It was the Early Morning hours of january 29th. Smollett had just gotten back to chicago, posting on instagram that he had just spent seven hours on a plane for a flight that was supposed to take only two hours. He told the police that as he was walking back from a sandwich shop, the Subway Sandwich shop, that two men attacked him, putting a rope around his neck and quote, yelling out racial and homophobic slurs and pouring an unknown chemical substance on him. This was all in the streeterville neighborhood where he had been staying. I know that neighborhood very well. I worked there for three years at the nbc tower, so i know it very, very well. In a supplemental interview with authorities smollett confirmed what had already been reported in the media, claiming that one of the attackers also shouted this is maga country. In those Early Morning hours of the 29th smollett took himself to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with a friend. And as you may know, jussie is gay, and since 2015 he has played a gay character, jam jamal lions and empire. So its a little bit personal for me, and ill tell you why. Thats when i met him. He introduced himself and he said im a big fan, i love your work, its good to have you here on the set. Very nice guy. We chatted for a couple of times after that. I saw him maybe when he came to new york, a couple of times. I know him. Not best friends, but i do know him. So i spoke to him while he was at the hospital. His friend who was there texted me in the middle of the night and said, hey, this happened to jussie. I called a friend, the friend happen today be there and he said oh, jussies here, heres the phone. So he told me in his own words what he said happened. But ive also got to tell you to be quite honest that a lot of people including people in the community, people of color and gay people, had questions about this from the very beginning. The voracity of this story. A lot of people were reasonably skeptical about jussies story. Some of the details just didnt seem to make sense. And as we always say around here, facts first. But the facts raised a lot of questions. Police told cnn that authorities had video of smollett entering after the alleged attack and he still had what appeared to be a noose around his neck. Spokesman anthony said smollett told detectives that the two men who attacked him yelled a slur against gay people and then empire nword. And then theres the letter, a week before the alleged attack, what appeared to be a threatening letter containing a white powder was received at cina space in chicago. Thats where empire is filmed. It apparently a message cut from magazine clippings and a stick figure drawing, which jussie described as a stick figure hanging from a tree with a gun pointed towards it. It included maga on the outside of the envelope in place of the return address. Authorities determined the powder was aspirin but declined to give details on the content of the letter and said the fbi was leading the investigation into it. The fbi. Thats trouble. Police said they received what they call limited and redacted phone records from smollett. All that raises questions. Whos going to be out in the frigid cold streets of chicago in the middle of the night looking for an empire star . Youve got to be bundled up in that kind of cold. How would they even know its you . And lets be honest, there are probably not a whole lot of maga fans watching empire. And that letter, it looks like something out of a bad movie. Why not just hand over your phone to police . Yes, there will be things on your phone that you want to keep private, but if there are also things that prove your story, isnt it worth the handover . Officer, i have personal things on here i dont want people to see. Im trusting you, but i want these guys to be caught, so here is my phone. The details just didnt seem to add up. Jussie went on with Robin Roberts last week. What others had you heard that were inaccurate. That i had said they were wearing maga hats. I never said that. I didnt need to add anything like that. They called me a [ bleep ]. They called me a [ bleep ]. Theres no witch way you cut it. I dont need some maga hat as the cherry on top of some racist sunday. You know what, he did need some maga hat on top of all that. If even hat or less happened the way he said it, its bad enough. We shouldnt forget innocent until proven guilty, of course. Innocent until proven guilty. But like i said a lot of this just doesnt add up. And if jussies story isnt true, he squandered the good will of a whole lot of people. He even lied to a lot of people, if its not true. Including me. He squandered the good will of people like cory booker and even President Trump. That i can tell you. Ive seen it last night. I think its horrible. Doesnt get worse as far as im concerned. Like i said, there were questions about jussies story from the very beginning. Questions he still needs to answer. Innocent until proven guilty, but a whole lot of people want to hear from him. What happened, jussie . Nick watt is live with us from chicago. Nick, you can fill us in on whats going on right now. A huge turn of events tonight. Tell us about the charges against Jussie Smollett. Reporter well, don, yes indeed. The last few hours have been a roller coaster. Now, we are standing outside this Police Station because the police hope Jussie Smollett will turn himself in. They actually dont know where he is right now, but they would like him to turn himself in. Theres a bond hearing that we expect to happen tomorrow, about 1 30 central time. Now, the charges against him, felony class four Disorderly Conduct for filing a false Police Report. Now, the sentencing guidelines for that, although its a little bit too early to be talking in those terms, the guidelines are one to three years in prison or a fine. But as i say we are very early, and Jussie Smolletts lawyers reached out tonight and they are still protesting his innocence, pointing to holes in the case saying they will mount a thorough defense. And thats what youre hearing from his lawyers. Are you hearing anything from smollett in. No, and