rod rosenstein signed it. when the president made the announcement he was going to declassified bruce ohr's 302, it was going to release that nellie ohr, bruce's wife, was talking to christopher steel and that the justice department knew about it and that rod rosenstein was aware of what bruce ohr was doing. he was his supervisor. that would have come out very clearly. he was so afraid that declassification was going to expose him for what he is, which is part of the deep state. this collusion never existed. it has been a fake dossier from the beginning. we have done extensive research. we have seen what rod rosenstein is really about. he covered up for peter slok, lisa page and andrew mccabe. he recommended that mueller become the head of the fbi and he personally appointed bob mueller as the special counsel to investigate this president. >> tonight, the president briefly referenced this issue with the secret recording. let's batch. >> we have great people in the department of justice. we have great people. t

rosenstein will either be fired or forced to resign. so it seems like republicans are very concerned about a variety of things. why aren't they acting on that concern, though? >> well, it's a little lack of courage, but i think we're ahead of ourselves. i will say, don, oscar wild once wrote that the truth is rarely pure and never simple. and so it is with so much in this case, the kavanaugh case, and what's happening with the rosenstein situation. my own guess -- and i am guessing -- i think there's a pretty good chance that president trump will keep rosenstein until after the election. >> yes. >> because he'd be asking for trouble, some within his own party, trouble for the elections. it makes political sense for donald trump to say, well, rosen 1250i rosenstein's going to stay. and as soon as the midterms are over, whether he keeps the house or loses, the house, he lets him go then. that phrase that was used earlier, saturday night massacre by stealth. slow motion saturday night massacre because let's make no mistake. both of these s

besides rosenstein, none of your sources who said rosenstein was serious about the wire were actually in the room. is that right? >> i can't go any further than how we did in describing that, about describing whether they were in the room or not in the room. we went as far as we could in describing, you know, the knowledge that they had. >> well, i mean, that's what i'm reading from, briefed either on the events or memos. so that would imply that they're basing it on that secondhand material. >> we went as far as we could go in the sourcing on it in what we wrote. >> i guess the other big question that hangs over this, and i'll bring in some other experts, you are a very experienced reporter, you've got a bombshell in your hands, and we all know. but ultimately you have the on the record denial from rosenstein in there. you're talking about matters of constitutional crisis level stuff, like the 25th amendment, you ultimately as a reporter with your colleagues made a determination that these other sources were more credible, you gave them more weight than rosenstein, the doj's rebuttal

he's gone after rosenstein in the past. i think there's going to be a lot of people around him urging him to use caution. however, i think the president takes a lot of this quite very personally and we'll have to see how that plays out. >> thank you so much. >>> next, the allegations against judge brett kavanaugh. a former sex crimes prosecutor addresses why a 36-year-old memory can indeed be trusted. when my hot water heater failed it rocked our world. we called usaa. and they greeted me as they always do. sergeant baker, how are you? they took care of everything a to z. having insurance is something everyone needs, but having usaa- now that's a privilege. cohigher!ad! higher! parents aren't perfect, but then they make us kraft mac & cheese and everything's good again. >>> an extension for the woman accusing judge brett kavanaugh of sexual assault. late last night, senate judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley giving christine blasey ford more time to decide whether she'll testify before the panel. attorneys for ford

that are pending against rod rosenstein. if our leadership will not put rod rosenstein in that witness chair so we can get answers, mark meadows and i are ready to call up impeachment and force a vote. lou: brett kavanaugh vowing not to withdraw his name from nomination despite the worst of the radical dems and the national media smeesh campaign. the hearing with his accuser is still scheduled for this thursday. president trump scheduled to address the general assembly tomorrow. on wall street today, stocks were mixed. the dow fell 181 points from its record highs. the nasdaq fell 6. listen to my reports three times a day coast to coast on the salem radio network. a remind tore vote in our poll tonight. the question is, do you think it's time for chuck grassley and all republican leadership to step up and fight back against the radical dimms smear campaign against judge kavanaugh and his family? cast your vote on twitter @loudobbs. we thank you for being with us as we continue to probe the deep state and rampant corruption.

