he designed the white house. it is not. soil mechanics did not exist and he was only building the building george washington asked, which was a country gentleman's house. it was suitable for the time. it was not suitable for 1950. as one of truman's assistance put it the white house was , designed as a comfortable late 18th-century home but it has become the nerve center of the world. let's continue with the damage. to our culprit list, i am adding edith roosevelt on the left who decided that she needed the bigger dining room. she had 60 feet, she wanted 107. the only way to give that to her was to take this wall and the staircase and rip it out. that is what the builder of penn station had to do. the did they do to replace wall? he built a hanging truss. it was fine until 1913 when ellen wilson destroyed it by modifying the third floor and adding bathtubs and living quarters and more tons of piping and iron. along came calvin coolidge who decided to rebuild the third floor and the roof and it needed to be done. he built it

it's a white house, administration, in disarray. this reflects this underlying tension that's just eating away at our government. >> with that, let's bring in our lead-off panel on a tuesday night. peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." the aforementioned nancy cook, white house reporter for politico, and jeremy peters, political reporter also with the "new york times." peter baker, i have been looking forward to our conversation tonight because there's no other way to put it, you and i are old enough to remember first lady nancy reagan getting sideways with reagan chief of staff don regan. former ceo of merrill lynch. don regan was soon former chief of staff. so there's precedent for this, but how unusual is this and why? >> don regan was chief of staff during iran-contra. nancy reagan felt he had ill served her husband. the thing that really did him in was when he hung up on her at one point in a testy fury. one thing that must be true in any white house is you don't hang up on the first lady. obvio

over at the white house and beyond? we are getting more information about the potential targets of a major shakeup. new hints emerging about robert mueller's next move in the russia probe. is he preparing an indictment? is he preparing a plea deal or both? drum ally roger stone could be at the center of it all. your insurance rates skyrocket after a scratch so small you could fix it with a pen. how about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead? for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ all the tools you need for every step of the way. make it, squarespace a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! ♪ >>> getting breaking news on the shakeup inside the white house. i want to go back to our senior white house corresponden

it's a white house, administration, in disarray. this reflects this underlying tension that's just eating away at our government. >> with that, let's bring in our leadoff panel. peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." aforementioned nancy cook, white house reporter for politico. jeremy peters, political reporter, also with "the new york times." peter baker, i have been looking forward to our conversation tonight because there's no other way to put it, you and i are old enough to remember first lady nancy reagan getting sideways with reagan chief of staff don reagan. former ceo of merrill lynch. don reagan was soon former chief of staff. so there's precedent for this, but how unusual is this and why? >> don reagan was chief of staff during iran-contra. nancy reagan felt he ill served her husband. he hung up on her at one point in a testy fury. you don't hang up on the first lady. obviously, we have a situation where another first lady is pretty peeved at an aide to her husband. for her to make a stateme

house reporter and pbs news hour white house correspondent and msnbc contributor. we have a packed friday. ken, you get to take it away. this is this fascinating and bizarre twist. how did his name end up in the documents? >> it's remarkable. nobody who has been around the federal courts has ever seen anything quite like this. this was, as you said, unrelated case involving a sex crimes allegation. but it so happened that the prosecutor on this case was also working on a long running investigation of julian assange in wikileaks going on in the eastern district of virginia. this prosecutor appears to have cut and pasted language regarding assange into this other case and left it in the file. there was even a reference to asking the document be remain sealed until assange is arrested so he couldn't avoid the arrest. the implication here is that charges are pending against assange. we can't say that for sure. it's possible this could be a draft. >> right. we don't know whether he -- exactly whether he's been filed, going to be filed, these charges are going to be file

it sends a message to the court and frankly to the white house, because you know that the white house, of course, is paying attention to this. >> what's the department of justice saying? because it appears that the justice department is defending the white house in this? >> reporter: so let me read you a statement here. the justice department saying, with respect to their first amendment claim, the president and his staff have absolute discretion over which journalists they grant interviews to, as well as over which journalists they acknowledge at press events, meaning who the president calls on, right? no journalist has a first amendment right, the statement continues, to enter the white house and the president need not survive first amendment scrutiny wherever he exercises his discretion to deny an individual journalists one of the many hundreds of passes granting on-demand access to the white house complex. so that is from -- >> but here's what i'm missing. all of that, we get to pick who he doesn't interview with, we get to pick who's in the press room. let's take that at face val

