from president putin of russia thanking our country for the intelligence that our cia was able to provide them concerning

. >> i want to get to you, paul, before we go, attempts to discredit robert mueller. including "the wall street journal" saying some of the president's associates say they want the white house to set up a classic war room to respond to the probe, hire attorneys more inclined to challenge mr. mueller or to spotlight what they see as an anti-trump animus. >> this is part of the president's long-term strategy and has been all along, to discredit anybody who disagrees with him. it's not that you're wrong. it's that you are a bad human. you are biased. you are fake news. you are corrupt in some way. this is the president and his allies that said the fbi is corrupt. he runs the fbi, right? they report to him. justice department is corrupt. everybody is inept and corrupt if you can question donald trump. he is all about discrediting any authority that can question his own authority. what you're seeing now as robert mueller's investigation progresses and gets closer and closer to donald trump and the oval office you see an increased effort to discredit any kind of credibility

but that is a portion of the story of robert mueller. marine, army ranger and then fast forward to today. special counsel. that's our broadcast for tonight. thank you so much for being here as we come to a close for this week. good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. pardon for michael flynn? >> i don't want to talk about pardons for michael flynn yet. we'll see what happens. >> the president dangles a pardon and takes aim at the fbi. >> it's a shame what's happened at the fbi. >> tonight. president trump and the plot to stop mueller. then. >> he said very nice things about what i've done for the country in terms of the economy. >> malcolm nance on the shared talking points between trump and putin. >>> plus quality control. >> have you ever tried a jury trial? >> i have not. >> civil? >> no. >> criminal? >> no. >> another trump judicial nominee humiliated on the hill. >> can you tell me what the daubert standard is? >> i don't have that readily at my disposal. >> when "all in" starts right now.

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he says he believes robert mueller will treat him fairly. so what are the president's closest advisers saying about that interview? they'd have to know about it first. "washington post" reporter josh dossey reached out to an aide for reaction and dawsey replied this. asked fairly senior trump adviser for thoughts on "the new york times" interview a few minutes ago. person responded, what interview? today? we've got a team of reporters and analysts here with us to debrief. garrett haake is in west palm beach, not far from where the president is spending the holidays. also julia ainsley, national security and justice reporter, and jonathan lemire with the associated press and msnbc political be analyst. garrett, this interview was not pla planned. michael schmidt was at the links, at the golf course in the grill room. how did it come together? >> not planned, but not entirely accidental. michael schmidt has said he was at the trump international golf course grill room as a guest of one of president trump's friends. we know that president trump

-- special counsel robert mueller has to go. here's what congressman francis rooney told us last year. >> the unfortunate thing is that mr. mueller has had such a distinguished career and he got into this thing, it's become so hopelessly partisan and compromised the way he picked -- the kind of staff that he picked and some of the horrible things coming out of the fbi, the department of justice. he picked a team that has given 12 times as much money to democrats as republicans so it's hardly a balanced team. it's just inevitable that sooner or later some things will come out of those people who were so highly partisan. one of them worked for hillary clinton. one worked for the hillary clinton foundation and eric holder. that's not a balanced investigative team. >>> also new today, insight into the partisan divide in the russia investigations in the congress. here's what mike quigley said earlier on msnbc on what's driving this tension and why he thinks republicans have turned on special counsel robert mueller. >> i feel on a con

do you hear a president trying to discredit a guy by the name of robert mueller. who in his circle, where is this coming from do you think? >> sure. i want to make two points on that. the first is discrediting people and especially institutions, especially democratic institutions is nothing new for this president. we've seen him try do it with the media, we've seen him try do it with the federal judiciary, we've seen him not take all the intelligence his own intelligence community is providing him and take that seriously. so the idea that he would add one more agency or one more person to that list is not surprising in terms of a strategy. that said, in terms of where it's specifically coming from, there's a number of people in his outer orbit, not necessarily in the white house but people like steve bannon, friends and confidantes he talks to who believe what phil just said, which is the probe is not wrapping up any time soon, it's going to be a problem for the president and they for quite some time now have been arguing for a more combative approach. so he's cer

