discredit the mueller in their long campaign to discredit the mueller investigation the president and his allies have been trying to make the case that special counsel struck out on collusion finding no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between russia and its agents and the trump campaign. that's why mueller is investigating obstruction of justice, the argument goes, as a kind of backup plan. witness this tweet from august, frs the collusion? they made up a phony crime called collusion and when there was no collusion they say there was obstruction. but tonight nbc news confirms the president's legal team is finally preparing answers to a list of questions submitted by the special counsel. and according to nbc's source those questions are squarely focused on whether the trump campaign colluded with russia to illegally subvert the 2016 election. to help understand this latest development, i'm joined by former water gate prosecutor jill wine banks, and joyce vance. joyce, start with you, what's your reaction to this news? >> i think that there's an