amazing what is going on in the white house press corps. and what is going on at the white house. whoever is running -- you know, the press room, get it under control. because it's disgraceful. it's embarrassing to the nation. it really needs to stop. joining me now to take all this up and the national left media senseless and ridiculous attacks against the president. president trump most loyal supporters and diamond and silk. great to have you with us. i have to tell you both. you guys know i love you. i got to tell you. i'm so ticked off, i can't -- it is just amazing to me that the white house permits that kind of conduct on the part of that sort of person. what do you think? >> well, yeah, it's time for acosta for his press credentials to be removed. >> yeah. >> it's very sad he don't understand as a journalist he is supposed to report news, not make the news. not be the news. yeah, he is the enemy of the people. not only that but the enemy of the truth. he is very disrespectable, disparaging. you know what? why is he even in there. he don't even need to go to the white house

he was asked about it today at the white house. >> mr. president, you just said that people used disguises to cast illegal votes. do you have any evidence of voter fraud like that? do you have any evidence of people doing voter fraud? >> okay. so no answer. he dodged that question because he has no evidence. remember his voter fraud commission? disbanded. but there's no doubt that some people in his base believe it. that's why he says stuff like that. the trump white house is so dysfunctional, the president was completely caught off guard by the first lady, melania trump's, statement yesterday that deputy national security adviser mira ricardel no longer deserves to work in the white house. according to our reporting, trump was furious, angry that he looks like a bossed around husband. but now we know just how influential the first lady really is. the president is doing what his wife wants. we learned tonight that mira ricardel is, in fact, leaving the white house. she'll take a new role somewhere else in the trump administration, though

the white house demanding an apology from cnn white house correspondent. kellyanne conway says acosta the reporter from cnn had no right to touch the female white house staffer as he did. president trump: honestly i think you should let me run the country. you run cnn. if you did it well -- >> if i may ask one more question. president trump: that's enough. that's enough. that's enough. trish: my intel on all that went wrong there today and the blame lies squarely on cnn. the techs yas man who believes the president's tough immigration talk is really working. "trish regan primetime" begins right now. breaking right now. attorney general jeff sessions submitting his letter of resignation at president trump's request. this comes after the president repeatedly criticized sessions for recusing himself from the russian investigation. president trump: jeff sessions should have never let it happen. if he told me he would have recused himself i wouldn't have put him in that position. i think it was a disgrace. my enemies, people that are on the other side say for h

that's up to the white house now. and we'll see what they do. >> you think there's a chance -- i guess it would be considered settling out of court. >> absolutely. the sensible resolution here is simply for the white house to say, look, okay. we made our point. but here's your press pass. let's go forward. instead, they could say well, the judge said we need to set up a procedure. we're going to set up a procedure, and we're still going to try to take your press pass away. >> one of the important things we have seen come out has been the number of news organizations that have come forward in supporting cnn's decision. is there any indication that that support, those friends of the filings have weighed on the judge at least in how he's decided this initial step? >> we didn't hear a lot from him about that in court, but it is quite possible. c n cnn's out with a statement thanking all the other news outlets for standing up not just for jim acosta but for the rights of the press in general. the aclu as well. i think we c

i want to go live to our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta, working over at the white house right now. jim, the president is attacking seemingly in all sorts of directions. >> that's right, wolf. president trump is setting the stage for some bruising fights this week, sending the message that he won't be sitting down with a special counsel, robert mueller, and the russia investigation, and he is starting a war of words over, of all things, something most americans have cheered. the killing of osama bin laden. welcoming the national christmas tree to the white house, the president is warning special counsel robert mueller there is one gift he shouldn't count on. a sitdown interview with mr. trump in the russia investigation. >> i think -- >> no energy. >> i think we've wasted enough time on this witch hunt. and the answer is probably. we're finished. >> reporter: and the president is far from finished with fights he's picking on a number of fronts, still battling with retired admiral william mcraven, who oversaw the mission to kill osama bin laden. >> hillary clinton backer.

the white house has just at every step messed this up. the part that i am looking forward to is discovery. i want to see these people -- >> will it get to that point? >> probably not because who wants to have kellyanne conway and sarah sanders talking about, well, this is what trump made me do here and this is what i said here, and it would be fun to watch. >> trump gave away the ghost in a subsequent comment saying i can do this to anybody if i don't like their coverage. and it indicates this is about something bigger, this is about american principles. >> the white house has tried to hire ted olson in the past for various things, and in this case he chose to represent the case against the white house. >>> a security guard fatally shot by police moments after he subdued a suspect. now his family is taking action. we talked to their attorney about what they want, ahead. when i walked through a snowstorm for a cigarette, that's when i knew i had to quit. for real this time. that's why i'm using nicorette. only nicorette gum has patented du