this is the view of robert mueller, this is so important, among republicans. people who identify republicans and were willing to answer affirmative or negative. 33% negative view. 13% positive view. mr. chairman, what does that tell you? >> well, it tells me, if you just take and extrapolate it out, that's trump's base. that's the core of his base, his numbers are somewhere between 33 and 35%. and certainly on a national level. at a significant point, roughly 75% of that number is republican, that does not surprise me, there's been a consistent and coordinated effort between various media outlets and the white house. that has escalated. this drum beat that we're hearing over and over again about mueller, his team, the process, the procedures and even the law itself. and now, what is so disturbing, i think, is the fact that you have members of congress who should know better, quite honestly, they really should, sort of picking up this drum beat and carrying it forward in a way that i fear for them in that it comes back to bite them on their head when -- or some

mueller. there's no question that republicans are weaponizing those questions, but it's important that observers of this not conflate questions about conduct of agents far below robert mueller with efforts to impugn the special counsel himself because i think that's when you start to see this get a little problematic. >> problematic, let's stay with congressman quigley here when he says the investigation is getting too hot for the gop, bob, does he mean the oval office when witnesses as close to the president as we were just describing earlier are being questioned? >> yeah. certainly it's interesting that mueller has gone after, obviously, michael flynn and manafort and flynn seems to have flipped. so there's a lot we don't know. but at the same time i don't think mueller can continue this probe deep into 2018. i think he can go until the spring, but if it goes too close to the summer or the fall, then it's going to look political. i agree with sarah, mueller has a great reputation, but at the

what happens when robert mueller comes out and makes his announcement? >> well, let's see what he has to say. but there is no worry he could attack the credibility of robert mueller -- >> but they are, richard, they are, and there are people in this country, lots of people in this country who want to believe it and are willing to believe it. >> yeah, they want to believe it. but he is really a traditional republican -- many of us in the republican party have admired robert mueller for years, even though we say he is nonpartisan, he has impeccable credentials, he was in the marines, impeccable credentials under president bush and obama, and there is no way you can attack the credibility and professionalism of robert mueller. and anybody who tries doing that, it's going to be very transparent what their motives are. of course people being prosecuted or being investigated don't like the investigators or the prosecutors. the mafia doesn't like prosecutors either. but for fox news to be weighing in that way and making up a bunch of stories and the latest stor

if michael flynn had been pardoned when he was -- and then sworn in as a witness for robert mueller's grand jury, he would have no fifth amendment rights because then michael flynn would not be able to incriminate hill sel -- himself with his testimony because he was pardoned so the problem with issuing a pardon to michael flynn early in the year that would have freed michael flynn up to immediately become an under oath witness for the special prosecutor knowing that the special prosecutor could still indict michael flynn for any perjury he might commit while testifying to the grand jury and so today was probably the day when donald trump was finally told by his lawyers that he cannot pardon his way out of this investigation and it seems very clear that the trump lawyers do not try to give donald trump any of the bad news before they absolutely have to. it even seems that donald trump's lawyers try to communicate with him and only with him in the press releases that they issue about this investigation because only donald trump could believe a word of those press releases. here is what

they are taking on and attacking robert mueller's credibility. today, press secretary sarah huckabee sanders took questions about the mueller investigation, but mike flynn, about donald trump jr. specifically she was asked about the president's son invoking attorney-client privilege in not wanting to answer questions about conversations with his dad. >> has the president released him from any such privilege to allow him to speak to the committee? >> that's a question you would have to ask his attorneys. we believe his lawyers had a legitimate reason and basis for not answering those questions. that's something i would direct you to his attorneys to address more fully. matthew? >> can you explain to me how it can be attorney/client privilege when neither donald trump jr. nor president trump are attorneys? >> again, that's something you would have to talk with don junior's attorneys about. >> on monday when the president became aware that michael flynn lied to the fbi, you referred her to john dowd. john dowd is not engaging on that. that's a knowa

