it's rosenstein to the extent they care. in theory, when there is a special counsel, the person who is supposed to oversee the special counsel's investigation, the person supposed to provide oversight is supposed to be the attorney general. the top person in the justice department can't be true in this case before mueller was appointed, attorney general jeff sessions had to recuse himself from all campaign related matters including the russia investigation following public reports about his own contacts with russian officials during the campaign, which he had conveniently forgotten about when asked about them under oath during his confirmation hearing. so jeff sessions' recusal from the russia investigation in particular, that has been a repeated target of the president's anger and condemnation. the president tweeted about it and spoken about it to reporters, multiple news organizations reported about the president's continual expresses of anger to jeff sessions and about jeff sessions for having recused himself from the rus

rosenstein was on his team. let's talk about president trump's pension for loyalty with ana navarro and former adviser to the trump campaign jason miller. great to see both of you. ana -- >> i've been called much worse. >> how do you explain that cnn has this reporting that seems to be at odds with what rod rosenstein said about whether he was asked for a loyalty pledge? >> i'm not sure it's at odds. if you want to be nitpicking words, he wasn't asked for a loyalty pledge. he was asked whether he was on the team which you can interpret as a loyalty pledge. here we are parsing words. weight es ooh not at odds with is what donald trump has been doing for the last year. we know in january he told comey he expected loyalty. we know in may he told andy mccabe, who did you vote for. we know in december he said to rosenstein, what team are you on. >> here are the six people asked some version of that. rod rosenstein, dan coats, nsa director mike rogers asked to publicly announce there's been no collusion. you have atto

, and the fact that he is sort of dangling rod rosenstein's job, and the firing of rod rosenstein in my view would be an act of obstruction of justice just as firing bob mueller would be and it is further evidence that what happened with james comey was not an isolated act. to me, that is a very definite part of a pattern of obstruction of justice. >> and james, would you agree that there is a are removal of rod rosenstein by way of the president firing him, is that tantamount to obstruction of justice or constitutional crisis? >> fred, i'm a cautious skeptic in these thing, because for 25 yees i served in the fbi, and the thing that is paramount in the fbi is that it is not always what you know or what you think that you know, but it is what you can prove. and in this instance, ob are struck shun of justice is such a difficult, and there is a high bar for it, because you have to be able to prove intent. the president has the right to fire an fbi director, and the president has the right to fire an attorney general, and the if the president sees fitt to have the deputy attorney gener

rosenstein. that question hangs overall of this today. >> you heard chris stewart, a member of the house intelligence committee, republican from utah, say to us a little while ago, he wants -- he certainly wants the russia investigation to go forward, even though the president, as you and our other reporters have all pointed out, he would like to see it simply go away. jeff, stand by. there's more information coming in. pamela brown, our senior white house correspondent is with us as well. pamela, a reminder to viewers what the memo says about george papadopolousling charged as part of the mueller probe. >> george papadopoulos was charged for lying to the fbi and the russia probe and it's interesting because in the last page of this memo, wolf, it makes reference to papadopoulos, that his name was in the fisa application for carter page. in the memo, the argument was made that there was no evidence that carter page and george papadopoulos had talk ed or thee was any sort of cooperation or conspir

did rod rosenstein know? he has a lot of questions to answer. >> rod rosenstein according to the fox news channel is the point of that republican memo. all of that hype, all of that consternation, this will be the biggest thing, watergate times 1,000. their take away from that republican memo is rod rosenstein must be fired. now, in its substance, rod rosenstein has no role in the plot of the memo. the fbi is part of the counter intelligence investigation into the russia attack on the election and whether the trump campaign conspired on it after page left the campaign. they obtained a warrant. it was then renewed. then it was renewed again. then it was renewed again. rod rosenstein was one official who signed off on the final renewal. republicans haven't even alleged anything specifically wrong about that final renewal or specifically about rod rosenstein's role on signing off on it but as long as you don't bother reading it and watch fox news to count on them to tell you what is in there, it's clear what tha

i don't know rod rosenstein. >> you wouldn't be sad to see him go? >> i'm saying i don't know. i don't know him. you just brought up nikki haley, and my point is i know nikki haley, so i'd be sad personally. i don't know rod rosenstein. if he left tomorrow, life goes on, and we'll continue to make the country great again. but i mean the president has no desire to fire rod rosenstein. >> all right. so the president put out that statement. we played it a little bit earlier talking about the memo. he says it shows a lot of bad things are going on in america. and then this morning he put out a statement that said the top leadership and investigators of the fbi and justice department have politicized the sacred investigative process. who? who are the top leadership at the fbi and justice department he's talking about? >> look, i think we've said this many times, and the president's been very clear. he has extreme confidence and respect for the rank and file members of the fbi and the doj. subsequent reports and review