the white house. i think there is an opportunity to put the legislation on the floor. itdon't know a democrat advocating for raising taxes on individuals. i think there is an opportunity to lock this in and maybe bridge this come the next session. >> let us see. i will ask you about that many more times. i appreciate you coming in. >> always a pleasure. >>> one florida county racing to recount votes hits a major snag, recount machines overheating. can they get the ballots counted in time now? we'll get an update. it senses your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. and now, the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is only $1299. plus 24-month financing on all beds. ends sunday. about medicare and 65, ysupplemental insurance. medicare is great, but it doesn't cover everything - only about 80% of your part b medicare costs, which means you may have to pay for the rest. that's where medicare supplement insurance comes in: to help pay for some of what medicare doesn't. learn how

you have actually cited the white house in this story. are you blaming these students doing a nazi salute on the president? >> not blaming it on the president, but i got to tell you whether it's a president or a governor, the tone or the tenor of the debate starts at the top, always has and always will. when you have someone in office, whether it's a president, governor or even a state senator who chooses to use words that are combative, that are offensive, that are borderline racist, you're going to see that played out across the country and obviously in some of our high schools. >> do you feel that the president does that? >> i'm sorry, what was that? >> do you feel that the president does that? i read something where you were talking about the president's use of language. >> when i watch a president heckle reporters for doing their job or pick on a nationality who is trying to seek a better life in our country and calling them names and pointing out how bad they are and mimic and make fun of someone disabled, i have a problem with that

house charles the white house has dismissed all this reports about the bullying. battering. housefull from attending the hearings but against the backdrop of the cia assessment that prince. directs of the his money doesn't buy the question that the white house was in a well know that's lying to escape any further embarrassment. but provides more details that would tilt the ground in favor of people pushing for more sanctions against the sound is. i mean this is the problem the saudis this is not new i mean the way that the saudis have been using an iron fist to control not only their kingdom. domestically but also elements of their kingdom abroad this is not this is not new jamal show he was not an american citizen he was you know a contributor to a american newspaper this didn't occur on the united states soil it was a it was in a foreign country let us also be aware that turkey under president reagan has absolutely number of civil war a human rights violations being charged against him as well so let's also not dismiss the apparent hypocrisy and humor going on w

judge has ruled that the white house must temporarily return the press pass of cnn's chief white house correspondent jim acosta the trumpet ministration strip the cost of his credentials after a news conference in which a cost to engage in a heated exchange with president donald trump it later claimed a cost i had quote put his hands on the young woman of a white house staffer who attempted to take his microphone as you can see right there now c.n.n. denied that and soon to regain a cost access to the white house. let's get more on this incident now with correspondent stefan seaman's who is standing by in washington so walk us through this decision by the judge to give acosta his press pass back. all. central question was he is by post by c n n to the job did the white house overstep overstep by revoking the credentials for washington c.n.n. washington correspondent jim acosta and the judge said yes but not on grounds of the first amendment free speech c.n.n. has put two grounds first in their argument they had said hey this is a violation of the first amendment free speech and b. of t

i want to go to our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta, who is standing by. jim, first of all, any reaction to "the new york times" bombshell report? >> reporter: as a matter of fact, wolf, the president just landed in florida for his thanksgiving trip down there and he was shouted a question. we can show you some of the video as he is arriving there in florida a few moments after this arrival footage was shot. he was asked a question of -- a rt roar shout-- reporter shoute question whether or not he ordered the department of justice to investigate hillary clinton. he did not answer the question. this is all breaking after the president talked to reporters earlier today. in the last several moments a reporter asked the president a question, as to whether or not he ordered the department of justice to investigate hillary clinton. that is a prospect, he raised that on the campaign trail, it is something he has talked about frequently over the years, how he would like to see hillary clinton investigated for all sorts of things. he was asked that question and did

sarah westwood is there at the white house. what is the status of the homeland security secretary whose firing is believed by some to be a done deal? >> reporter: there is potentially some significant west wing upheaval on the horizon starting with the deputy adviser. senior officials say she was in her office into the night. after the stunning statement from the first lady's office calling for her removal her exit from the national security council is seen as likely. as with everything in this white house, nothing is ever certain until it is in writing with the president. looming over that change is the potential departure of chief of staff john kelly. the president has considered several contenders to replace kelly should he go, one of them being the chief of staff to vice president mike pence and a number of others inside and outside the administration. kelly's fate is seen as closely tied to that of another senior administration official, homeland security secretary neilsen. neilsen is a close ally of kelly's. we learned th