when asked about rosenstein's future, the president was vague. >> i'm meet with rod rosenstein on thursday when i get back from all of these meetings. and we'll be meeting at the white house, and we'll be determining what's going

so, phil, is rosenstein safe? >> i don't think he's safe, but i mean i find it amusing that we sit here and say "the new york times" and cnn are fake news and then people are saying well, rod rosenstein should be fired just because the fake news reports something. so what is it, don? i mean, i can't figure that out. obviously one of the aspects that we have to consider here is whether the president is actually strategizing saying i can't afford chaos, particularly on capitol hill when we're doing -- when we're in the midst of the kavanagh hearings. i don't think he's going to be fired unless potentially he sits there and admits what "the new york times" said to the president. in that case if i were the president you'd have no choice but to remove him. i don't think rosenstein did what the times said and he did and he tells the president, i think he's gone. >> well, maybe he has no intention of firing rod rosenstein and he knows it's a distraction away from kavanagh. >> that's what i think is going on. clearly peop

this all took place during rosenstein's second week on the job after he fired comey based on rod rosenstein's recommendation. by the way, under article two of our constitution, he didn't even have to like james comey's shoes and he could have fired him for that. rosenstein thought he might be able to persuade kelly and the white house chief of staff to invoke the 25th amendment. two weeks into the job, rod rosenstein wanted to wear a wire, secretly record a sitting president of the united states, invoked the 25th amendment. in otherer words, a silent coup against his boss by him, mccabe, others, all against a duly elected president. we are experiencing tonight a massive constitutional crisis and, frankly, this is designed to set up the president. i'll explain what this is about in a minute. tonight, rod rosenstein, he is publicly denying this report, calling the story inaccurate, factually inaccurate. he wrote, quote, i never pursued or authorized recording the president.y any suggestion that i have ever advocated for the removal of the president is absolutely false. given the numerous source

to fire rosenstein paid a visit to the white house today fueling rumors tonight's rosenstein still has his job he and president trump are scheduled to meet on thursday and rosenstein and trump they've never been close friends just a few days ago a report emerged that rosenstein have allegedly suggested that he should secretly taped his conversations with the president it was also reported that rosenstein raised the idea of invoking the twenty fifth amendment of the us constitution to declare trump unfit for office rosenstein has denied both of those accusations it's important to know that rosenstein is in charge of overseeing the investigation into the trunk campaign's connections to russia his job is also to shield the investigation from any outside influence. our let's take the story now into the u.s. capitol our very own meyer sweeter is on the story for us tonight good evening to you miles so there are so many unknowns about this story what do we know i mean it was reported today that rosenstein plans to quit and that trump will fire him which is true. there's a lot of ifs still wi

i like rosenstein, first. >> would you be concerned if he fired rod rosenstein? >> well, i think if he did something like that, it would cause a furor, which i don't think we need right now. >> some said it would be a constitutional crisis if he were to fire rosenstein in an effort to close the mueller investigation. do you -- >> everything is a constitutional crisis around here lately, it seems to me. and there's -- this president's been mistreated as far as i'm concerned. >> thanks, everybody. >> the allegations -- >> what? >> what concerns you most about the second allegation and maybe the democrats playing politics -- >> the second -- >> the one with deborah ramirez. "the new yorker" article. >> it's amazing these allegations come out of nowhere at the last minute and they weren't brought up earlier in this process. and it's not untypical for our friends on the other side to pull that kind of crap. >> sir, why -- >> now, that was the last question i was trying to ask him, why no outside witnesses. the republicans have made the decision on that thursday hearin

that are pending against rod rosenstein. if our leadership will not put rod rosenstein in that witness chair so we can get answers, vote. lou: brett kavanaugh vowing not to withdraw his name from nomination despite the worst of the radical dems and the national media smeesh campaign. the hearing with his accuser is still scheduled for this thursday. president trump scheduled to address the general assembly tomorrow. on wall street today, stocks were mixed. the dow fell 181 points from its record highs. the nasdaq fell 6. listen to my reports three times a day coast to coast on the salem radio network. a remind tore vote in our poll tonight. the question is, do you think it's time for chuck grassley and all republican leadership to step up and fight back against the radical dimms smear campaign against judge kavanaugh and his family? cast your vote on twitter @loudobbs. we thank you for being with us as we continue to probe the deep state and rampant corruption. we hope you will be with us tomorrow. thanks for being with us t