sessions, mueller, rosenstein. there is a cnn reporting about the standoff with rod rosenstein where he asks, are you on my team, and what gets me about this, less asked about defwatai about the russia investigation, this is december, after there are already questions about his relationship with comey and with everyone else. >> yeah. so initially you can chalk this up to the president not understanding the divisions between the department of justice and the white house. and it is becoming increasingly clear that the president doesn't care about those historic bright lines. he has looked at this investigation, i think alice said this from the very beginning as an indictment of his own presidency, not about the russian interfering in the election. i believe cia director pompeo said a couple of days ago that the -- that russians are looking into or, you know, actively trying to undermine the 2018 midterms. this is crucial, this is -- these are just a couple of months away. so while they're playing games, the russians

the memo started rod rosenstein who oversees the investigation, rosenstein's boss, jeff sessions, has been attacked for reaccusing himself from the russia probe. it could be profound implications not just not fbi, but for the president. host of msnbc's deadline white house, nicolle wallace. i know you have things to do so i tried to read through this quickly. it's a walk down memory lane. i remember the rallies where he didn't like the fbi because they weren't pressing charges against hillary clinton but when they said they're going to reopen the investigation, it was like the fbi gave him life. >> i talked to a former head of an intelligence agency who served under democratic and republican presidents. he says what this reveals is the president has no regard for any american institution. we're talking about the fbi, but what we learned from the release of the memo is something bigger, that he's only concerned with his personal activities. i think that what happens next, you have a six-year-old who always wants to know what happens next, what happens next is rod rosenstein is likely t

rod rosenstein fired. look at this exchange between trump and a reporter yesterday. >> >> you figure that one out. >> so i'm going to ask you to interpret that. have you figured it out? will we see at saturday night massacre? >> i would bet that the president is after rod rosenstein. i think it's fairly plain to say he is. and of course if he goes after rod rosenstein, then he gets to appoint somebody in rosenstein's place, and that person could see reason to fire robert mueller, which would trigger a constitutional crisis. mueller cannot be fired. his investigations should be allowed to go on unimpeded. rosenstein is clearly in trouble here with the president. >> i'm curious how the -- and i will get this to zerlina first. the response from christopher wray. here's part of the memo he released to the fbi community yesterday saying we speak through your work. we do that work and we stay laser focused on doing great work, even when it's not easy, because we believe in the fbi. clearly it has got to be a mor

rod rosenstein: that is a very good question. i think it is important for you to understand how they are being used. the primary responsibility for processing suspicious activity reports lies with the treasury. we make use of the information in two ways. first of all, reactively when conducting an investigation and we believe there is reason to believe there could be relative evidence in those sar's. that is persons in the department that have approved access because the information is closely controlled. and then we also have proactive initiatives because the information you are collecting can be relevant for us and show us where we should be focusing our attention. who are the drug couriers, who are the cyber criminals, who are the money launderers and there is information within those reports so we are able to run proactive queries, or actually have employees who sit down and read the sar's, and are able to access that information. one of my goals is to work with the treasury and to ensure that information is useful to us. two

so is trump's next act to fire rod rosenstein? three white house officials tell nbc news there have been no discussions or considerations about firing rod rosenstein, but when trump was asked this afternoon if he had confidence in his deputy attorney general, he didn't give a good answer. >> you figure that one out. >> so put a question mark next to rod rosenstein's job status. there are other consequences of the nunes memo, consequences that may be long lasting affecting the fbi and justice department. james comey said it best calling out house republicans who destroyed trust with the intelligence community, damaged relationships with the fisa court and exposed classified investigation of an american citizen. very degreed gentlemen with me here tonight. paul butler first i want to get your response to this new reporting that says another element of the memo has proven to be incorrect that, in fact, the justice department did tell the court of the political leanings of some of the folks providing them information and that the dnc