there must be decorum at the white house. decorum at the white house. really? >> because if you were looking for one word to describe the trump white house, decorum would be it. >> let's show you. >> on the other hand you had some that decided to -- let's stay away -- mike kaufman. too bad, mike. mia love gave me no love. and she lost. too bad. >> are you worried -- >> that's enough. that's enough. that's enough. >> i was going to ask -- you are a rude, terrible person. >> in jim's defense i've traveled with him. he's -- >> i'm not a fan of yours either. when you report fake news like cnn does. you are the enemy of the people. >> you call yourself a nationalist. some see that as emboldening white nationalists -- >> that's such a racist question. >> did someone say something about decorum? >> who is going to define decorum, him? >> well, they are. that was -- sarah huckabee sanders is. >> donald trump knows anything about decorum. and those in his administration that would work for someone like that is -- on his face, absurd. but that's also why, as we were talk

>> in this white house, it might be. but this is still a broken, dysfunctional white house. for a while, kelly was able to make the trains run on time. i've compared him to ronald reagan's ill-fated second white house chief of staff, don regan, who was arrogant and imperious and politically clueless and and i think kelly has been all of those things. but i think his greatest flaw has been that he has reinforced all of donald trump's worst partisan instincts from day one as white house chief of staff. and i think, you know, i think it's time for him to go. i think trump would be wise to seize this moment as a way to change his presidency. >> yeah, start fresh, maybe a new year, a new outlook. the white house argues, though, and has argued, look, turnover is normal in a white house, especially after two years. we're coming up on the two-year mark. but we should remind people just how many staffers have already come and gone by our count, 44 at the senior level. and some of those folks lasted only days or weeks. "the washington post" spoke to a former white house director of le

the white house? wow. i described it as living in the fanciest hotel with the elevator that takes you up to your room there is a lobby where the all the action is going on and that is the central floor. . >> what you see on tv? . >> that's not the private residence the red room and the green room and the blue room for the east room. that's just the first floor but then the next four there are two more that are the residents and those are private to the families who live there. and once you get in the elevator come up to the floor and the elevator opens it is usually an older black gentleman in a tuxedo who has worked at the white house for decades spent does he offer a drink of refreshment? [laughter] no no. he will smile although you could have them do that i never thought of that. [laughter] although you could have them do that i never thought of that. [laughter] any time could you stand like a refreshment break. >> you can but then you realize you pay for it. they tell you that you can order anything bu

yes, the fox white house press correspondent. he is a model for civility and probing questions and objectivity as well. joining me now to discuss the latest in the relentless disrespect on the part of the national left-wing media toward this president, top strategist, fox news political analyst ed rollins. ed, i still, when i watch, this i cannot believe it's being permed by the white house or that the news organizations and their parent companies would tolerate such behavior? >> it's outrageous, you can't treat a president with disrespect in his own house. he did the courtesy of opening that east room up, letting them all come in there. lou: he talked for 90 minutes. he's given more access -- >> 87 reporters. and to be insulted in your own house, and not like he hasn't given access in plenty of places. i said a long time ago, move them out of press room and in the old executive office building and press secretary can go there once a day and give press releases, the bottom line is they want to insult a national agenda and insult

>>> imagine "lock her up" in the white house. in a gross abuse of power, president trump tried to get doj officials to prosecute hillary clinton. my name is jeff sheldon, and i'm the founder of ugmonk. before shipstation it was crazy. it's great when you see a hundred orders come in, a hundred orders come in, but then you realize i've got a hundred orders i have to ship out. shipstation streamlined that wh the order data, the weights of , everything is seamlessly put into shipstation, so when we print the shipping ll everything's pretty much done. it's so much easier so now, we're ready, bring on t. shipstation. the number one ch of online sellers. go to shipstation.com/tv and get two months free. vof hundreds of families, he'se hmost proud of the one the heads he's kept over his own. brand vo: get paid twice as fast with quickbooks smart invoicing. quickbooks. backing you. parts of me i didn't even know. results revealed i find out i'm 19% native american specifically from the chihuahua people. what?! that's - i find that crazy.

