is trying to put forth a measure to standardize it. but the committee says it needs more research. the other states are starting to talk, south carolina, look at the goddesses on the state flag of new jersey, silently judging. the we look forward to your banner sharing the same design. i think i know what breaking news he's about to talk about. >> i just saw it on your show at the end of the hour. chuck todd, the breaking news right now, donald trump saying he will talk to special counsel bob mueller under oath. this news is coming in, nbc's kristen welker is reporting it as we speak, donald trump basically saying here on the record that he will talk to bob mueller, of course there's no date for this face-to-face yet, but his lawyers are telling him two to three weeks. this breaking news comes, of course, amid donald trump's

clash intensifying and bob mueller zeroing in on possible obstruction of justice. mu trump asked -- and officials say that mcgabe basically told the president he didn't vote and also found this political conversation with trump disturbing, it's also reportedly drawing the interest of special counsel robert mueller who now is getting ready to interview donald trump, according to tonight to donald trump. nbc news reports donald trump says basically he doesn't recall asking mccabe about that voting record. the white house doesn't deny that trump, though, asked the question. >> does the president have a habit of asking career government officials their voting habits? >> not that i'm aware of. >> did he ask mccabe how he voted? >> i know that president trump

and mccabe had nonspecific conversations. there are widespread reports of his retirement, we're making sure that we're focused on the fbi and doj is serving all americans fairly and efficiently and we're going to move forward from there. >> that's a yes or no question, he did or didn't ask. i wasn't there, i don't know what was discussed. i know he didn't ask me, i can tell you that. >> what do you make of these reports of the president asking andrew mccabe who he vote for, is that appropriate? >> no, it's not appropriate. >> i have never heard of that being done before, i think it's inappropriate. >> that kind of question is totally improper and evidence in fact of obstruction of justice. >> there's evidence pointing to the fact of possible obstruction. if there's is a case to be made about obstruction, that was one of the impeachment allegations

against president nixon. >> welcome to our panel. fra frank, this is not normal negotiation, this is something that many people will welcome, because donald trump going back on the record now tonight, telling reporters on his way to this big davos trip that he looks forward to talking to bob mueller. what do you see as the significance of donald trump telling everybody it's time to talk? >> so this is a very interesting p.r. stunt. you have heard the president complain vociferously about clinton's interview about the fbi not being under oath, so he wants to come out and say i'll do what hillary didn't do, i'll do it under oath. but here's the bottom line. if i'm mueller, i'm not falling into this trap. there's no added value to the fbi swearing him in under oath.

if you lie to an fbi agent, you'you e you're violating section 1001 of the u.s. code. so he'll be admonished before the interview, if you lie you're facing criminal charges. there's no distinction, there's no value in this other than complete public relations at this point. >> senator, this is a negotiation, and it's one that, again, things aren't normal, but in normal course, the lawyers like to have a lot of room to negotiate the terms. donald trump claims to be a good negotiator, he had previously, said, well, maybe there wouldn't be need for an interview. and bill clinton as you know definitely negotiated out how to go before kenneth starr's report. he's saying forget about the oath part, he is going to do an interview. >> the offer to be under oath has no value, other than political. what i would be more interested

to see is the range of questions, what kind of limitations there are. i don't really believe this is about building an obstruction of justice case. an obstruction of justice case against the president of the yoou united states would have to be so -- he's shaking up the tree by doing these interviews and not limiting himself to obstruction of justice questions. >> do you think it's possible that all of the emphasis on obstruction is kind of a head fake to lull the white house? >> that's exactly what i think's going on. 90% of those questions may be about obstruction, but somewhere in there, i would bet my bottom dollar, mueller intends to ask questions about money laundering and the russia probe and that's the substance here. the idea that he's going to bring a criminal complaint against the president on a case and get unanimous verdict from a

jury where the president is going to claim he has executive authority to hire and fire, i doubt it. i think this case has always been about money laundering. >> let me bring in one of our reporters at the white house where this move has gone off with quite a bit of attention. peter alexander, live for us with true breaking news here in this news hour, peter, walk us through how we got here from donald trump who was saying late in the year, maybe he wouldn't do any interview? >> reporter: yes, this certainly ends months of speculation about what the president would do, he said that he was actually looking forward to it. he said i'm looking forward to it, actually, his words, when asked specifically if he was willing to be interviewed by the special counsel robert mueller. he said i would do it under oath, this all took place within the last hour or so, inside the west wing of the white house, the president walking into a gathering taking place inside the office that belongs to his chief of staff, john kelly.