this all took place during rosenstein's second week on the job after he fired comey based on rod rosenstein's recommendation. he didn't even have to like james comey's shoes and he could have fired him. rosenstein thought he might be able to persuade kelly and the white house chief of staff to invoke the 25th amendment. rod rosenstein wanted to wear a wire and secretly record a sitting president of the united states in both the 25th amendment, a silent coup against his boss by him, mccabe, others, all against a dual elected president. we are experiencing tonight a massive constitutional crisis and, frankly, this is designed to set up the president. i'll explain what this is about in a minute. tonight, rod rosenstein, he is publicly denying this report, calling the story inaccurate, factually inaccurate. he wrote, quote, i never pursued or authorized recording the president. any suggestion that i have ever advocated for the removal of the president is absolutely false. given the numerous sources, "the new york times" remains adamant in their reporting. two of their sources, one is andrew mccab

bob mueller reports to rod rosenstein. if you change out rod rosenstein, whoever comes in, all of the big decisions in this investigation have to run through that person. who are we going to subpoena? most importantly the president. we could be teeing up an issue for the supreme court if there is a presidential subpoena. we see things going down that path. now that is going to have to go through his replacement. indictmen indictments. there is some huge indictments coming. donald trump jr. has been rumored. jared kushner. now you have to go through whoever replaces rosenstein. every important step of the way. rod rosenstein is sort of the ultimate pro in the world of prosecutors, department of justice officials. he's been at this for over two decades. noah francisco i don't know personally. i've heard he is a brilliant person, but he has never prosecuted a case in his life. to put him on top of the mueller investigation i think is pretty fraud. >> is the president hoping to appoint someone, and does he believe he has the p

>> i think rosenstein needs to think about what's next. but i think the gop in the house, senate and white house need to think about what's next. because if you take rosenstein out, you're taking out someone that has many respects been the glue between the chaos, between mueller, between the public and the house and the senate. because he's got a lot of credibility. secondly, there will always be that concern that he was removed because of the president's dislike of him or of the russia investigation. that's the constitutional crisis that the house and senate don't want to get into. but who takes over for him? and what do they do? they'll feel the same pressure that rosenstein feels. that's not going to change. and even if they are big trump backers, even trump and whoever the next one will be will feel that, remember, this is a republican-led investigation endorsed by all the republican powers. it's got to see an end. because we're talking about our democracy, our voting rights, our systems. not just about whether trump colluded with russ

what if he pushes rosenstein to give in and resign, or if rosenstein has had enough and resigns? then trump gets the easiest path except there would still be this stink in the form of speculation that he forced rosenstein out, and maybe the push ploy doesn't work. maybe rosenstein doesn't want to let go of the biggest job he'll probably ever have, and he doesn't want trump to take over the probe, seeing as how he's the one who saw the need for it in the first place and picked mueller. so what does that leave? nothing. trump meets rosenstein. the deputy a.g. appears to kiss the ring at the white house on thursday. trump seems like the bigger man. let's stop right there. imagine the value in that shocker. i tell you, after thursday, the president had the chance to fire -- and let's be honest -- trash talking the boss as "the new york times" suggests is certainly fire fodder. but he didn't do it. imagine how that would resonate with you. how surprised you would be, pleasantly so. maybe he even says that -- to you, he says, i didn't do it. and the reason i didn't is because i don't n

you have rosenstein left with those officials. what does your reporting tell us about the csignificance of what happened in that meeting? >> it's so hard to know what to believe because as you said, the justice department is pushing back on this vigorously. senior justice officials are saying it did not happen the way "the new york times" is describing it. they are saying the remark was sarcastic. when you talk to people that know rod, he has a dry wit and people say it's possible that he said something in jest. complicating this picture, "the new york times" reported that there was a second instance where mccabe and rosenstein talked about the president wearing a wire. the sources are pushing back on that. the only thing i can say is there were four career people in the room in addition to those named people that you outlined. so this is a knowable fact. all these people can be interviewed. we can get to the bottom of it. we have andy mccabe's memo. some justice department officials are suggesting he has an ax to grind and he was