i have not worked in the white house. all i know is what i've learned from having sat down and interviewed extensively 18 living white house chiefs of staff who have done the job. you are right, i can't pretend to have done the job myself or even to have worked in the white that and i will concede for openers. but when you do talk to these white house chiefs of staff, it's really extraordinary how in hollywood, they say nobody knows any thing, in washington, nobody learns anything. lessons thatny these white house chiefs have to offer that i've tried to convey in my book. and all i can do is the best i can. host: missouri, democrat. caller: high, thanks for taking my call. trump one, i don't think could ever get a different chief of staff. do, he'ss them what to too arrogant, pompous, narcissistic. i mean, who else would go around wants is the ego stroking -- it's pathetic. he wanted to have a parade. really? these republicans are so disappointing. they let him do everything and anything. 1/10,ma would have done but tip o

not give him access to the white house. it strongly objects a trump administration decision to use secret service security is a tool to punish a reporter with whom has a difficult relationship. revoking access to the white house complex is a reaction out of line to the reported offense is unacceptable. let's bring in two journalists who were the room today. jeff mason and sobran jetty. like you both for being here tonight. we are going to play this video and let people watch as this went on between the president and jim acosta. you see the white house intern as well. we will watch. you don't have the audio there. she is the young woman. here it is in slow motion. she is trying to get the microphone. she is trying to ask a question. she is obvious they try to do what she thinks is right. his hand does touch her. she reaches end. jeff, you were right there. tell us what you experienced in the middle. >> i don't have much to add besides what you can see in that video. i was sitting right next to jim today. along with a bunch o

we are a white house that people want to work with. >> a hot white house. it's a hot white house, all right. but for a host of different reasons. and people may not want to work there because of what's likely to be coming down the pike. the l.a. times is reporting tonight it's sinking in for this president that he took a drubbing in the midterm elections and now he's becoming bitter and resentful. democrats will soon take control of the house. they're likely to use their subpoena power to investigate the trump administration and go after the president's tax returns. the mueller investigation, in the spotlight once again. more indictments may be coming. and the president has met with his lawyers to go over a series of responses to written questions submitted by mueller's team, those answers could be submitted as early as this week. and the president's barely been seen since returning from his weekend trip to france. did you notice that? he barely showed up to official events there, while he was there. but as usual, he is tweeting. today taking jabs at french

for the white house to act too. broadly speaking i think the answer is yes and that's a good point what's called the five eyes the the five closest allies of the united states with two allies from world war two whose close relationship has continued united kingdom canada australia new zealand in the us probably would have. routine access there be procedures where information of the sensitivity would likely be shared because of overlapping interests and probably with other close allies to to some extent certainly the conclusions would be shared the sources almost never but that the information would be shared yes and then what other countries do with it who knows who knows in these call. what do you think ultimately what does this reported finding mean for mohammed been so none the saudi crown prince it means it does not mean he has gone that turns more on internal saudi dynamics. some have been someone has succeeded in consolidating power last year where it's very hard for anyone inside the monarchy to mount a chall

it more than anybody else in the white house. and sometimes she was referring to public business, sometimes she was writing to white house aides about public policy. and sometimes she was doing just logistical arranging, but she was still talking about government work on a personal e-mail. and in this expensive review, which now we finally know about through our reporting, the white house was saying we've got to do something about this because it appears that she's violated the presidential records act multiple times. >> so we learned last year that jared kushner uses a private e-mail account. politico is reporting the presidential son-in-law and senior advisor jared kushner has corresponded with other administration officials about white house matters through a private e-mail account setup during the transition last december. that has a slightly more sinister feel to it because it was setup during the transition. but the number of private e-mails include jared kushner, ivanka trump, gary cohen, now gone, steven miller still ther

what will the white house decide. people who are not fans of the president have said, look, he calls on jim acosta all the time. he likes this. he likes sparring. we all know this is a president who likes to create some level of chaos. what's your take on what we're seeing here unfold? >> first of all, you're absolutely right that the president likes this, and so there are sort of two stories happening at the same time. one is the legal story, and the question of due process of the president not just being able to throw someone's -- throw someone out of the briefing room is really significant, and it's significant for the access that journalists are entitled to going forward. but then there is this sort of question about white house strategy. how do i in my never ending quest to undermine the media as the president of the united states, how do i ratchet this up to the next level? how do i create a distraction? how do i even put cnn firmly in the position of being the foil to my administration? for example, of an irres

at the white house. thomas jefferson was president for eight years and occasionally his daughter martha came up from virginia to his eight years as president madison had her and her husband adherent of jeffersonian democracy. in so many ways, president jefferson would do little things to signify equality or in the sense egalitarianism. for example, easing around tables where there was no one at the head of the table, and no one at the end of the table for those people. they very much believe in this, but she also recognize the fact that in early washington, diplomats from european nations were coming and looking down their nose at this new capital in the new countryside of what was then a new city. she very consciously created a costume for herself because there were few actual symbols of this new country, she essentially turned herself into a living symbol of the new nation. they suggest this new nation was on equal footing with the old world of holland and france and england that she had to somehow con