we are talking about rod rosenstein. the president asked him quote are

says only if rosenstein becomes controversy and engulf rosenstein and cannot move forward on the investigation. he did voice the confidence to rosenstein and something that the president was unable to do today. >> there was a stunning and lack of support for the deputy attorney general who he appointed and he nominated him himself. >> one quick question before i let you go. will the democrat memo ends up being released as well? >> it will depend what the house will do. other republican haves supported in releasing the democratic memo. the question is what will he do after it goes to the white house. the president will have five days to object or allow the release. if he objects the full house can vote to over ride him. it is uncertain how it is going to happen. the first step is house and intelligence committee devin no nunes is to schedule a vote to release the memo. >> manu, thank you very much. how are the lawmakers reacting to all of this? lets bring in congressman, will herd, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf, always a pleasure. >> are you comfortable of the way the united

rosenstein: move on to watch? on --ivate sector comes comes up with all kinds of creative ways to identify people. fingerprints or facial recognition technology. take aernment does not position on that. it's really up to the private sector. it is, as you recognize, critically important to use multiple levels of security. i know how frustrating it can be for customers if you go to get hassan have to punch in your zip code or other information, but those are important checks. but they extra time, do provide a lot of fraud. the wordsgnize that into fires that we use, the more unique information you require customers to provide, the more secure you are. a couple years ago we did not use a chip with a pen number. it does require strategizing by the private sector about how best to protect customers against loss. questions? is not, let's conclude -- this is an individual who has spent multiple decades serving our and with, as the vice president said, with incredible integrity. just an outstanding individual and we are i

there's no personality that motivates conservatives like that right now. >> rosenstein, not rosenstein, we all have done it one way or another at some point. gaudy was asked about whether rosenstein should be fired. here's what he said. >> if the president makes moves to dismiss him, he failed to express confidence in him the other day, would that concern you? >> it would, again, i'm not in the senate. i don't have advice and consent and the president has not sought my counsel on this. >> should not be fired on what you have seen? >> i don't. >> will the gop turn down the heat flames on rosenstein a little bit? >> well, maybe republicans on capitol hill will, but as nick said, outside conservative groups are gearing up to attack him. it's interesting to me because he's a long time prosecutor, you know, a long time doj, he's not someone who sort of just came in with the trump administration. he has a long history under many administrations. interesting he's a target. >> you know who doesn't have a ton of experience with the doj is jeff sessions. >> right. >> there's an interesting piece

rod rosenstein is in place and he is not going anywhere. >> if rod rosenstein called the president tomorrow and said hey, i am out. i am submitting may resignation, do you think he would tell him f not to? >> i don't know. >> if nikki haley quit tomorrow, do you think the president would be happy about that? >> i can't get into his head. i would be sad to see her go. but that is not my decision. >> would you be sad to see rod rosenstein go? >> i wouldn't be sad -- >> you wouldn't be sad? >> i don't know him. you brought up nikki haley. i know her personally. the president has no desire to fire rod rosenstein. >> all right. so the president put out that statement. we played it earlier talking about the memo. he says it shows a lot of bad things are going on in america. this morning he put out a statement saying the top leaderships and investigators of the fbi and justice department have politicized the sacred investigation. >> the president has extreme confidence and respect. subsequent reports and reviews have come out and we have seen there has been an apparent clear political bias. >> by

because if he were to ask rod rosenstein, say, to fire bob mueller, rod rosenstein probably would not do that. but that's a story for another day, okay? right now rod rosenstein is in his crosshairs. his name might be in this, we don't know, but the president looks at this, and i can't emphasize this enough. he looks at this through his own personal lens about what it means for him. he has never had any loyalty to institutions. shimon talks about the fbi. you talk about the justice department. he got elected by busting norms and being against institutions. so now that he's in washington and he's taking on institutions, it doesn't matter to him. it's not as if he has any loyalty to that or any sense of history about it. it is about how will this work for him in front of the special counsel, period. >> so true, so true. as we wait for this memo to be released, i want to go back to the white house to jeff zeleny. jeff, i want to talk about something that you reported at the top of the show about the question about redactions, meaning blacking out anything that is in this memo for whateve

to get rid of rosenstein as a way of trying to put in a stooge in rosenstein's place who obviously could fire robert mueller. he can try that. but he will fail in the end. and he will create a constitutional crisis unlike any we've seen since the saturday day/night massacre. the saturday night massacre could recur tomorrow if trump takes us one more tweet toward a constitutional crisis. >> congressman meeks, look at the pattern of what i call the slow motion saturday night massacre. he gets rid of comey, got rid of mccabe. he got rid of yates. he's just going down the list. now he's going after this guy rosenstein who is a apparently a lifelong republican because he's in his way. i think he is. we all know he's heading for mueller firing anybody that dares to challenge him in terms of enforcing the law. >> which is why my colleagues on the republican side of the aisle from the leadership on down and olympian announce, the track they're going down is baffling. they have a responsibility. our first responsibilities as a separate branch of government is to make sure that we protect and pres