the president was asked specifically about whether a date had been set yet, obvious there's been a lot of questions and up until this moment it's been that there are active discussions between the special counsel of robert mueller and the white house, the attorneys here about whether this interview would actually take place. the president asked about the date, and he said about two to three weeks. >> two to three weeks. this makes it sound way more real than something donald trump is famous for, which is talking about a lot of things without detail. his lawyers, as you and i have reported have put out timelines that are not accurate, they said going into the new year, this might wrap up. where did donald trump get two to three weeks? did this relate to his lawyer's

discussions with robert mueller's office? >> reporter: the best of the conversation we received, was it was likely to be within two or three weeks. that was what the news obviously made the most news on, they talked about immigration as well for the first time, saying he was open to a path to citizenship for those undocumented immigrants, the d.r.e.a.m.ers in 10 to 12 years. another separate topic, but obviously the big bombshell was the president saying for the first time clairively, that he was looking forward to being interviewed under oath by that special counsel lead robert mueller. >> with the big story lead running out from the white house, i suspect you may have a busy night. >> reporter: yeah. >> thanks for joining us here on "the beat." you heard peter alexander say it there, this is different, we do approach all of our sources and all of our stories with healthy skepticism as journalists. but as peter said it there, i

don't think that somebody is going to say two to three weeks without getting that from mueller. >> i'm still curious whether this is coming from white house lawyers or if the president just decided to spit off at the mouth which is what he often does. in his present life, the president has been -- like to know the facts around whether he is also a crook in his public life too. so i'm hoping that this investigation actually gets to the heart of the heart about what is happening with his family, his relationships, his relationships with russia and his family's relationships. that's the red zone, if we are getting close to the truth, that's going to be the best things for this year. >> what i'm concerned about is that it seems to indicate the private message that trump's lawyers are giving him is the same as what mueller's been

saying. something that ty cobb has been telling him for some time now, that he shouldn't be worried about the mueller probe. my understanding is they have been essentially trying to prep him on this. and from what's coming out this evening, that's correct. what i've been told is that john dowd and jay sekulow are the ones responsible for sort of negotiating the terms of an interview between donald trump and bob mueller's team. and the important thing to bear in mind with is that john dowd has drawn a lot of criticism from steve bannon about his -- he's best known for his work with his nonprofit based on religious freedom as well as as a media personality. so that's the president's legal team going into what will be the most important interview of his life and the stage is set, of course, for a moment that's going to be historic and i think

pretty unpredictable. >> and frank, interviewing a president is fundamentally different than any other interview in a probe. you certainly don't usually get two bites at the apple, whereas there are other witnesses that you can bring in and out or you put them in front of a grand jury, you check back with them if you need, particularly if something doesn't check out. watch this tonight, the president of the united states before leaving the country telling reporters that he will talk to mueller under oath subject to his lawyers' guidance and donald trump being a person who -- i don't know if anyone followed the immigration debate over the last 18 months -- things do come and go and with this is a bit of skepticism. so walk us through all this. >> this is a tactical p.r. move but perhaps a legal mistake, i don't think anyone's looking forward to being interviewed by mueller and his team. but the way this is going to go,

you mentioned how it's so different when you're interviewing the president of the united states. this is not an issue of law and order where agents are slamming their fists on the desk. this is a scripted interview, designed to confirm what they already know, dates, times, who was in the room, what was intended, what was said, very often at this level, you'll hear answers like i don't recall, i don't remember, and maybe. so when the president says i'll be under oath, and perhaps is plan is to say i don't recall, i don't remember, 17, 20 times, that's not helpful. but it's a scripted interview, mueller will ask questions he already knows the answer to, he's confirming who's been in the room during meetings, who drafted which letter, what was the firing about of comey, et cetera. but its getting responses on the record whether he's under oath or not. >> senator? >> it's a scripted interview by the fbi, or by bob mueller, it's a scripted interview by donald trump's lawyers. it's not going to be scripted by