house unveiling a new code of conduct for the white house press corps. oh, that's going to make a few of them very uncomfortable. journalists with the national left-wing media must act like adults. do you think they can to that? is this a fair set of guidelines? we take that up and is more right after the break. gregg jarrett joins me. stay with us, we'll be right back. you could have gone down to the nearby tree lot and picked out a nice little spruce for the holidays... but you've got a ford escape with 4wd, and an example to set. ford escape. built for the holidays. with our best offers of the season. >> the white house todayoutlinir presidential news conference. the white house has dropped the effort to remove the hard pass of cnn reporter, jim acosta. it includes limiting journalists to one question meacham follow-ups at the discretion of the president. should you refuse to follow these we will take action. joining me now the fight over the acting attorney general and more harvey dillon, with california. gregg jarrett, good to have you all with us.

and mira ricardel has helped him do that in the white house. but it seems like the last straw was this run-in with the first lady melania trump regarding the travel plans for her trip to africa last month. ricardel noticed as the planning was taking place that the flight manifest for the first lady's flight to africa did not include a seat for ricardel or for any other national security council official and that the national security council figures -- policy experts, rather, were told to fly commercially on their own to get to africa and to meet up with the first lady's traveling party on the ground, which she interpreted as a real slight. and that created a lot of bad blood between her and the first lady's office. and then we saw that extraordinary statement yesterday where the first lady's office said look, we don't think she deserves the honor of serving in this white house. >> yeah, that'll probably do it. john, let's go to the next item in this with some personal news. i was at my favorite shop around 3:00 p.m. on sunday -- >> your favori

>> reporter: white house officials believed whitaker's loyalties would lie at the white house and not with sessions, who had fallen out of favor with trump. federalist society executive vice president leonard leo confirmed to cnn that he too recommended whitaker since jeff sessions needed a reliable conservative, a strong manager, and someone who had credibility who had previously served the department. one source says it was a way to keep things on the rails at the justice department and to keep sessions focused. whitaker was even encouraged by people close to trump to appear on tv to get the attention of the president. in 2014, whitaker told an iowa blog that he thought the landmark supreme court ruling, marbury v. madison from 1803 that established the judiciary's ability to strike down laws that violate the u.s. constitution was one of the worst decisions in the supreme court's history. he said, "there are so many bad rulings. i would start with the idea of marbury v. madison. the courts are supposed to be the inferior branch of our three branches of government. we have unfortunat

house in the white house counsel's office? did the russia investigation, the mueller investigation come up in the course of your time working for trump? and here's what he said. >> intelligence committees, possibility -- the white house counsel's office in january 2017, have you worked or advised on any matters related to special counsel mueller's investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election? >> i have given legal advice on a few discrete legal questions arising out of the investigation. i have no knowledge of any underlying facts regarding russian interference. >> can you tell us what those legal questions were? >> i'm sorry, i cannot. >> and why can you not? >> this goes back -- >> are you asserting grounds of privilege? and what are those grounds? >> i am saying that the executive branch needs confidentiality in order for the president to receive confidential advice, in order for lawyers to provide confidential advice. >> so, this man is being nominated to the appeals court in d.c. he says under oath, no, i

house or outside the white house at the moment the rose garden there is going to be a guess you'd call it a ceremony to mark the u.s. holiday of thanksgiving which is on thursday and there isn't a tradition i guess of pardoning a turkey in fact the turkey. don't worry he's not going to be on someone's dinner table in fact the very opposite this is a tradition of pardoning said to turkey my knowledge of thanksgiving holiday is not strong enough unfortunately to tell you any more than that the point is that donald trump will be out there in front of the media in front of the cameras shortly i don't know if he will i will i suspect he would get questions thrown at him this statement whether he has them or not would be another question altogether kimberly how could a white house correspondent still with us actually wish donald trump is there any off the thanksgiving himself after this or releasing the statement and then going. after this somewhat awkward turkey pardoning and you did get your american history accurate there it's a sort of unusual holiday tradition that all presidents partic

the moment we get rid of this clown in the white house. that's the point. >> and for a long time, that has been a concern among democrats or something they should have been. it's not a matter of can they do both. they must do both. at this -- there were calls for, at the time, for example, when the republicans were trying to repeal the affordable care act. the democrats could have not only opposed that but also said, look, these are our fixes for health care. we're ready to govern when the republicans were going back and forth on immigration. democrats could have stepped up and said this is our plan. when they're done playing games, we are ready to move forward. they have to do that plus now because they need to pass some legislation. they need to talk about health care, which emerged as the big issue in the midterm elections. moving forward, if they're going to have a shot at 2020 and beyond. not just the presidency. republicans also have twice as many senate seats up in 2020 than democrats do. 2020 is going to be an incredibly consequent