all of those things i think make him a person of great interest for robert mueller. no doubt they're looking at him. maybe he's done nothing wrong and no doubt he's somebody when's a subject of this investigation. >> let's listen what house democrat jackie spear said about this feeling, this rumor out there about the special prosecutor being fired. obviously, this is part of what pushed mark warner to go to the senate floor to make that statement today. let's listen to this. >> so, it was rumor i had heard last week and i was troubled by it because it all sort of fit in to pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. it sort of made sense to me in that we would probably be out of session. it would be the kind of thing that was very similar to what happened when then president nixon had the saturday night massacre. >> david, you can understand why the democrats are concerned. >> you can certainly understand it. you can see the affect of this on republican opinion. just over the past four months, bob mueller's negatives driven up, nearly doubled among republicans in the country but do

these attacks on the fbi, on robert mueller, make absolutely no sense. what robert mueller is doing is investigating infiltration of the united states election. computer hacking. espionage by russia. a country that has been an adversary for the united states since the 1918 communist revolution in russia. and the soviet union. a lot of the cold war mentality hasn't stopped. so -- you know this is a -- a really, a reaction from the far right-wing of the republican party. most republican congressmen are kea keeping their head low trying to duck this thing hoping they can make it through 2018 without getting creamed in the elections. but i think we need people standing up for the fbi, standing up for the rule of law, and that includes christopher ray the director of the fbi he needs to take a stand, for the fbi, he need to take a stand or he needs to stand down. and resign. he has got to choose. because he cannot continue to allow president trump and fox news and a couple of extremists in congress and congressman, rooney, mouth off and attack, the fbi and th

robert mueller investigation. at the same time, there are people who believe that if the president firing robert mueller, that it will set into motion a political chain of events that will be even more damaging to the white house than when the president fired former fbi director james comey. it's a thought that perhaps instead of firing robert mueller there will be this consistent effort to try to discredit every aspect of this investigation in the same way that we've seen that these claims that the e-mails were obtained illegally. i think lawyers would know that e-mails that are served by a third party don't have the same protections as other e-mails. they would also know that someone like robert mueller who has done this for a long time and is a pro would not go and seeing in evidence a way that he couldn't use it in court. and you can tell, they didn't go to a judge, they didn't go to the deputy attorney general, they went to congress with this complaint. it seems more of a messaging and discrediting campaign t

>>> tonight the president said he doesn't intend to fire robert mueller but the smear campaign against mueller goes on. and this is the week that the trump and mueller teams sit down for a meeting. plus the warning that the camp received about russia in 2016. and how the president almost pulled his own pick for the supreme court out of contention when trump thought he wasn't being loyal or appreciative enough. "the 11th hour" on a monday night begins now. >> good evening once again for our nbc news headquarters here in new york. day 333 of the trump administration. we have brand new reporting on what may be the direction of robert mueller's investigation and what that might mean for the president. "the washington post" reports it this way, tonight, "white house lawyers are expected to meet with special counsel robert mueller's office this week seeking good news, that his sprawling investigation's focus on president trump will soon end and their client will be cleared, but people with the probe say such assurances are unlikely and the meeting could trigger a new more contentious phase b

>> they should look at the actions of robert mueller. he has secured two guilty pleas's no one disputes the legitimacy of those pleas. he's put indictments out on paul manafort and mr. gates. no one disputes that those don't have is a rock solid legal and factual basis and there is nothing that can point to that robert mueller has done that is wrong. they have pointed, however, that some members of his team donated to democratic candidates. well, that's correct. the fbi director, christopher wray, part of a team gave over $39,000 specifically to republican candidates. but i still trust him. it's meaning you can't do your job because e donate to political candidates. >> thank you. >>> and one of the most outspoken voices on the need to protect the robert mueller investigation and he joins me now. do you share the feeling many i think have, over the past week there's been an intensification of rhetoric around shutting down this investigation? does it feel that way to you? >> there is clearly a feeling that the rhetoric has intensified at l