donald trump. donald trump cannot, i think this is not a partisan comment, i think this is fair for any observer sit through several hours of interview and stay on a script and undoubtedly investigators are already thinking of that. because my description about this being an obstruction of justice case, the thought of donald trump sitting through two hours of meetings with the investigator already knowing about -- >> perjury is not typically something you want to go after a president for. >> in all of these cases, typically what fbi likes to do, is use perjury to open the can. you commit an offense, or your subordinates do and then you're in the hunt. >> you're talking about the old expression, just a can of russian botts? >> it's a can that you get into by getting someone to make a mistake on perjury. >> that's not a real expression

about the russian bots. i just wanted to be clear. >> aisha, speak to the point he raises, though. donald trump has these what you might call passion points and he has been in a way champing at the bit to do what he said he's going to do tonight, which is sit down with bob mueller, his "new york times" interview, no collusion, no collusion. >> you guys remember "a few good men", the movie. and the big pivotal scene and the general is up there getting questioning about how the general conducted him. and he's grilling him, grilling him and he said you can't handle the truth and then he tells them the truth. >> he has an ego that is as large as all of new york, i

can't imagine him sitting there twitching, not saying what he has to say, which is not going to be favorable for his case. >> you're saying that trump is jack nicholson, and mueller is tom cruise, a young tom cruise. >> and it's did you order the code red? >> i think that's the scenario. >> donald trump has proven to be often a canny witness, his caution we're being told, i'm going to be hearing this for the first time along with you, how he put it, his actual words, because this story broke, with peter alexander in front of the white house. now we have the audio, let's all listen. >> are you going to talk to mueller? >> i'm look forward to it, actually. there's been no collusion, whatsoever. there's no obstruction whatsoever. and i'm looking forward to it. i do worry when i look at all of

the things that you people don't report about it, with what's happening, if you take a look at, you know, the five months worth of missing texts, that's a lot of missing texts. and as i said yesterday, that's prime time. so you just got to look at that and say what's going on? you do look at certain texts where they talk about insurance policies or insurance, where they say the kinds of things they're saying, you got to be concerned. but i would love to do that, as soon as possible. good luck, everybody. so here's the story. >> do you have a date set? >> i don't know, i guess they're talking about two or three weeks, but i would love to do it. like i say, subject to my lawyers and all of that, but i would love to. >> again, don't under estimate donald trump. you have been in those things, we call them scrums sometimes. the most important words to my ear, subject to the advice of my lawyers was the last comment, which leaves a big gaping hole

for them to say we don't like the terms, we're pulling out, and the president has that constitutional ability to negotiate this. >> he does. well, exactly that, there's a door left open and bob mueller doesn't need my advice and he's got plenty of tough and experienced guys. but at the end of the day these are not 50/50 negotiations. donald trump is going to try to limit is subject matter of this debate only to obstruction, i'm certain justice can't going to go along with that. he's going to limit it to certain questions. but if bob mueller doesn't like these terms, doesn't like the negotiations, he just subpoenas him to a grand jury. then come and do it on our temples withoterms without a lawyer totally open ended. so i doubt that trump gets this orchestrated the way he wants. >> so you think this news is something donald trump thinks is good, he's bragging he'll go toe to toe with mueller and you

don't think it's so good for him? >> we'll take a side bet. the chance between you and when that interview takes place, more than once the trump lawyers don't call this off because they don't like the terms. or does mueller just take him to a grand jury or threaten to anyway. >> because i'm a journalist, i can't take the side bet with you. aisha might. >> i'll take $20 on it. >> that's between you two. i want to thank the panel on this breaking story. we got to fit in a break, but there's a lot more to this, i'm hearing a lot from the control room about a face off that donald trump is promising tonight, sitting down under oath if need be with the man on the right side of your screen bob approximate mueller. and now new questions about other cabinet members who sat

with bob mueller. and now the russians are using facebook and twitter to fuel an ongoing attack on the fbi. it's a big story, and i can tell you i have an exclusive interview with the former ceo of twitter. first word you think of

when you see some of the lowest options fees in the market and no platform fees? is it happy? good. then it's time for power e*trade. the platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. e*trade. the original place to invest online.