so is trump's next act to fire rod rosenstein? three white house officials tell nbc news there have been no discussions or considerations about firing rod rosenstein, but when trump was asked this afternoon if he had confidence in his deputy attorney general, he didn't give a good answer. >> you figure that one out. >> so put a question mark next to rod rosenstein's job status. there are other consequences of the nunes memo, consequences that may be long lasting affecting the fbi and justice department. james comey said it best calling out house republicans who destroyed trust with the intelligence community, damaged relationships with the fisa court and exposed classified investigation of an american citizen. very degreed gentlemen with me here tonight. paul butter first i want to get your response to this new reporting that says another element of the memo has proven to be incorrect that, in fact, the justice department did tell the court of the political leanings of some of the folks providing them information and that the dnc

he will fire rosenstein, fire mueller, refuse to testify before mueller. and i think it will create the crisis when he does that. i think it would be useful and helpful for director wray to make it clear that he will resign in protest if he executes those firings. and a brief word about senator john mccain who is the gold standard for patriotism. he says that this report and these attacks on the fbi help russia and putin while they are attacking america. which they do and which the russians are. i think john mccain is one of the greatest americans that has lived in two different centuries. and i root for him to come out of his crisis. it moved me profoundly that while he is fighting for his life, he is also fighting for american democracy as recently as last night and i just want to tell you senator mccain, if you are watching this show, god bless you, god bless america, god bless everything you stand for. america, a grateful nation is rooting for you. and cheering for you to come back to washington because we need you now more than ever as a great crisis

to get rid of rosenstein as a way of trying to put in a stooge in rosenstein's place who could fire robert mueller. he can try that. but he will fail in the end. and he will create a constitutional crisis unlike any we've seen since the saturday day/night massacre. the saturday night massacre could recur tomorrow if trump takes us one more tweet toward a constitutional crisis. >> congressman meeks, look at the pattern of what i call the slow motion saturday night massacre. he gets rid of comey, got rid of mccabe. he got rid of yates. he's just going down the list. now he's going after this guy rosenstein who is a apparently a lifelong republican because he's in his way. i think he is. we all know he's heading for mueller firing anybody that dares to challenge him in terms of enforcing the law. >> which is why my colleagues on the republican side of the aisle from the leadership on down and olympian announce, the track they're going down is baffling. they have a responsibility. our first responsibilities as a separate branch of government is to make sure that we protect and preserve our ins

>> deputy rosenstein wanted to speak to the president. sources tell us that the president had other things on his mind just ahead of rosenstein's upcoming testimony before a house committee. you may recall that from this past september. the president asked rosenstein where he thought the investigation and of links of his campaign is headed. a reminder here, rosenstein is the person who oversees the russia probe, the special counsel investigation, he was the one that appointed robert mueller. this is the latest episode that the president asks questions sometimes crosses the line. the exchange could raise further questions about whether trump was seeking interference of the investigation by special counsel robert mueller. >> do you know any word on how rosenstein reacted to this? >> we were told that rosenstein was surprised by this and he did not give details in terms of where the russia investigation headed as the president asked him. he responded awkwardly of the president's team request, of course, we are all on your team, mr. president

robert: rosenstein is under fire from the right today. are there efforts to protect mueller inside congress, protect rosenstein a protect the russian process? d ocrats and some republicans have been talking out legislation that would protect mueller and make sureth rosenstein couldn't be fired and the leadership in the house and the senate, ryan and mcconnell have said they do not think it is necessary and do not think the president is going to come after mueller. but obviously there are questions on this, right.to d his answer, what about rod rosenstein, he sou figure that one out. he was ticked off about the memo and rosenstn was re-uping the application. bert: you figure that one out. so what happs if rod rosenstein decides to step down or fired by thent presi >> he said he isn't going to stepown and not -- unless he is fired. if he steps down, then hishe deputy, next person in line would take over. jeffessions has recused himself. and keep going down. in the yy, could have the president continue to take people out. and eventuallhe wou