senator warning the president not to fire robert mueller. in the meantime the attack on u.s. institutions continues including a new report on an effort by house republicans to secretly investigate doj and the fbi. >>> plus tax reform accomplished but not so fast on congress leaving town. their remaining work includes avoiding a shutdown. >>> and the sheer amount of time devoted today to those around the president to praising the president in the style of the dear leader, as "the 11th hour" gets under way on a wednesday republicans has gathered secretly for weeks in the capitol in an effort to build a case that senior leaders of the just department and the fbi perhaps criminally mishandled the contents of a dossier that perhaps alleged ties between donald trump and russia. a subset of the republican members of the house intelligence committee led by chairman devin nunes of california has been quietly working parallel to the committee's high profile inquiry into russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. they haven't informed democrats about their plans, but they have

robert mueller is doing his job. he's doing it well. and he's not going to sit there shooting his mouth off or twilighti tweeting or anything else. when you hear from him it's going to be an indictment or something else like that. >> last question here, richard painter, you are part of crew, citizens ethics in washington, filed suit against this president using the emollient clause. judge ruled you didn't have standing. let me quote the statement while it is a set back we will not walk away from the constitutional violation. constitution is explicit on these issues and the president is clearly in violation. our legal team is weighing options and soon layout our decisions how to proceed. help us understand what is next here, if the judge rules you don't have standing, what needs to come to the president and his properties? >> well, according to the new york, fulelt that was not prope court to bring this lawsuit. we'll appeal that. there are two others. one by the state of congress and district of columbia maryland. they have different st

but that is a portion of the story of robert mueller. marine, army ranger and then fast forward to today. special counsel. that's our broadcast for tonight. thank you so much for being here as we come to a close for this week. goodnight from nbc head quarters in new york. >>> thanks for joining us this hour. i'm doing something a little different. we're doing something special tonight and i think we have picked exactly it right night to do it. just in today's news the president went to the grounds of the fbi and as he was head hadding to fbi where he spoke at an fbi ceremony, declared the fbi to be a disgrace. he was asked about the prospect he might pardon his national security advisor. he said i don't want to talk about pardoning mike flynn yet. we then got a red flag

are that robert mueller would be interested in asking michael flynn? can flynn help with obstruction case given what he has been charge would? >> absolutely. flynn's plea of guilty to one count information is key. it's information and not indictment. the information suggests he is cooperating with robert mueller as special counsel. so flynn is going to have information for mueller such as what type of contact, what type of communications? what type of involvement did we see trump himself and/or jared kushner. we know from people interviewed that there were dozens of questions asked about jared kushner. that is uncomfortable. if i am donald trump i am looking at my son-in-law and asking what is jared kushner going to do if mueller comes knocking saying i got an indictment? what is jared kushner going to do? >> speaking of jared kushner i just got word from my executive producer that he just wrapped up speaking in washington talking about efforts to try to broker middle east peace and did not speak at all relative to anything with michael flynn. he appar

as most people might remember, robert mueller is a republican. it's interesting to see republicans say he's so partisan because he's not a democrat. i think what people are starting to feel is that the president is coming to the end of being reserved on robert mueller. his lawyers have been telling him for months now that this investigation was going to be wrapped up by the end of the year. there's only four or five more days left. it's clear this is going to continue. donald trump has said over and over again he wanted this to be narrowly focused but most investigations as people know can go into finances. look at mike flynn and others and it's essentially you can see that finances are definitely getting mixed into this. you can understand that the president's worried whether or not his children will be implicated. there's something to be said when you have republicans starting to pick apart robert mueller before the president said anything formally. >> yamiche, i want to ask you about your colleagues reporting on the incendiary comments the pre