your insurance on time. tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance.

breaking news. president donald trump just called a room full of reporters into his office before his international trip to davos and said with the consultation of his lawyers, he plans to testify, he said, quote, under oath to bob mueller and he gave a time frame. this is the first time the president, whether you believe him or not, has ever provided a specific time frame, saying according to what he hears from his criminal defense attorneys, the president donald trump expects to speak in an under oath interview with special counsel bob mueller in the next two to three weeks. that is a rapid timeline and breaking news right now. i want to go directly to two of

our analysts on this, sylvia hamilton and matt miller, a legal special us and former spokesman at the doj where he spoke under eric holder. matt, your reaction to this news? >> i want to wait and see what happens. we have heard these kinds of promises from donald trump before. not the promise of two to three weeks, but last summer, at a press conference in the rose garden, he said he was going to speak with bob mueller, and then he back e eed off of that, now come back the other 180 degrees. let's see what actually happens. >> one difference and i take your point. you and i both cover donald trump at times, so i'm familiar with the concept you're raising, that what he says is not always true. that's the nicest way i can put it. but, there is a big difference right now, because donald trump is saying this not in a theory, not in a hypothetical, not in

the early stages, he's saying this at the very time that now his attorney general, his fired fbi director, his intelligence directors, his former chief strategist, have all sat or plan to sit with mueller in the case of bannon. so this feels very real as a time to give a timeline. >> we are certainly at a point where bob mueller and his team will want to interview the president. they are going to want to circle the target here, they have interviewed everyone they have to get close to him. he doesn't have a lot of other great options other than taking the fifth, which is kind of an unacceptable choice for the president of the united states. but i do caution, let's wait and see, you could see him say publicly, i want to do this interview, i'm looking forward to it and in a couple of weeks pull out because he hasn't gotten conditions he wanted, mike blike he wanted to have soe

of the questions in writing. we have to wait and see what happens. >> donald trump has tried to shut down the investigation in myriad ways. so i'm not sure if he actually is saying this in a serious way, like, yes, i am absolutely going to testify. i think that in the meantime, behind the scenes, we have learned that jeff sessions has been doing a lot of hiss di dir work behind the scenes to influence the investigation and shape who christopher wray is going to hire and fire. so i think that what donald trump is telling the press and what donald trump is doing behind the scenes are two separate things, but they are all of interest to bob mueller, so because he knows so much more than we know, we think, yes, when you go through all of the aides that are close to donald trump and then at the direct center of the investigation, there are only two people left, the president and the vice president. so the timing is accurate.

>> these things come amidst a time when there has been terrible news on the white house on the russia issue this week. the reports that the fbi director who ultimately replaced jim comey, threatened to resign according to three sources because of attempts at political meddling. and "the washington post" said that donald trump was trying to quiz his director mccabe about politics and this on the screen, march 22, director of intel daniel coats to this briefing at the white house, trump asks everyone to leave the room except for coats and cia director mike pompeo then the president starts cla s complain about the fbi investigation and comey's handling and then asked comey if he could intervene and

then to back off of mike flynn. so all of these in interviews and all of this to some degree being the backdrop for a white house that wants to talk again about 2ru6r7 doidonald trump do interview, but you want to know if this is a distraction from those bad stories. >> i don't know if it's a distraction, but in your public relations stance, you always want to appear cooperative. you always want to say i'm the one that's cooperative, i'm acting in good faith here, so that if you have to pull out, it can be what the other side is asking for. if can come out and fully tell the truth or else they'll slap charges on you. but when you go through those stories, i think the remarkable thing, you have seen a lot of those stories, you mentioned about interviews with mike pompeo, mike rogers, dan coats, all of these are between the

inauguration and when comey was fired when donald trump was actively meddling in the investigation. there was a time when that stopped, he was publicly meddling in the investigation, he wasn't doing so much privately. when you see jeff sessions going to the fbi director chris wray and trying to get the number two removed, that's a troubling sign. >> it's really an important point you make, andrew mccabe is the subject of my special report tonight. who is this man, why does he seem to be to some at the white house the newcomby. we have more on that story as well as this breaking news out of the white house, donald trump saying explicitly he'll sit with mueller in as little as two to three weeks subject to his lawyer's counsel. we'll be right back.