rosenstein oversees the russia investigation. mueller reports to rosenstein. so what happens if rosenstein goes? joining me now is the former u.s. attorney general alberto gonzalez, he ran the justice department in the george w. bush administration and worked with brett kavanaugh inside the white house we might add. mr. gonzalez is now the dean at belmont university college of law and author of "true faith and allegiance: a story of service and sacrifice in war and peace." thank you so much for being with us. we do have a lot of knowledge about everything we are talking about this morning. i want to start with the justice department, rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general going to meet with the president on thursday. do you think he could continue to work in this environment after "the new york times" story came out suggesting that he perhaps wanted to tape the president and discuss the 25th amendment to remove him from office? is that a continuing plausible working environment? >> it certainly i think is a difficult one, but let me just say i know rod, r

so rosenstein has been overseeing it. the solicitor general would step in temporarily to oversee that part, but there's something very important here, and that is the federal vacancies act. that would then, if this all goes through, if the president does fire rosenstein, this would allow the president to pick anyone he wants, anyone who has a senate confirmed position, to be deputy attorney general. right? >> that's exactly right. so it isn't the case that the president just has to accept whatever the justice department has all worked out here in a neat solution. we may not see that come to fruition either. but as we know right now, i haven't checked my phone in the last few seconds, but at least as we understand right now, the current plan. the president could blow up all that and decide he wants someone else entirely. we saw this with mick mulvaney, with shulkin. there are a lot of different moves and the president has quite a bit of power to put in whomever he wants if the person is already senate confirmed. >> this wo

some of the president's allies aren't just calling for rosenstein's ouster. they want mueller gone too. the white house has been uncharacteristically silent on this story. the president is in the air right now, so that may explain that. he'll be landing shortly. and when we get reaction, we will bring it to you asap. he's hunkering down in new jersey this weekend by the way. but, folks, it's possible there's more to this story, a lot more. a senior justice department official is tebling our pete williams that rosenstein made those comments on may 16th of last year, which was a week after president trump fired james comey and a day before rosenstein would appoint bob mueller as the special counsel. this official also says rosenstein was being sarcastic about wearing a wire, and he made those comments while arguing with then acting fbi director andrew mccabe. but "the new york times" says that other officials familiar with his comments believed him to be very serious because rosenstein reportedly followed up by suggesting that other fbi officials could secretly

both are more conservative than rosenstein. rosenstein will learn his only fate thursday. there is other stuff in washington happening on thursday. the kavanaugh hearing and rosenstein. >> martha: yes, brett kavanaugh and his accuser dr. ford. >> a dramatic few days. we don't know the half of it yet. >> martha: thank you very much. joining us now former congressman matt gates. good to see you. thank you very much for being here. what do you think about the rod rosenstein situation? do you think -- how much longer do you think he is there. do you think he should be fired or leave on his own? >> no matter what the president does the congress has to exercise the oversight rule. rod rosenstein needs to be in the witness chair this week to explain the circumstances of the discussion. let's say that he was joking about wearing a wire on the president. that's inappropriate. any member of congress can call up rosenstein's impeachment and it must be voted on within 2 days. if we don't have rosenstein in the witness chair, mark meadows and i will do that and keep congress in town to

rosenstein -- david: got to break in with rosenstein's argument which he says he was joking. the comment about the wire was a joke. that the 25th amendment thing, he said he was joking about. the way to find out if he was joking, which he claims or was serious, which a lot of people think is true, to look at the mccabe memos. the mccabe memos what spell all this out. they're still being held back. if we, the justice department released those memos, would we know the truth? >> we'll know more of the truth. we'll have a contemporaneous record what took place. presumably more than one person at the meeting and has notes about it. other witnesses should be called to talk about what happened at the meeting. whether it was a joke or not, as i pointed out the proof is in the pudding and the corrupt pudding here. david: right. >> to strain the metaphor is the special counsel operation run by robert mueller. david: there is another thing we need to straighten out. what was in that fisa warrant. rosenstein is the guy that signed off on the fisa warrant that allowed the u.s. government