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one, you have a number of the president's top advisers going in to talk to robert mueller. and we've been told that's going to happen in the coming weeks. number two, the fact that he had friday to come back and deal with the bombshell that flynn had plead guilty to lying to the fbi. i spoke to one source who is close to the president who called that development a very, very, very bad development. essentially acknowledging what the white house, what the president's legal team won't say officially which is that, look, this is getting much closer to the west wing, to the president. now again, and i want to stress this point, the president's legal team says, look, michael flynn can't say anything damaging to the president because he doesn't know anything damaging. but there are concerned that even if you believe that line of thought, nicolle, there are concerns about what michael flynn might say to robert mueller. so i think the point can't be underscored enough. this is getting closer and closer to the president and that is making life very complicated for all of the top advi

questions about robert mueller and his impartiality. is that productive for republicans? >> it's not productive for republicans. usually when the president wants you to twist in the wind a la jeff sessions or rex tillerson he'll say, we'll see. are you going to fire rex tillerson? we'll see. what we heard was the president speaking delairatively as she just mentioned saying he's not going to get fired. to your question, this is a distraction but i think most americans know that robert mueller is a consummate professional. he's an apolitical person. he is someone that puts the law first and puts his feelings or political persuasion second. and i think most people have confidence he'll get to the bottom of this one way or the other. >> he makes a pretty good point about -- >> i think as a reporter, though, if the probe is wrapped up by the end of the year, that's in a couple weeks. the idea that president trump could not start turning on robert mueller if he starts indicting people related to him or -- which is half the people in the whit

. >>> ahead, robert mueller has gone from cable news to the halls of congress. a new conspiracy theory after this. >>> can anyone explain to me, anybody at all, how robert mueller's investigation can be described as fair, partial, not bias. a lot of questions raised as this team that covered for hillary clinton and put all these bias people going after donald trump, you know, what would it take to get rid of a special counsel? >> what would it take? the closer the special counsel gets to the president, they are promoting the theory the senior officials conspired to help hillary clinton and hurt donald trump. according to the theory, presented for hours on end every night, it was a secret project that began way back in the clinton e-mail probe, continuing into the russia investigation. i's tough to buy for a number of reasons, two officials overseeing the investigations james comey, then robert mueller are both republicans, lifelong ones. if the fbi was in the tank for hillary clinton, they could have done more to help her win. for example, they could have leaked

not only robert mueller but also the fbi. and i think that is such a short-sighted and selfish perspective because not only is this investigation going on but all over the country the fbi's investigating thousands of cases. bank robbery, extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, and all of those cases are going to end up in court where jurors, members of the public are going to be asked to assess the credibility of the fbi agents who collected the evidence in that case. and it worries me that they're going to be hearing in their head the words of the president that the fbi is in tatters or these concerns that they're unfair in some way. and i worry about the effect it's going to have on the fair administration of justice all over this country. >> i think he has contempt for the government. house republican jim jordan from ohio is also an outspoken critic of robert mueller, indicated that he had spoken to the white house about the mueller investigation. let's watch him in action. >> have you had conversations with the white ho

robert mueller and his team are hard at work on the issue. it is obvious this issue is haunting the president's thoughts and something he cannot move past because of all the accusations that surround him. not directly at him, but, you know, anything that has to do with any of his aides, former campaign aides and whatnot, and so this is something that is really troubling for him, because he believes that he personally at least did not collude with the russians and has said that numerous times. of course, you could take two approaches to it. from a political standpoint. either distance yourself completely from it, or you can say, you know what? bring it on. if there's an investigation, bring it on. i have nothing to hide. we saw that, really in a very forward way in this "new york times" interview where he addressed robert mueller's investigation and said, you know what? i think he'll be fair. that was quite astonishing, given the fact that, you know, in the past he has really come out against this investigation and questioned whether or not th

republicans start saying robert mueller should be fired. hosts on the fox news channel start saying that fbi is criminal investigation, not only fired but arrested and marched out in handcuffs and everybody laughs about extremity of that, what is becoming of fox news? lose in the gaiters, but then republicans in washington start secretly working on a plan to accuse the fbi of criminal behavior and assessing the intelligence about connections between donald trump and russia. it sounds nuts but they really are working on it. and you know, think it's worth saying and remarking on humbly, that really have been seeing red flags pop all over the place in recent days. increasingly since mike flynn pled guilty and we learned he was cooperating with mueller's investigators 2 1/2 weeks ago, a lot of red flags flowing, increasingly antifbi, anti-robert mueller fever pitch. white house officials saying things like the fix is in against the president when it comes to the special counsel investigation. we saw it last night when republicans in house and s