listen part of the issue police have been having over the past few days is Jussie Smollett has not been really cooperating with them. Since friday night, saturday morning theyve been asking smollett to come in and talk to them. Now, police just told my colleague ryan young just a little while ago, they had a meeting arranged this morning. They thought smollett was going to show up with his lawyers. The actor did not show up, the lawyers did show up. And that is when the authorities decided to go the grand jury route. So those two brothers, those two men who were arrested last week as suspects in this attack and then released, they went before the grand jury. And as their lawyer explained to us afterwards, she said they decided to man up and correct this story. And she said that Jussie Smollett paid those two men to stage the attack. N now, weve also obtained some video just this evening of those two men in a beauty store buying the clothes they wore in that attack. And the owner of that store told us the police were there friday investigating. Now, you know, that lawyer also told us that those two brothers did not cut a deal. They do not have immunity but that Jussie Smollett paid them to stage this attack. Don . So i understand correct me if i am wrong, the next thing there is he turns himself in and then theres a bond hearing. Whats next . Im actually going to read you the full statement we got from the lawyers because they are saying so this is from the lawyers, like any other citizen, mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information both true and false has been repeatedly leaked. Given these circumstances we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense. But as you alluded to in the lead up, don, the fall out from this is really just ginning. Its just we have only seen the very beginning of a very huge and massive avalanche. Nick watt, thank you so much. Nick watt, thank you so much. Ajussu dont want to turn the and vast expertise to work. the United StatesPostal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes you asked for something groundbreaking. Something epic. So, we took all our engineering experience. A hundred yearsworth of learning from impossible projects all over the planet. The heart and soul of a cat. And found a way to fit it all. Right through that gate. This could be huge. And everywhere i go theres always something to remind me of another place and time of another place and time tmobile will do the math for you. Right now, when you join tmobile, you get two lines of unlimited with two of the latest phones included for just one hundred bucks a month. Were back now with more on the breaking news. Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with Disorderly Conduct for allegedly filing a false Police Report claiming two men attacked him last month. Lets discuss. Joey jackson, midwin charles. Im so glad you both are here. Before we get into the details of this i dont want to get into the weeds. Grand jury, not a grand jury, what does that mean . Does it mean anything . Does it make a difference . It makes no difference inasmuch as hes facing a felony. Heres the grand jury. Grand jury consists of members from the community. In this jurisdiction, theres 16 of them. A majority votes out an indictment, and youre facing a felony. In this particular situation, according to mark geragos, i just spoke to before air, he was not indicted by the grand jury. Hes facing a felony complaint. A felony complaint means they swear out a complaint factually saying youre involved in a felony, and hell go through the process. So it is weeds. Its no significance. The significance is hes charged with a felony offense, which is a class four, one to three years in jail. This is serious. And a fine possibly of up to 25,000. Thats also important to say. So its not just the fact that hes looking at jail time, which i dont think hell get with a case like this. I really dont. Why not . I assume its his first offense. Its a lowlevel offense. Its my understanding its been charged as a Disorderly Conduct. You know, filing a false report. Is that where theyre starting . Well, look, heres the reality. When you say theyre starting, the statute provides for him to be charged with this. When you file a face report to the police, when you give the indication of something thats not true, its this type of felony. Now, where i differ with midwin is on the issue of jail. Were not there yet. Hes presumed innocent. The fact is theres a long way to go. But you have to remember the deterrent value of this. This is something that is going to be taken seriously by prosecutors, by the judge. This got into our national discourse. We are in a time where, you know, theres assailing immigrants coming out of washington, d. C. There are people wearing blackface in virginia. Theres so much in our dialogue nationally, this is not something we needed. You dont want to set a precedent where you want to encourage people to file false reports. Prosecutors and judges, when theyre looking at sentencing far away from sentencing, please. He has to go trial. Unless he pleads or whatever else, hes presumed innocent. But i think you have to set a standard. Based upon that, hes looking at a world of hurt, and i dont think its a fait accompli that hes not looking at jail time. Thats what the prosecutors will argue but think defense attorney also say exactly what youre saying and say, you know what . Youre coming down too hard on him. He cannot bear the brunt of just about every social ill we are currently experiencing in this country. Okay. So lets go through this, then, because as you said, its the last thing, you know, we need in this country. Right. As i said in my open. And as i said to chris earlier, theres enough racism in this country that you dont have to make it up. Theres enough homophobia that you dont have to make it up. Theres enough Political Division that you dont have to make it up and exacerbate it. The question that every Single Person asks is why . Why . I find it baffling only because hes well known. He may not be sort of the biggest star. People know him now. People