this trn. you have 4.3 minutes to yourself. this calls for a taste of cheesecake. philadelphia cheesecake cups. rich, creamy cheesecake with real strawberries. find them with the refrigerated desserts.

get ready for centrum micro-workouts. the bottle curl. the twist n' turn. the stretch n' grab. the gummy squish. centrum micronutrients fuel your body from the inside out. grab a centrum and join in. repeat daily. why make something this intelligent... (engine starting up) ...when it can get by on looks alone? why create something that stands out, when everyone expects you to fit in? it's simple. you can build a car, or you can build a cadillac. come in now for this exceptional offer on the cadillac cts. get this low-mileage lease on this 2018 cadillac cts from around $469 per month. visit your local cadillac dealer.

6:31 p.m. on the east coast. breaking news, president donald trump says that he's looking forward to doing an interview with special counsel bob mueller in the russia probe even giving a timeline, saying as little as two to three weeks subject to his counsel. let me play for both of you and for our viewers who may have heard only parts of this because it literally broke during this hour, here is the original audio of donald trump speaking to reporters tonight about going under oath with bob mueller. >> are you going to talk to mueller? >> i'm looking forward to it actually. >> you want to? >> there's been no collusion whatsoever. there's no obstruction whatsoever. and i'm looking forward to it. i do worry when i look at all of the things that you people don't report about with what's happening, if you take a look at the five months worth of missing

texts, that's a lot of missing texts, and as i said yesterday, that's prime time. so you just ought to look at that and say what's going on. you do look at certain texts when they talk about insurance policies or insurance, where they say the kinds of things they're saying, you ought to be concerned. but i would love to do that. i would lick ke to do it as soos possible. >> do you have a date set? >> no, i guess you're talking about two or three weeks, but i would love to do it. i have to say subject to my lawyers and all that, but i would love to. >> i have never met a person who was so excited to speak to a special counsel ever before. donald trump i think this is more about p.r. and setting the narrative. donald trump wants to say that the fbi is completely corrupt, a secret society, and on the other

hand, i would love to talk to bob mueller, tell him everything i know, there's no collusion, there's no obstruction. usually he says no collusion, and today he said no obstruction. i thought the no collusion was actually intended on his part because on obstruction, there are myriad things we ask point to that are obstruction. and there are questions of whether you can charge a sitting president or indict a sitting president. i think we have to talk about who it's around donald trump and who they were obstructing. because it's also relative in terms of impeachment. but in criminal court, other people can be charged with obstruction if they were intervening and tried to obstruct the investigation or helped donald trump shut it down. >> and you ran a campaign that

got more votes but lost the electoral college to donald trump. he does come up with slogans, he does pick things up, he is not so much an originator as he is a popularizer. ronald reagan said make america great again, donald trump just stole it outright. >> stole it and put it on the hat. >> there's the saying no justice no peace, and now no collusion and no obstruction? is he getting that from his lawyers as he's doing prep? stay with me and as i mentioned this is a breaking story and we have more breaking news, a california congressman and democrat ted lu has called into this plan, congressman, what do you think it means that donald trump is saying that for the first time with a timeline he'll sit with bob mueller in two or three weeks? >> i think it's good news for the democracy and i don't think

the president should be treated any differently. and i'm pleased he's going to speak with robert mueller. keep in mind, he's being interviewed not just as a witness, but as a target of the russia probe and he's going to have some serious answers he's going to have to provide. >> i know that's your view and i know you're on the judiciary committee. he have not at any point as a news matter, confirmed that the special counsel looks at him as a target, but i understand you're making reference to the body of evidence he might be, his actions are under scrutiny at the center of this criminal probe. what else stands out to you about this, including as effort just discussing with our analysts here, the fact that why donald trump has denied collusion ad nauseam, he has added no obstruction to his