rosenstein is robert mueller's director supervisor on the russia investigation. that puts him right in the president's cross hairs. asked about the house intel memo today, note how the president spoke. not about facts but in dark, vague almost threatening facts and offering no support for rosenstein. >> i think it's terrible. you want to know the truth, i think it's a disgrace. what's going on in this country i think it's a disgrace. the memo was sent to congress, it was declassified. ask congress is going to do whatever they're going to do, but i think it's a disgrace what's happening in our country. and when you look at that and so many other things that's going on, a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that. you figure that one out. >> something else we noticed today, the memo also answers a key question about what setoff the russia investigation in the first place. it confirms what the "the new york times" reported late last year, that this investigation was triggered by an australian diplomat who met trump campaign advisor georg

fact he's sort of dangling rod rosenstein's job. the firing of rod rosenstein in my view would be an act of obstruction of justice, just as firing bob mueller would be. it would be further evidence that what happened with james comey was not an isolated act. so to me that would be a very definite part of a pattern of obstruction of justice. >> do you think that this memo release was kind of a prelude to, you know, rosenstein or justification for his firing -- >> i would direct shift to article 2 of the constitution of the united states and ask him what part of executive authority is difficult for him to grasp. ultimately this is in the purview of the president, right? >> is it the feeling that this memo release is a prelude to some justification for the removal of rosenstein? >> i think rosenstein should be removed if he should be removed. i don't have that information yet. regardless of your partisanship, we need to understand that the levels of government power are being leveraged against american citizens outside the realm of due

that would be rod rosenstein. the memo is being used by the president to smear the fbi and justice department. >> i think it's terrible. you want to know the truth? i think it's a disgrace what's going on in this country. i think it's a disgrace. the memo was sent to congress, it was declassified. congress will do whatever they're going to do. but i think it's a disgrace what's happening in our country. and when you look at that, and you see that and so many other things, what's going on, a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves, and much worse than that. so, i sent it over to congress. they will do what they are going to do, whatever they do is fine. it was declassified. and let's see what happens. but a lot of people should be ashamed. thank you very much. >> are you not concerned the fbi -- >> thank you very much. >> [ inaudible ]. >> you figure that one out. >> we'll get to that, which is a disgrace later. but a former top intelligence official under democratic and republican presidents telling me today

but the reality is this isn't about rod rosenstein. even if he happened to step down tore be pushed aside, that would not end the mueller investigation. rachel brand the number three at the justice department is also from the bush administration era, that's where she came from, so she would continue. so the mueller investigation is continuing regardless of who is in that position. so the white house says standing by, that might be the situation, but i'll wait for the president to say it for himself next week. >> that's a fair point. let's go back to our panel. the president today sadist gr e said disgraceful was the word he used. what i don't understand is, you'll call him disgraceful and do all these abuses that you allege, don't you have to fire him unless you are admitting this is all politics? >> i think he does mean it t i think he will fire rod rosenstein or push him aside. this president has pushed through every norm of behavior that we have assumed presidents abided by. i don't think it's a done deal. when rod rosenstein gets f

rod rosenstein? >> you figure that one out. >> so the question is, are you likely to fire rod rosenstein and the answer, you figure that one out, from president trump. let's go to the white house and cnn's caitlyn collins. the white house gave a statement about the memo being released? >> that's right, jake. shortly after the president departed the white house, boarded marine one, didn't take questions from reporters. they put out a statement about why they authorized the release of this memo. in one graphic, this decision was made with input from the president's national security team, including law enforcement officials and members of the -- for whom he has great respect. he has respect for the rank and file of public servants who work every day to make america safe and uphold our laws while protecting constitutional rights of all americans. the statement goes on to reference that democratic memo, saying that they are, quote, standing ready to work with congress to accommodate oversight requests, j

that would be rod rosenstein. the memo is being used by the president to smear the fbi and justice department. >> i think it's terrible. you want to know the truth? i think it's a disgrace what's going on in this country. i think it's a disgrace. the memo was sent to congress, it was declassified. congress will do whatever they're going to do. but i think it's a disgrace what's happening in our country. and when you look at that, and you see that and so many other things, what's going on, a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves, and much worse than that. so i sent it over to congress. they will do what they are going to do, whatever they do is fine. it was declassified. and let's see what happens. but a lot of people should be ashamed. thank you very much. >> are you not concerned the fbi -- >> thank you very much. >> [ inaudible ]. >> you figure that one out. >> we'll get to that, which is a disgrace later. but a former top intelligence official under democratic and republican presidents telling me today