>>> should rosenstein be fired, yes or no? >> i don't think -- look, the answer, i think, is no for now because right now before an election, without knowing all the facts, until you could actually bring in all of these people to know exactly what rosenstein said, look, i'm not a guy who is going to go on a witch hunt. >> devin nunez there weighing in on concerns that deputy attorney general's rod rosenstein's job could be in jeopardy. he said to hold the fact that he tried to record him and then remove him from office. msnbc national security analyst ned beatty. is the president going to fire rosenstein? >> what's clear is this was a bait to g-- for the president t fire rod rosenstein. but we've seen the president have highly classified, highly sensitive information about the russian probe, setting up a clash between the department of justice. we've seen him ordering doj officials to go to the hill and brief them to get a name of a source behind this. so president trump for months now has been trying to establish the case for

but for now rosenstein still has his job. he is scheduled to meet with the presesident on thursdaday. december the kavanaugh-ford hearing will take place. this comes days after "the new york times" reported rosenstein had suggested secretly recording president trump in the white house and recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th amendment to remove trump from office for being unfit. rosenstein, who oversees special counsel robert mueller's investigation, called "the new york times" report inaccurate and factually incorrect. some have said his remark abouot wiring the president was sarcastic. the dallas police department has fired the white police officer who shot and killed a 26-year-old black man in his own apartment. the officer, amber guyger, entered botham jean's apartment and opened fire, killing him. police claim the officer believed it was her apartment. while guyger has been charged with manslaughter after the shooting, she remained on the police force until monday. the announcement of her firing came on the same

three backed up rosenstein. the fourth is rosenstein the fifth was mccabe. john: what happened to the rosenstein investigation. if he steps out, solicitor general. >> i don't think anything happens to the mueller investigation at all. bob mueller is guided by legal ethics and federal law. they can't stop or alter or even expand a criminal investigation now just because they have a different boss. john: you can't stop this investigation at all, can you? it has been going on seems like forever. is there every an answer to this? >> yes. i don't know when. certainly not before the midterms. you stop it when you pursue the evidence, decide whether you have enough evidence to prosecute or report it to your boss and then to congress. john: seems like a zero-sum game with this investigation. they will have smoking gun or biggest witch-hunt in history. doesn't seem like anything -- >> tormenting the president to know end. he is of the belief that none of this would have happened had then senator sessions said, i can't accept my dream job as attorney general because i

we all have a sense that rod rosenstein's days are numbered. i would say that i was down at the justice department and all the indications are that this was serious. they had gotten to the alarm box, they had broken the glass and reaching to push the button. so i don't think we can dismiss this as total speculation. a lot of people in that building were convinced that this was going to be it for rosenstein this morning. it's not how it worked out. >> we both work in trying to differentiate the reaction to a thing from the thing itself. and so that kind of seeming corroboration that a lot of people in d.c. were in a panic, itself could be a response to axios and twitter. >> it could be, but my sense from the justice department is that there were people there that believed that rod rosenstein was highly at risk this morning of getting fired by the white house, that this was a last straw for him. whether the original report was, in all respects accurate or didn't take account of the way there might have been diverging catches at the meetings you'r

b, was going to use the rosenstein memo. i remember this memo, dana. i read the memo. it looks like it was written by a first year law student. it is not a refined product to be published to the public. and i can understand rod rosenstein's embarrassment when it was published and stated as the reason for it. second, with regard to matthew miller. i would give miller a lot of credibility here. miller i suggesting that the leak in that meeting was andrew mccabe and this is going to come back to bite mccabe rather than to bite rosenstein. no way of predicting how that's going to work. >> dana: mccabe just announced he has a new book coming out december 4th. of course judge andrew napolitano. stick around. we'll be right back. you need a partner that is willing to break free from conventional thinking. we are a different kind of financial company. we are athene, and we are driven to do more. our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition... for strength and energy! whoo-hoo! great-tasting ensure. with nine grams of prote

with rod rosenstein on thursday. >> if rod rosenstein is fired, the president will be, in effect, obstructing justice. >> there are people inside the trump administration actively working against its president. the deputy attorney general should not be one. >>> i've never sexual assaulted anyone. i want a fair process. >> i believe both of their stories are credible, unlike his. >> these allegations come out of nowhere, it's not untypical for our friends on the other side to pull that kind of crap. >> announcer: this is "new day" with alisyn camerota and john berman. >> we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world, this is "new day," it is tuesday, september 25th. 6:00 here in new york. great to be back with you. >> washington could not handle your absence. you go away for like one day -- it was an hour and the whole thing falls apart. >> i was watching it from home yesterday like, this is interesting. >> i better get back to work. >> i better get back. so the white house is battling dual crises this morning in what is promising to be a consequential week. the emba