slogan neslo slog slogans c sloganeering. >> donald trump doesn't get to decide if there's obstruction. during the last 24 hours, a department of justice spokesperson confirmed that when the mueller team interview ed jeff sessions, they asked him about the firing of jim comey. >> take a listen as well as my panel to audio we have not played yet, this is from the same exchange, i am sharing it with you as we get it, i haven't heard it myself. but this is more back and forth with the reporters about the potential terms of what donald trump will do what he's saying tonight sit down with robert mueller. >> will you do it under oath, mr. president? >> you mean like hillary did it under oath? >> i said it. >> did hillary do it under oath.

>> i don't have any idea. >> i think you have an idea. do you really not have an idea? i'll give you an idea, she didn't do it under oath, but i would do it -- and you know she didn't do it under oath, right? if you didn't know about hillary, then you're not much of a reporter. >> so you would do it under oath? >> i would do it under oath, absolutely. >> that is, congressman, a peek at the push and pull. we track donald trump a lot around here, but i will note, he is accurate about the fact that as is the normal course, many people are not technically under oath because it is a federal law violation anyway to lie to a federal officer, that's what mike flynn ultimately pleaded guilty to. but having done the fact checking and credited that smaller point, your reaction to donald trump on that piece of this. >> keep in mind, hillary clinton did testify under oath for hours and hours before a congressional

oversight committee and i would welcome the president to do that as well. but ari, you're absolutely right, if donald trump lies to an fishbi agent during his interview, he would commit perjury, and it does not require him to be under oath. >> i think the president, if i read him right, and to be fair to the point he's making is to the style of interview she did in the email investigation. but again, that's not the issue tonight, that's closed. your final thoughts on where this goes? i wouldn't ask you to predict, but in view of this two to three week timeline and in your cabinet level has appeared, does it seem that robert mueller is making his way to the top of the food chain? >> we know that he had the cooperation agreement with michael flynn and he would not have agreed to an indictment and

a guilty plea if he did not think that michael flynn could give information about people above him. he doesn't know what all these witnesses said, so the witness is in serious legal jeopardy and if he makes any lies, robert mueller's taeam is going to kno that. >> we handedhanded -- we are go fit in a break and we have more on this story, donald trump saying he would love to sit down with bob mueller. and there are ongoing reports of release the memo now. and i have a conversation with the ceo of twitter coming up. and i was going back generation after generation. you start to see documents and you see signatures of people that you've never met. i mean, you don't know these people, but you feel like you do.

you get connected to them. i wish that i could get into a time machine and go back 100 years, 200 years and just meet these people. being on ancestry just made me feel like i belonged somewhere. discover your story. start searching for free now at ancestry.com. not in this house. 'cause that's no average family. that's your family. which is why you didn't grab just any cheese. you picked up kraft mozzarella with a touch of philadelphia for lasanyeah! kraft. family greatly. so, howell...going? we had a vacation early in our marriage that kinda put us in a hole. go someplace exotic? yeah, bermuda. a hospital in bermuda. a hospital in bermuda. what? what happened? i got a little over-confident on a moped. even with insurance, we had to dip into our 401(k) so it set us back a little bit. sometimes you don't have a choice. but it doesn't mean you can't get back on track. great. yeah, great. i'd like to go back to bermuda. i hear it's nice. yeah, i'd like to see it. no judgment. just guidance. td ameritrade.

let's take a look at some numbers: 4 out of 5 people who have a stroke, their first symptom... is a stroke. 80 percent of all strokes and heart disease? preventable. and 149 dollars is all it takes to get screened and help take control of your health. we're life line screening... and if you're over 50... call this number, to schedule an appointment... for five painless screenings that go beyond regular check-ups. we use ultrasound technology to literally look inside your arteries... for plaque which builds up as you age-

and increases your risk for stroke and cardiovascular disease. and by getting them through this package, you're saving over 50%. so call today and consider these numbers: for just $149 you'll receive five screenings that could reveal what your body isn't telling you. i'm gonna tell you that was the best $150 i ever spent in my life. life line screening. the power of prevention. call now to learn more. when this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night. hold on dad... liberty did what? yeah, liberty mutual 24-hour roadside assistance helped him to fix his flat so he could get home safely. my dad says our insurance doesn't have that.

