and he's 68 years old. he has to make the decision whether he wants to go to trial. he has a very good trial lawyer and they believe they have a defense, but a rational call could be that he would want to plead guilty, which raises the question of whether president trump would consider pardoning him and whether that might figure into the defense. >> ashley, before we go, update us on security clearances, please,in side the west wing, which for all i know is this titanic struggle, a staredown between monoliths with jared kushner at the center of it. i do know there was a seat for him at an event today that went unfilled. we haven't seen him for a while. do you know if there has been a decision or resolution on his temporary clearance? did he see the presidential daily brief and deal with our government secrets today for example? >> so my understanding is that nothing has been finalized but the white house is sort of working for a carve out or some