now there are reports rosenstein was summoned to the white house. we have not seen him arrive there yet. that doesn't meanest n he is not already there. one source familiar with the process saying that rosenstein will not offer his resignation and if the president wants to fire him, the president is going to have to do just that. rosenstein won't resign to make it polite. he will wait for the president to fire him. another source close to the president pushing the line that rosenstein is poised to offer his resignation. on one hand, a source saying he is not going to resign and he is going to wait to be fired, if that should be the case the other source pushing the line that he is prepared to offer a resignation. we don't know exactly which of those scenarios is playing out at the white house we have a statement from andrew mccabe, former deputy director of the fbi he was fired he is now putting out a statement this reads in part there's nothing more important than integrity of law enforcement and rule of law than protecting the investigation of spe

. >> rod rosenstein. but give us a little bit of this dramatic back and forth today. >> well, it was chaotic. and i think some of the best reporting has come from laura jarrett and kaitlan collins from the justice department and white house, look, perhaps rosenstein got a little out over his skis on this. on friday after the "new york times" story appeared, he expected to be fired by the president. i mean, wouldn't you? okay. and then there were -- the president was not happy, but there were lots of conservatives saying no, no, no, no. this is not the time to fire rod rosenstein. you should not be doing this now. and we reported here on friday that there were republicans saying to him, you don't want to mix up the kavanaugh story with, you know, with the rosenstein story. just hold your fire. and you also have the mueller investigation. this isn't going to help anything. rosenstein thought he was going to be fired, perhaps he drafted -- perhaps he drafted

this all took place during rosenstein's second week on the job after he fired comey based on rod rosenstein's recommendation. he didn't even have to like james comey's shoes and he could have fired him. rosenstein thought he might be able to persuade kelly and the white house chief of staff to invoke the 25th amendment. rod rosenstein wanted to wear a wire and secretly record a sitting president of the united states in both the 25th amendment, a silent coup against his boss by him, mccabe, others, all against a dual elected president. we are experiencing tonight a massive constitutional crisis and, frankly, this is designed to set up the president. i'll explain what this is about in a minute. tonight, rod rosenstein, he is publicly denying this report, calling the story inaccurate, factually inaccurate. he wrote, quote, i never pursued or authorized recording the president. any suggestion that i have ever advocated for the removal of the president is absolutely false. given the numerous sources, "the new york times" remains adamant in their reporting. two of their sources, one is andrew mccab

rosenstein just got on the job. so the idea that he would throw around wearing a wire into the white house to talk to the president and reaching out to other people like attorney general sessions and then homeland security secretary, john kelly, who is now the white house chief of staff, that he just would be joking about that seems very unlikely to me. i'll say one other thing. i find rosenstein's denial not strong at all. i find it very weak. he says "there is no basis to invoke the 25th amendment." he does not say i never discussed wearing a wire or i never brought up the possibility of invoking the 25th amendment. he's a lawyer and very lawyerly in list denies. now, present tense to invoke the 25th amendment, this will have considerable political ramifications. the president is unhappy with rosenstein, unhappy -- remember, he's the man that picked robert mueller to be the special counsel. this is going to give the president a whole new basis to attack rod rosenstein and the whole investigation by the special cou

or being fired rosenstein caught up in a "new york times" story last week, alleged that what rod rosenstein had done last year was raise the prospect of the 25th amendment, removing president trump from office against his will in collusion with other members of the investigation. that's the process under the 25th amendment rosenstein allegedly made reference to. he says he doesn't feel there's any cause to remove president trump from office. that got the attention of the white house to say the least there's speculation this step is firing rosenstein in exchange for that story we don't know exactly what's happening right now but we do have a statement from andrew mccabe, the director of the fbi, who is expressing concerns about the future of the mueller investigation into russian collusion. mccabe saying there's nothing more important to the rule of law than protecting the investigation of special counsel mueller. if the rumors of rosenstein are true i am deeply concerned it puts that investigation at risk. so, scott, where we are right now is a moment of uncertainty at the white house, not