don't worry - i know what a lug wrench is, dad. is this a lug wrench? maybe? you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. we're following breaking news out of the white house tonight, donald trump saying he will sit for an interview under oath for special counsel bob mueller and giving a timeline of within three weeks subject to his lawyer's approval. that's a very big story we'll continue to follow tonight. the other story trump may not want to talk about as much is that russia's meddling efforts is continuing this week, a russian attempt to infill rate -- excuse meer shutdown and pushing a republican campaign criticizing the russia probe, lending fake support to this

effort #releasethememo. this is a report that they're meddling this week. is anyone going to do anything? well top democrats sounding the alarm and taking the fight to facebook and twitter, dianne fienstein writing to mark zuckerberg and the current twitter ceo jack dorsey said this is intended to undermine bob mueller's investigation. as he was warning employees about the need for twitter to strengthen responses to abuse on their platforms. the former twitter ceo is my special guest, he is a co-founder and ceo right now with a fitness startup chorus. thank you for doing this interview. >> thanks for having me, it's fun. >> let's get to chorus and

health, but let's get to what you know best. why does it still have a bot problem and why does russia's ability to use this platform so well concern you? >> well, the challenge that facebook and twitter and instagram and platforms like that were scammers, people trying to make money through fake accounts. when you think about the war between these teams inside these companies and these spammers are on a level playing ground in terms of sophistication, when you bring in state actors, russia, china, and to a lesser extent iran and north korea, you're talking about countries with almost unlimited resources and sophistication that they can bring to bear in their attack spectors, so getting ahead of them on these platforms is going to continue to be a challenge. >> because you're up against major power. i mean twitter's bot problem,

twitter following americans who just want to participate in democracy don't even realize they're retweeting or recording this deliberately false information. russia linked twitter accounts are working overtime to helping this release the memo hash tag rise, inside twitter, is it a problem of will in your view, or is it too technologically hard? >> i think the answer is neither. it's certainly not a problem of will. if you told people inside facebook and instagram and twitter, you could snap your fingers and remove all the russia bot accounts, they would do it in a heart beat. >> is twitter good for democracy? >> the simple answer is yes. it's a lot more binary and sophisticated a question than that, but you're getting to see

what everybody thinks as they think it without filters. so we're getting to see what these people really think and sometimes we may not like what we see, but at least we're getting to see the truth. >> and we have talked about some of the problems with the civic space in democracy, one of the positives is if people get a voice, how many people who might not have access to the media or get an article published, see the hash tags rise up. have you seen the black twitter? >> hash tag black lives matter. >> you have whole communities that are engaging and we're seeing their power reflected or at least responded to in the media, in hollywood, in business and entertainment. i'm just curious for people who take that now as a given, did you always know that that political part would happen? or when you started out, did you think this would be a fun place to talk about what you're eating, and you didn't know that

people would engage this for civic power? >> it was certainly not known in the beginning that it would become a platform in which the smallest voices could rise up and be heard just as broadly and widely and immediately around the world as the people with the biggest microphone. >> i was asking you earlier about what is exciting you right now? >> yes. >> and you started talking about artificial intelligence games specifically the alphago. >> the interesting thing about the alpha dwgo, is when the mace made a move when all the watchers said this is a horrible move. in fact it was a move no human would ever make, as you would expect, the machine won the game. so it turned out that the move that looked like it was wrong, was one of the most beautiful moves it could have made. that's a remarkable benchmark in

artificial intelligence history. because we're now starting to see machines make decisions when we say that doesn't make any sense at all, it turns out to have been you apply ai to medical decision making, a pab of humans who think one thing and a machine thinks something else, will be fascinating think about the ethics of what do you do. >> some people of you as very successful. >> not my parents. >> other people know you as super healthy. over the top healthy. you've now turned that passion into a company which is fascinating when i was reading about chorus, tell us about this and does it really work? >> so the notion behind chorus is that people break promises to themselves before they break promises to people with whom they even have the most remote social connection. if i tell myself i'm going to get up and go for a run tomorrow and i wake up and it's raining,