>> yes, not the president, rod rosenstein. >> because that would be a tougher job. >> rod rosenstein. >> rod is a principled and objective guy. i've known him for a long time. i think he know what is the job should be, and he excels at it. i also think he doesn't get distracted by the politics of the moment. there is more to dig into the the whole situation. nobody should stop at one memo and feel they've answered all the questions around fbi abuse, omissions, what it means for court proceedings. there is a million questions. but on rod's mind, i think he's probably just doing his job. he may have all sorts of internal communications with mueller that we don't know about, in terms of where this investigation has been and where it's going. but i just don't think he is the type of person that crumbles under pressure or concern about the future. >> evan, you tweeted this out today. i know and respect some of the house republicans on the intelligence committee which is why it's so disappointing they would intentionally mislead the public on a national security while aiding ongoing purge o

>> yes, not the president, rod rosenstein. >> because that's a tougher job. >> rod rosenstein. >> rod is a principled and objective guy. i've known him a long too many time. he knows what the job should be and excels at it. he doesn't get distracted by the politics of the moment. there is more to dig into the the whole situation. nobody should stop at one memo and feel they've answered all the questions around fbi abuse, omissions, what it means for court proceedings. there is a million questions. on rod's mind he is just doing his job, he may have all sorts of internal communication was mueller we don't know about in terms of where this investigation has been and where it's going. but i just don't think he is the type of person that crumbles under pressure or concern about the future. >> ee ran, you tweeted this out today. i know and respect some of the house republicans on the intelligence committee which is why it's so disaping they would intentionally mislead the public on a national security while aiding ongoing purge of senior law enforcement leaders. if that's what they're doin

robert: rosenstein is under fire from the right today. are there efforts to protect mueller inside congress, protect rosenstein and protect the russian process? >> democrats and some republicans have been talking about legislation that would protect mueller and make sure that rosenstein couldn't be fired and the leadership in the house and the senate, ryan a mcconnell have said they do not think it is necessarynd do not think the president is going to come after mueller. but obviously there a questions on this, right. today his answer, what about roo nstein, he said you figure that one out. he was ticked off about the memo and rosenstein was re-upin the application. robert: you figure that one out. so what happens i rod rosenstein decides to step down or fired by the president? >> he said he isn't going to step down and not -- unless he is fired. if he steps down, then his deputy, the next person in line would take over. eff session has recused himself. and keep going down. in theory, you could have the president continue t take people ou

are you on my team, rosenstein? so, that is one of the two big stories at the top of the news tonight. deputy attorney general reportedly was at the white house and was pressured by the president over the russia investigation. the president made basically a loyalty request, asked him if he was on the president's team on these matters. now the reason rod rosenstein was at the white house was reportedly to talk to the president, to enlist the president's help about house republicans and now the white house, planning to release classified information. that was only provided to them by the justice department under the understanding that that information would be handled as classified material. it wouldn't be widely disseminated. well, this story is super hot. it continues to unfold tonight, including this big pushback that we're getting from the fbi tonight and the quite amazing prospect that the white house itself may have been involved in creating this document that they're now going to release, which is insane, if th

is rod rosenstein next? eric columbus, you've been considering rod rosenstein's position in this, you wrote a piece about it in "the washington post" yesterday. why is the president obsessed with rod rosenstein? >> rod rosenstein is robert mueller's boss. and any decision that robert mueller makes can be overturned by rosenstein in his capacity as the acting attorney general, given that jeff sessions is recused from everything. so anything that mueller does can be overturned by rosenstein. and if rosenstein were gone and someone more compliant were shifted into his position we could see a different path for the mueller investigation. >> barbara mcquad, how do you get someone more compliant? let's suppose rod rosenstein is forced out, goes the andrew mccabe route, can't take it anymore and quits, who then becomes the deputy attorney general, and, in effect, acting attorney general in this matter. >> i think next is line is the associate attorney general, rachel brand. i don't know her but what i know about he

i think rod rosenstein is in some jeopardy but i also think that you know, rod rosenstein is the person the president would have to go to if he wanted to fire bob mueller. and i think that as a result, he may stay unless he gets fired. if you take a step back here, this is a president who is playing a very dangerous game. because he came into office running against old norms and old institutions. that really worked in the election. here he is now running against institutions. pushing up against congress. pushing up against the judiciary. against his own people at the department of justice and that's a dangerous game for him to play. if bob mueller wants me to sit down with him, i have now proven these people are corrupt and i can now say with the american public, and they will agree with me, why should i? they have conducted a corrupt investigation. and he believes that he can push back against he this institution successfully. >> so do you think rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, survives all of this? >> you look at the president, the body language as he answers the question