president, are you going to fire rod rosenstein? >> no, i'm meeting with rod rosenstein on thursday. we'll be meeting at the white house, and we'll be determining what's going on. we want to have transparency. we want to have openness. >> deputy attorney general rod rosenstein's future seems to be hanging in the balance tonight. this all follows "the new york times" report late last week saying that he'd suggested perhaps secretly recording trump and lobbying cabinet members to invoke the 25th amendment. sources tell nbc news that trump decided not to fire rosenstein after discussions over the weekend with aides and allies and among other things after being begged not to do so by sean hannity on live television friday night. rosenstein, we'll remind you, is a 28-year veteran of the justice department who's been overseeing the mueller investigation since may of '17. he was at the white house today for meetings with chief of staff john kelly. and officials say he did speak to the president by phone. throughout this chaotic monday ther

rosenstein was at the white house. one thing is clear, we have seen the president be so angry at the attorney general. but he hasn't fired him. it's unclear if he's going to fire rod rosenstein on thursday. one thing is clear, this is all playing out as world leaders here in new york city are getting a front row seat to this dysfunction inside this administration, and that annoys the president we're told by officials. of course, all thislings on the russia investigation, which is something he cannot get beyond. what happens between now and thursday? he wants to take off some of the spotlight of the supreme court hearing in the senate, so that's why the meeting was scheduled on thursday as well. but unclear what he's going to do on thursday, kate? we don't know. >> after programming himself. so much can happen between now and then, sore now and five minutes from now. >>> out front now, james trusty. the former chief of the organized crime section of the fbi. gloria borger is here. and anne millgrim is here. james, when

rosenstein right now. after yesterday's media confusion as to whether or not he may have quit or been in the process of being fired, do you have any further clarity as to his fate and what's going on between him and the house? >> i don't. i think we need to see this is part of a long effort by the president and his allies in congress and his allies on fox to push rosenstein out of the way so that they can put someone in there who someone the president gets to do his bidding. th that's a shrewd way to kneecap, and you are right to point out concerns of attorney general, matt whitaker, that he wrote an op-ed suggesting that would cross the red line and beyond the scope to look at whether the russians are laundering money to the trump campaign and the clear language of that scope of authority provides above mueller can look into any connection between the russian government and trump or anyone else affiliated with this campaign. he's wrong on the facts and he's wrong on the law but if he's the deputy attorney

. >>> rosenstein's reprieve. white house officials say don't bet the ranch on the president firing deputy attorney general rod rosenstein this week. the house conservatives want rosenstein to testify. are they trying to force him to quit? >>> going to jail. former tv star, bill cosby, is taken out of court in handcuffs after he is sentenced to prison for sexual assault. dozens of women have accused him of similar crimes. we're going to get reaction. >>> and the world laughs. president trump is greeted by laughter as he boasts about his accomplishments before world leaders at the united nations. the president shrugs it off as a joke, but is he burning with anger on the inside? >>> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> breaking news. president trump is joining senate republicans in an aggressive defense of the supreme court nominee, brett kavanaugh. judiciary committee republicans have hired a female outside counsel to question kavanaugh and the woman who has

rosenstein still has his job. one of the big outstanding questions going forward is, how much longer will rosenstein have that job? we could no more on thursday, because press secretary sarah sanders released a following statement later today, quote at request of deputy attorney general rod rosenstein he and president trump had an extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories. because the president is at the united nations general assembly and has a full schedule with leaders from around the world, they will meet on thursday when the president returns to washington, d.c. i'm told, trish, that conversation between president trump and rosenstein happened today. now, let's backtrack for a second here, back to three, four days ago on friday because that's when "the new york times" reported that rosenstein suggested secretly record president trump and recruited other cabinet members to possibly invoke the 25th amendment against the president. that news story came out on friday. rosenstein denied the claims i

rosenstein denies it. it's also a pipe dream. don't hate. i know people are selling possibilities all the time for how trump is now done because -- that's not us. all right. we only know what we can show.l here are the fact the amendment the 25th amendment triggers a process of presidential succession in the event the commander in chief is unable perform his or her duties. it's simple if the president comes forward and says i have to step. what if it's not the president, it's done to the president? thoughts an onerous standard application. you would need mike pence and eight members of the cabinet to get on board. >> that would have to happen without the president finding out. if he did, he can fire the whole cabinet before they made their move. trump can shut down the same thing saying he is capable of being president. even if they shop how got past that part, the clock starts ticking. then there are 21 days. two-thirds of both houses during that time need to respond. can you imagine two out of every thre