how does the new white house counsel deal with this? >> first of all, the white house 14 should get ready to do work. they have to staff up and it will have to be a different staff than they had before because congress has changed. the second thing is they have to worry about a lame duck session. there are some things that have to happen during the lame duck session because there is some provisions of law that expire at the end of the calendar year. we need a farm bill, we need to get disaster assistance approved, we radio thave violen against women act that expires. so during the lame duck session before new members come in, in addition to that, you have to work on your 2019 agenda. so a lot of work to be done at the white house and i don't think that they should be distracted with all of this debate. i hope that there wouldn't be just irresponsible subpoenas issued by congress. but the white house staff shouldn't worry about that too much. just staff up, get ready to do the job and tell congress that they have to do their job. they ha

we shouldn't be fighting with the white house just to fight with the white house or just to fight with the president. but at the same time, the american people deserve answers on these very important and consequential questions about who interfered with our democracy in 2016 and when the president or his people had any role in that. so, yes. if he oversteps his bounds, we have to make sure that we push back. >> the bombshell announcement today that sessions has been effectively fired, just the day after the democrats won back the majority of the house of representatives, what do you make of the timing of all of this? >> i think that he's been waiting to do it for a long time. and i think, you know, they were probably concerned that it would have an effect on republicans' viability in different house and senate races. so they waited until the next day. but there's no question, the president has wanted jeff sessions gone for a long time. and i've told you before that honestly, if you're jeff sessions, i don't understand after being beaten up by this president so much, somebody that as yo

is really, really, really close to the white house. i think it's remarkable that the president hasn't really engaged with the media this week, but it's also not surprising, because i think he's in a bad mood, mainly because of the midterm results that are coming in and these late, breaking midterm results. democrats have been picking up even more seats in the house. and then you have the president having to watch the news and see that he's being -- he's getting criticism for not visiting veterans, both in france and here in the united states. so i think overall, my reporting is that he's in a bad mood and is kind of tweeting because he's so frustrated. >> yeah, and you have republican senator lindsey graham. he said, he just met with acting attorney general mathew whitaker in his office to talk about the mueller investigation. but betsy, how confident are folks on the hill that whitaker is not going to impede that investigation beyond what we just heard from lindsey graham? >> well, democrats, of course, are deeply distressed about the

this is what this white house wants. and i think the problem for the press is, we have to be careful not to play into it. the story shouldn't be about us. it should be about jeff sessions and the president of the united states and it should be about the elections from yesterday. and instead, we're talking about this kind of an action. but it is the first action that they've taken that i remember that directly punishes a reporter since, you know, since taking office. there were one or two other times that they kind of came close to that. they excluded a reporter from one particular pool spray. this is a big deal and it will be something we talk about in the days to come. >> and let's say a word on behalf of this white house intern in question. she very gamely had to deal with a highly uncomfortable circumstance. she did not come to work at her unpaid job this morning thinking that she was going end to up part of a news story. she tries politely, at first, and then she goes in to grab at that microphone, putting her in an

it is really a victory for the white house. he's been called a subject, not a target, important distinction his lawyers talked to them about. to have a situation, take-home test, homework comes to you and you fill it out with some level of assistance from your attorneys, good moment for him. i think the probe doesn't expect there to be heart-ringing confessions coming back on the paper from the president. it smells a lgs more like checking a box before we get to conclusion of the probe. >> james, i want to read the other part of the release. this is from rudy giuliani, also counsel to president trump, it has been our position from the outset that much of what has been asked, raised serious constitutional issues and what is beyond the scope of legitimate inquiry. this remains our position today. the president has nevertheless cooperated and special counsel provided with 30 witnesses 1.4 million pages of material and now the president's written response to questions. it is time to bring this inquiry to a conclusion. rudy giuliani

her spokeswoman saying, in part, she no longer deserves to serve in the white house. nbc's kristen welker has more on the first lady's feuds. >> reporter: thead first flexing her muscles. melania trump taking the unprecedted step of publicly calling for the firing of one of her husband's top advisors, mira ricardel amid other clashes with the chief of staff, john kelly, so significant it could lead to kelly's departure. seven people familiar with the situation tell nbc news kelly has tangled with the first ve lady's team o everything from staffing issues to travel requests. one white house official telling nbc there have been instances where the east wing staff were not treated as equals to the male dominated decision makers in chief kelly's office. but in a statement, the first lady's spokesperson called the retionship with kelly's staff very positive. melania trump acknowledging last month the white house can be a challenging environment. >> we alwayseed to watch your back. >> reporter: the first lady blasted th deputy to national security advisor john bolton. that