night not go for a run. if i tell constitution, we're not best friends, i'll pick you up tomorrow at 7 and go for a run, i wake up and it's raining, i've got to pick up ari and go for a run. >> we appreciate you taking time to take the questions. >> appreciate it. >> thank you. and up next, we will go back live to the white house. i'm going to speak to a reporter who was in the room when donald trump made this news about agreeing to speak with bob mueller. ahead.

welcome back to the beat" on a breaking news night where donald trump tells reporter hes he will speak under oath to bob muler in the russia probe in two to three weeks subject to his lawyer's advice. not a normal thing to say. for more i want to turn to our friend and colleague, kristen welker at the white house. i understand you were in the room for this exchange that has everyone it, friend, foe or neutral about donald trump, everyone talking. what else can you tell bus what

was happening in that room? >> let me set the stage for you, ari. it was remarkable. i went to speak with one of the senior officials here at the white house. it was going to be an off the record conversation. and then about seven minutes into the conversation, there were a number of reporters involved in that. the president walked in, he surprised us. we started asking him about his trip to davos. he's going to leave in about an hour and a half to that global economic summit. then immigration. the president expressing 0 optimism that they will get a deal on immigration. butt-head line on that point is he essentially said he's open to a pathway to citizenship for dreamers over the course of 10 to 12 years. one reportered ask if d.r.e.a.m.ers should be worried if they can't get a deal by march 5th. the president said they have nothing to be worried about. i found that to be very striking. then the headline that everyone is talking about, what you

started off with, the fact that president trump said he's looking forward to do an interview with special counsel robert mueller after we pressed him a number of times, whether he would do it under oath, he said yes. in fact, he would do it under oath. that was stunning. then did he reiterate something we have heard from him so many times which is that there was no collusion. and he went on about that at great length. we asked him if he's disappointed in the senior leadership at the fbi pep has said he has great confidence in christopher wray but did he make some disparaging comments about andrew mccabe. >> i noticed that. >> yes, and he was very critical of andrew mccabe, essentially point together fact he thinks he's politically motivated. he didn't say that outright but that was certainly the inference. a number of stunning headlines. one more that caught my attention. he talked about the fact that everyone talks about how hillary clinton lost. he said one day, people will say

he ran a great campaign and that he was a great candidate and that's why he won. so a lot of headlines here at the white house tonight as he prepared to head to davos. >> thanks for jumping in front of the camera. we will be right back. which egg tastes more farm-fresh and delicious? only eggland's best. which egg has 6 times more vitamin d, 10 times more vitamin e, and 25% less saturated fat? only eggland's best. which egg is so special, i'd never serve my family anything else? for me, it's only eggland's best. better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. looking for a hotel that fits... whoooo. ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over... ...200 sites to find you the... ...hotel you want at the lowest price. grazi, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. i'm trying to manage my a1c,

and then i learn type 2 diabetes puts me at greater risk for heart attack or stroke. can one medicine help treat both blood sugar and cardiovascular risk? i asked my doctor. he told me about non-insulin victoza®. victoza® is not only proven to lower a1c and blood sugar, but for people with type 2 diabetes treating their cardiovascular disease, victoza® is also approved to lower the risk of major cv events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. and while not for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. (announcer) victoza® is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. stop taking victoza® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck or symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing, or swallowing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. so stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area.

tell your doctor your medical history. gallbladder problems have happened in some people. tell your doctor right away if you get symptoms. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, indigestion, and constipation. side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. change the course of your treatment. ask your doctor about victoza®. you or joints. something for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

that's our show. "hardball" starts now. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. first he fired the director of the fbi. then the president asked the guy replacing him, who did you vote for, the reporting from the "washington post" about an incredible oval office meeting shortly after andrew mccabe became the fbi's new acting director. "trump according to several current and former u.s. officials asked mccabe a pointed question.