rosenstein's state of mind in

and now rosenstein. what should the president look forward as a view of the justice department with the removal, whether it's by his own hand or the president's, of rosenstein and with sessions still there? >> well, i think the big part of that, as you know, my frustration has been over the inability for congress to get documents. lou: right. >> the president took a good step on initiating the process for declassification. i think he needs to continue with that. conversations with those that are working through those documents indicate -- there are a number of documents they could release to the american people that have nothing to do with national security. let me give you one example, lou. lou: sure. >> we've got bruce ohr's 302s, the which for those who are viewing tonight, the 302s are kind of a synopsis of an interview that he might have done. well bruce ohr wasn't part of the russia investigation. we had that. rod rosenstein has testified to that. so he was not part of the russia investigation and

and, rosenstein's response. right here tonight. >>> also developing, the president suddenly shifting tone on brett kavanaugh's accuser. taking aim. and tonight, outrage from one key republican, senator susan collins, who says the president went too far. >>> was his plan suicide by plane? late today, what we learned about the man who allegedly jumped a fence and got into a passenger jet, an airbus, before being tackled. >>> the emergency unfolding in the carolinas. a dam has now breached. a power plant threatened. and fears coal ash could spill into flooded rivers. >>> severe storms hitting tonight. from the midwest and moving into the northeast. >>> the well known surgeon who once appeared on reality tv. charged with drugging and allegedly attacking women with his girlfriend, then recording some of it. this evening, the stunning new development. >>> and, football season is here. tonight, the one player who did something that will leave you speechless. can you guess our person of the week? >>> good evening. it's

>> to keep his job. >> what's rosenstein's rep now? >> someone that people are suspicious of but in these interesting times, people are looking at him and thinking he might be the last best hope that we have to ensure that bob mueller's allowed to do his job, which is a strange place to be in. >> reporter: rosenstein is 53, married, with two teenage daughters. >> he's a dad, you know, his world has changed a lot because of this. >> my younger daughter was 14 at the time. when she heard i was going to become deputy, she asked me an important question, dad, does this mean you'll get your picture in the paper? and i said no. >> reporter: but he keeps his own counsel even with his friends. >> with rod, you scratch the surface and you get more surface. but that's him. he is -- he is inskrcrutable. he's methodical, thorough. >> reporter: with a harvard law pedigree. a former u.s. attorney from maryland for a dozen years. a republican appointed by george w. bush. >> he's been preceding over a small district that was bringing every case you co

again, rosenstein has pushed back on them. it is a fascinating read, i will give him that. >> it's a fascinating read indeed. my first impression in reading this is i don't credit it. rod rosenstein has been in the department for 30 years. he's a very cautious lawyer. this doesn't sound like words that would come out of rosenstein's mouth, especially so early in his tenure in the department of justice. i don't know what the true sourcing of this is, but as with the reporting last week about dowd not interviewing witnesses after they testified with mueller, which i do not believe is the case, i think he did, in fact, debrief them, i do not credit this at this moment. i could be wrong, i often am, but it just doesn't strike me as consistent with who rod rosenstein is and why at this point in his tenure discussions of the 25th amend amount and wearing a wire would even be part of his contemplation. >> there's also -- i just want to pick up on what you said there because your knowledge of him both as a -- both personally and profe

>> that rosenstein comes out unscathed? >> yeah. >> well, i think no one ever comes out unscathed with donald trump. the best case is you can muddle through. and trump may well calculate that his least bad option is to leave rosenstein in place rather than move on him. there's -- people talk about the hot stove theory of donald trump, that he's like a young child who will -- touches things until he gets burned and it happened to him when he fired james comey. and that he may be far more restrained now to do anything that will lead to an uproar on capitol hill and beyond. especially with midterms approaching. >> if rosenstein does get fired or he resigns, supervision of the mueller investigation falls to the solicitor general noel francisco. with the russia probe do you think it would be vulnerable, phil, if that happened? >> when you look at me, i don't think it would be vulnerable. i've seen the stories through this morning about vulnerability. tell me what's going to happen here. you're going to have somebody who's sittin