obviously, robert mueller didn't get hold of those. i have never seen such arguments with executive privilege or the rest of it. i want to emphasize, the members of congress are going to be in serious trouble in the 2018 election if they keep behaving this way. i have been a republican 30 years, but we could lose both houses of congress very quickly. right now, they look like they are fronting for vladimir putin and whoever collaborated with the russians. >> in terms of delegitimizing robert mueller and his future, i want to listen to what jackie spears said on friday. >> the rumor on the hill, when i left yesterday, was the president was going to make a significant speech at the end of next week. on december 22nd, when we are out of d.c., he was going to fire robert mueller. >> that is certainly out there in the either, maya. you have white house special counsel, ty cobb telling us there is no consideration of replacing the special counsel and mark short speaking with chuck todd earlier. do you think the president will fire him before

mueller. he said according to former fbi director comey that he needs loyalty and asks for that. so you see interesting things in that statement. you see he doesn't want to talk about loyalty. he has learned and heeded the advice that was maybe a bad word to say when he talked to fbi director comey, but he's still using the language of that similar relationship. he's saying, well, eric holder was -- protected the president. even though he's not using the words loyalty, he's using similar things and that shouldn't surprise us. president trump throughout his entire political career and throughout this administration has ultimately valued the people who he felt stuck closest to him through thick and thin, whether he is right or wrong, telling truth or lies. what he has valued is who is sticking with him no matter what. he has applied that same logic to attorney general sessions. whether that can be mended, whether that rift can be mended, remains to be seen. >> why don't i have both of you look a

robert mueller is finding out what happened. and attacking robert mueller's credibility, his impeccable credentials, is nothing but a smoke screen and political strategy. and the american people see through that because the american people do believe in objective truth: and they know that robert mueller is going to find it out and hold the guilty accountable. that's his job and he's doing it. >> it's not only the white house, michael conway, there's also certain members of congress, others of those on the right from the republican side who have been saying things that are consistent with an effort to discredit mueller. i'll play a little bit of that right now and get your reflection. >> if you kicked everybody off mueller's team that was anti-trump, i don't think anybody would be left. >> i have serious doubt about some in the fbi, about serious doubts about the integrity of some of the highest levels of the fbi. >> i think the problem that you have, i think you're walking into a contempt of congress. >> did bob mueller recruit

. >>> ahead, robert mueller has gone from cable news to the halls of congress. a new conspiracy theory after this. staff meeting. noon? eating. 3:45? uh, compliance training. 6:30? sam's baseball practice. 8:30? tai chi. yeah, so sounds relaxing. alright, 9:53? i usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. wouldn't it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do? yeah. introducing essential portfolios. the automated investing solution that lets you focus on your life. >>> can anyone explain to me, anybody at all, how robert mueller's investigation can be described as fair, partial, not bias. a lot of questions raised as this team that covered for hillary clinton and put all these bias people going after donald trump, you know, what would it take to get rid of a special counsel? >> what would it take? the closer the special counsel gets to the president, they are promoting the theory the senior officials conspired to help hillary clinton and hurt donald trump. according to the theory, presented for hours on en

not about robert mueller. this is the american criminal justice system at work. as it goes forward during an investigation it's largely behind closed doors to protect the privacy of the people we investigate, but after cases are brought, there is no process that's more transparent or accountable than an actual criminal prosecution. so the public will see what's happening, and so i think putting all of this sort of focus on mueller misses the point, that this is actually how our system works and there is a mechanism of accountability and transparency in the courts and with lawyers. >> are you worried about the credibility? i was talking about this with senator cardin. when you have an agent and find out there are text messages where they are calling the person that they're investigating an idiot and saying derogatory things about him. stakes are so high right now. we are living in very partisan times. very angry times where anyone's looking for any opening. does it concern you that there has been an opening giv