the president did appoint rod rosenstein. he was asked about loyalty pledges and here is what he said about that. >> is it ever appropriate for the president of the united states to demand the department of justice official or fbi director take a loyalty pledge? >> i don't have any opinion on that. no one has asked me to take a loyalty pledge other than oath of office. >> reporter: rosenstein did not believe that he was being asked to take loyalty pledge. and he told lawmakers in the same hearing, as long as you are following your oath of office, you can be faithful to your administration. the president was really focused on this testimony that was up coming. top of mind during that meeting. we are told that the president was asking republican congressman or suggesting them specific questions they should ask rosenstein in that hearing. >> thank you very much. joining me now is jeffrey toobin, carrie cordero. >> a pattern of criminal behavior. obstruction of justice. what is he saying to rod rosenstein when he is discussing th

jim, i'd even push back on the rosenstein and the whole loyalty pledge. rod rosenstein went up to the hill, put up his right hand and said no one has asked him to take a loyalty pledge. i disagree with the assessment. >> jason, he fired his fbi director because of the russia investigation, okay. he is now pushing for the release of the memo to a present hillary clinton. the only difference she would have fired him on day one. >> we're talking about trump. >> when you look at the whole range of moves here as well as the personal attacks on individuals involved in the russia investigation, institutions involved in the russia investigation, will you grant the president is trying to influence the investigation? some have made the argument it's his right to push and pressure institutions that he has appointed people to lead them, that that's his right as the elected president of the united states. but will you grant he's trying to influence? >> no, i think the folks trying to influence are the constant leakers whether it's career people at the d. 0 o.j., minor

is rosenstein a red line for you? >> of course rosenstein is a red line. i think you have to make clear as other senators including lindsey graham have done in the past that this would really trigger a constitutional crisis. and you can't have another saturday night massacre. but i really like your point at the beginning of how when you really examine this memo which any american can do, it's just three pages long, you get to that nugget where they pretty much admit what we already knew from testimony in front of the judiciary committee of glenn simpson that in fact, this investigation was triggered back in may when papadopoulos met with an australian diplomat at a london bar and told him that the russians had dirt on hillary clinton. this then got to our intelligence through australian intelligence, triggered the investigation in july and the investigation was initiated well before people had that have dossier. >> one of the president's spokespeople just said on tv that there's no plans to fire rosenstein. he's safe, he's fine appearing to clean up and wa

so is trump's next act to fire rod rosenstein? three white house officials tell nbc news there have been no discussions or considerations about firing rod rosenstein, but when trump was asked this afternoon if he had confidence in his deputy attorney general, he didn't give a good answer. >> you figure that one out. >> so put a question mark next to rod rosenstein's job status. there are other consequences of the nunes memo, consequences that may be long lasting affecting the fbi and justice department. james comey said it best calling out house republicans who destroyed trust with the intelligence community, damaged relationships with the fisa court and exposed classified investigation of an american citize citizen. very degreed gentlemen with me here tonight. paul butter first i want to get your response to this new reporting that says another element of the memo has proven to be incorrect that, in fact, the justice department did tell the court of the political leanings of some of the folks providing them information and that t

what is the future of rosenstein? what is the future of this president and his relationship with the fbi and his own law enforcement in the wake of this memo which has now been released? >> and let's remind everyone again, on my air yesterday at 2:00 p.m., they setd this memo will so there needs to be leadership changes within the fbi and the doj. a lot of the names in this memo are not there any longer. but rod rosenstein is one who is still there and again, rod rosenstein is the man who is leading or overseeing the russia investigation. this other quote from "the washington post" report today. the president said he thought that the release of the memo would help build a public argument against rosenstein's handling of the case, according to people familiar with the discussions. trump suggested to aides and confidantes that the memo might give him the justification to fire rosenstein. something about which trump has privately mused her make other changes at the justice department which he had complained was not suffi

rosenstein: good morning. the indictment charges 13 russian nationals and three russian companies for committing federal crimes while seeking to interfere with the united states political system, including the 2016 presidential election. the defendants allegedly conducted what they called "information warfare" against the united states with the stated goal of spreading distrust towards the candidates and the political system. according to the allegations of the indictment, 12 of the individual defendants worked at various times for a company called internet research company -- research agency llc, a russian company based in st. petersburg. the other defendant funded the conspiracy through companies known as concorde management and consulting llc, concorde catering, and many other affiliates and subsidiaries. the conspiracy was part of a larger operation called project latka. project latka included multiple components, some including domestic audiences and others targeting foreign audiences in multiple countrie