welcome to wednesday in the post mid-term trump white house. so far the deputy national security adviser who the first lady demanded be fired is still on the payroll at this hour, as is the homeland security secretary, whose firing is said to be imminent as well. in fact, kearseston. cnn joe johns is watching. joe, tell us about the fate as best we know it now of kooeirs niels nielsen. >> reporter: this white house has been in continual, if you will, upheaval over staff almost from day one. the kirstjen nielsen unknown. the president has been known to change his mind. now, there is also certainly some question right now about the situation with the white house chief of staff john kelly. up teenth time perhaps that we have heard about the possibility of john kelly departing the white house. there has been some suggestion that the president has been eyeing the chief of staff for the vice president strimike pen. it has been said that he was planning on keeping john kelly around here at the white house until at least 2020, the end of the president'

i work at the white house now. i can only talk to you via my official white house account. it is not hard to do. this is something everybody knows. the fact this mistake was made, i think, suggests that possibly she didn't really think it through or maybe she didn't care. i'm not saying that this wasn't a problem. i'm not saying that foreign powers didn't get a hold of the e-mails and look at them. especially adversaries. if you asked apples and oranges. i would say we're in a fruit basket. it is all in the same category. one is a little bit rougher than the other. i'm not going to begrunge democrats chanting lock her up. the president was aware of the sensitivity of this and you think it may have been communicated to his senior staff which she is a member. >> it is tough to acknowledge she did not know the rules given the chant and continued as recently as october. >> either she didn't know the rules -- she knew the rules and skirted them or incompetent. you can't have it both ways. take your pick. the fact if it is true the e-mails were given to the government, the govern

now cnn still has access to the white house. acosta is still free to spew his anti-trump hatred anywhere he wants, just not inside the walls of the white house, 1600 pennsylvania avenue. now acosta and cnn are suing president trump and other officials in the administration. the lawsuit laughably claims that acosta's constitutional rights have been violated. the complaint also goes on to list the following lies as facts: they say that acosta merely asked a question during the press conference. well, you just saw it. that is a lie. he tried to grandstand, he gave his commentary, and he wanted to debate the president. next, the suit suggests that acosta didn't put his hand on the white house intern. well, you can see right there on your screen, the intern tried to get the microphone back, and there was contact. i'm not saying anything bad happened with that but the complaint also claims that acosta has been a journalist -- this is my favorite -- for more than two decades and is widely respected for his diligence and independence. t

i mean, any white house is a hot white house. jeff zeleny is "outfront" live at the white house. hot white house aside, what are you learning? yeah, we've got all these headlines of possible firings and this unprecedented story with melania trump. >> reporter: erin, tonight the white house was hot but maybe in a different way. in a very unusual way. for all the staff shake-ups that happened here and we have seen a lot of them, we have never seen this cross firing from the east wing of the white house from the first lady's office to the west wing of the white house where the national security advisers are. it was very unusual to get that type of a statement from the first lady. she doesn't issue that many statements at all, certainly not about the deputy national security adviser so the reality here is there has been a lot of rumors and some discontent about the deputy national security adviser. john bolton, the national security adviser, brought her in. he's known her for a long time. she has a long history at the pentagon on capitol hill. she apparently has rubbed a lot of peopl

the white house counsel reportedly warning the president could face impeachment if he gave the order. we have details. >>> new fallout tonight after revelations that ivanka trump used private e-mail for icovernment work. critcry hypocrisy after her father's relentless criticism of clinton. >>breaking, the cdc's urgent new warning about romaine lettuce. >> if you ve it in your home, throw it away. >> don't eat it, don't serve it, and don't buy it, a new outbreak prompting a sweeping alert.> it's the biggest holiday travel rush of the year, and forecasters say we ul cobe in for the coldest thanksgiving sover. winds strong it could force those iconic parade lloons to be grounded. >>> developing now, four peoe dead, including children, after a mansion goes up in flames. investigators a mysterious tragedy. .>>> the video that went v the outrage of the restaurant manager g bered. why she's being given her job back what the investigation revealed. >>> a 7-year-old toy tycoon. his toy reviews so popular, he's worth millions. tonight, we're inside ryan's world. >> this is "nbc nightly news wit