., he was going to fire robert mueller. >> what would that mean, if the president fired the special counsel? >> i read the president's lawyer says it is not going to happen. i think it'd be a mistake, myself. >> president trump and russian president vladimir putin has yet another phone call. it is the second conversation the two men have had in the past week. [ applause ] >> the morning, the lights are finally back on at the busiest airport in the world. >> travel nightmare for airline passengers after that power outage that lasted nearly 11 hours. it paralyzed the atlanta airport. >> problems here won't quit. >> created a big mess. >> i've never seen anything like this. >> with christmas only a week away, this may be the case of an early visit by the grinch. >> that was something else. atlanta, the busiest airport in the world, out of power for many, many hours. more than 1,000 flights cancelled. >>> let's begin with the final version of the republican tax plan. it could be on the president's desk and ready for his signature in 48 hours. >> the house is expected to vote on the bill tomorro

jared kushner was interviewed by robert mueller just last month we've reported. we know very little about what he was asked. but if he didn't tell the truth about his interaction, that's going to it be a very big problem for him. >> and virginia, chime in. >> i think it's interesting that the president in this tweet that seems to be i'll advised, if not imm implacating of him, his point this is all about the lies, and later otherwise he says there is no collusion, gets around, i'll put it this way, we've inherited from watergate that the covrimes the cover up. so here it's the crime. what michael flynn was lying about is an interesting thing. doesn't mean it's not scandal us. so we all know bill clinton lied about having sex with monica lewandowski. but perjury is illegal. so we have flynn doing something scandalous, that may or may not be illegal or fall a foul of the logan act, doesn't maybe -- collusion itself doesn't meet the requirements for being high crime. on the other hand it is shocking that this happened. it's in violation of -- the reason logan act wa

but secondly, firing robert mueller would only drag this investigation out. it would only create a political fire storm. he wouldn't only have to fire mueller but fire rob rosenstein. he'd have to go to a saturday night massacre style event. they do understand it would be very politically -- now, trying to discredit his investigation, trying to poke holes in it, i mean that's something i hear not so much within the white house but even within the white house saying it is odd how many democrats on mueller's team or boy there sure are problems at the fbi. it's amazing how politicized the fbi is. that's the type of thing i hear at the white house. and of course with republicans in congress and the president's outer circle, they're trying to take a page right out of the the clinton page book and do to mueller what was done to ken starr. >> michael, let's talk about a man at the fbi our chuck likely knows, and that's andrew mccabe. for viewers hearing his name more and more, tell us why he's important and why he's important enough to spend hours behind the scenes

you have the midterms coming with the democrats having headwinds, you have robert mueller's investigation still going at full speed. it will not wrap up at the beginning of the year despite how much the president wants him to. the next thing the republican lawmakers are going to take on are things like cuts to medicaid and medicare and entitlement reform and welfare reform. more unpopular policies. heard them today say they're going to bring back repeal and replace efforts. i don't think that these are the things that the voters going to the midterms are going to -- it's going to give confidence that republicans are the best option to them. >> to sum it all up, how a bill becomes law and your government at work tonight, with our thanks to garrett haake on the hill, kimberly atkins, john heilemann with us in new york. >>> when we come back after our first break, robert mueller's office set to meet with white house lawyers this week. what could go wrong, as critics step up their efforts to undermine the entire investigation. the unprecedented attacks may be having an effect. >>> plus, a gia

yes, from an operational standpoint, he does have the authority to fire robert mueller. he has the authority to, you know, act with the agency as he pleases. but that is now how the historic independence of the fbi has worked in this country. so he still doesn't quite respect i think the independence of the agency and that's very telling for how this investigation might eventually play out and how this president and his administration plan to ultimately respond. >> yes, robert, let me pick up on that point sabrina was talking about, which is how the president views himself over both the department of justice and the fbi. because in that interview, he talks about mueller's investigation, quote, saying, i have absolute right to do what i want to do with the justice department. but for the purposes of hopefully thinking i'm going to be treat fairedly, i've stayed uninvolved with this particular matter. and that obviously echoes claims by trump supporters that he has the power to open or end an investigation. i wouldn't be surprised if some in washington read that as a threa