rosenstein is robert mueller's direct supervisor on the russia investigation. that puts him right in the president's cross hairs. asked about the house intel memo today, note how the president spoke, not about facts, but in vague, dark, almost threatening terms, and offering no support for rosenstein. >> i think it's terrible. you want to know the truth? i think it's the disgrace what's going on in this country. i think it's a disgrace. the memo was sent to congress who was declassified. congress will do whatever they're going to do. but i think it's a disgrace, what's happening in our country. and when you look at that, and you see that, so many other things, what's going on, a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves, and much worse than that. >> you figure that one out. >> something else we noticed today, the memo also answers a key question about what set off the russia investigation in the first place. it confirms what the "new york times" reported late last year that this investigation was triggered by an australian diplomat who met trump campaign ad

rosenstein: there are. we encourage feedback, we participate with treasury in the bank feedback, and i know many of you do. it's useful to have that feedback. i've had conversations with people from many institutions who have experience and have a particular sensitivity about this issue and are eager to find ways they can cooperate with us proactively. so we're looking for you as the guardians of the financial system are the line of -- first line of defense. you're in position to identify trends that are indicators that your customers are involved in illegal activity, be it money laundering or tourism, cyber crime. so i think that there are opportunities for us to continue to work cooperatively with you as opposed to just imposing regulation sort of mindlessly. we ought to be engaged in a back and forth process, where we make sure that you're identifying things that are most useful to us. and most significantly, this is the issue i've talked with some friends in your industry about, they are looking for mor

that could mean other people besides rosenstein. >> we have three minutes. i want to give you each a minute. what is the most important thing to happen next? del? >> that's a really tough question. everything changes day to day in the story. and the nunes memo was hyped up by both sides as this being a nuclear bomb when it drops on washington. when it came out it was either a nothing burger, or as eli wrote, sit not watergate and not a nothing burger. it is is in between. >> a material fact was omitted that got an american citizen surveilled to the fourth amendment that concerns me greatly. >> what's next, i don't know. i think at the justice department there was a lot of trepidation over the release of this memo. they were concerned about what message it would send to sources across the world. you might end up in a document or being debated. >> don't talk to mother jones or yahoo! news. >> that's right. >> the president declassified the democratic talking points so we can see those. and what happened at the department of justice. does rod rosenstein get fir

session and rosenstein and wray. he's attacking his own people. it is -- it is crazy, the president is just -- he's daft. he's out of it. >> former senator gordon humphrey, it is pleasure. >> he's alsoin principles. >>> and matt you were at that justice department where the alleged conspiracy was to begin, your response to what is happening today? >> i'm sory, the -- the microphone went dead. >> we'll go with matt first and get your microphone fixed jill. >> it was a remarkable kind of a remarkable memo. i expected to read this today and find that it was misleading because it left certain things out. what i didn't expect was to read it and find that the claims that makes fall apart just on the face. they base this entire thing on this kind of legal theory of the fruit of the poison tree. if there was an unlawful or unethical interrogation or surveillance it means the fruts of that technique could be used and so you see in reading this memo, not only do they not make that case with respect to carter page but that tree is poisonous, but that as you

but i worked with rod rosenstein in the white water investigation. and you know this is- these are career public servants who uphold the rule of law and believe strongly in the constitution. i think that's what you're seeing pushback is the structure of our government crumbling and serious concerns around a situation where it's not the judge or an appellate court saying, listen was this fisa decision proper, a judge making the doctors determination. it's not the president making the determination as to whether he wants to keep the chain of command. it's congress leaping over the fence and doing things not within the constitutional mandate. is it legally? no. neck have hearings they can have hearings on whether it's proper to continue the fisa. broad hearings on the propriety of the fisa in contained circumstances where the national intelligence information issant maintained. but in this instance the congress does have the authority to release in coined of information if it makes the determination that the public interest outweighs the national intere

rosenstein: good morning. the indictment charges 13 russian nationals and three russian companies for committing federal crimes while seeking to interfere with the united states political system. including the 2016 presidential election. the defendants allegedly conducted what they called "information warfare" against the united states with the stated goal of spreading distrust towards the candidates and the political system. according to the allegations of the indictment, 12 of the individual defendants worked at various times for a company called internet research company , llc, a russian company based in st. petersburg. funded theefendant conspiracy through companies such as concorde management and consulting llc, concorde catering, and many other affiliates and subsidiaries. the conspiracy was part of a larger operation called project latka. it involve multiple components some involving domestic , audiences and others targeting foreign audiences in multiple countries. the internet research agency allegedly