know him. He was on a show thats fairly popular. A lot of young people know him. When this happened, it did sort of trigger a lot of outpouring of emotional support from a lot of different people, from a lot of different producers and television, people who worked in the entertainment industry. Thats why i find it disturbing. But i also would say that if this is true, as joey rightfully pointed out, he is innocent until proven guilty. I think the saddest part about this is that he has chosen, if true, to scapegoat black queer folk who are often in the crosshairs of violence. In the last five years, about 128 transgendered people have been killed. The vast majority of them have been black women. You have higher incidents of suicide from lgbtq teens, from young people. Just in the past year, weve had two black gay men die in the home of ed buck, who is a democratic donor, and as far as we know, theres been no investigation. So those things, those crimes are not hoaxes. So its my hope that this is not used as an excuse to sort of forget about the true violence thats happening in this community. So lets just be real here. Among the most skeptical people, the early skeptics were black queer folk, saying this just doesnt seem to add up. I hope, you know, hes not lying. Right. But this just doesnt add up because why . Why do you think they were so skeptical of him . Well, common sense often always kicks in. I think the way he had outlined or sort of the way the facts were put out, it was a little too perfect. And the idea that at least there were allegations that he kept the rope around his neck for a long time. Did he go to the hospital right away . There didnt seem to be a press conference right after it happened, you know, from his attorneys to sort of outline exactly what happened. What was the extent of his injuries . He said that, you know, a liquid was poured on him. What was that . There just didnt seem to be enough outrage from him right after it happened in terms of letting us know what the facts are. I see it this way. Look, the bottom line is when things happen, number one, we live in a very visual society. Exactly. And generally when were having a conversation, don, midwin, theres a videotape. Were analyzing it, dissecting it. That was not the case here. The surveillance was absent. Then you go to the facts and you say, could it have happened . Then you get to the fact that its 2 00 in the morning. Then you get to the fact its 20 degrees below zero. Then you get its 40 minutes after the fact you report it. Then you get to the fact you still have the noose around your neck. Then you get to the fact you still have your Subway Sandwich. Then you get to the fact you have cell phone records and you were supposed to turn them over but you redacted them. Going back real quick don to what youre talking about why, no one knows why. The point is from a prosecutors perspective, its not going to even matter because you dont have to establish motive when youre talking about someone filing a false report. You just have to establish that you did it. And its troubling, and the other issue is it demeans and undervalues people who are true victims of crime. Thats right. Who really are outcrying for investigations. And not only that, but youre talking about the diversion of resources. Lets keep it real. You want to keep it real . Were talking about chicago. Theres plenty of places that 12 detectives could have been investigating as opposed to executing search warrants. Then factually even the police now have the receipt for the noose thats around his neck. I think its a problematic case. According to reports out there, he says that he didnt want to report it, that his friend made him report it. Thats what took so long. Some of those questions have been answered no, no, no. Some of the questions hes answered. As to whether those answers carry merit or are sufficient, thats another issue. When were prepping clients, i mean there are answers to everything. But the issue is does it make sense . Mmhmm. Does it resonate . When you keep having to explain, why didnt you turn over the full phone records . And is it credible . Does it make sense during the circumstances . Is it reasonable . Does it . No. No. Is it reasonable . Would a victim of crime do and say the things that he did . No. You know, i watched his interview on good morning america. Why did he do that interview . I dont i came away with watching him thinking, i hope hes telling the truth because im not convinced. Okay. So let me Say Something about this. Someone who sits here every single night and tries to get interviews with people who are involved in the news. Oftentimes when people go, they go into crisis, p. R. Management. They call a crisis p. R. Person. That person will tell them do a morning show. Theyve got a lot of viewers. This is not 1997. Its not even 2006. That no longer works. This is in this particular case, this is not an entertainment story. This has become a political story because of the whole maga part. And you know where that is played out and lived daily . In cable news and on social media. So if youre going to take your fight, you need to take it to the pit, to where its happening. Its not happening on morning shows. Thats right. They talk about the news for a few nothing against morning shows. I love all my colleagues there. I think they do a great job. But thats not where it is now, especially when it comes to this. What im saying is that doesnt work. Come on a show like this or any of my other colleagues and sit down with us live for an hour or however long it takes. Answer the questions that need to be answered from real journalists i shouldnt say that from journalists who dont have to worry about the entertainment arm of their particular company. Well, the real person he needs to answer questions from is the police. Well and one of the, i think, odd aspects of this from the very beginning is this inability to turn over the cell phone you may be right about that. Let me tell you this. Joey, i know this. A good lawyer can get you off jut about anything, right, or reduce whatever it is that youre going to suffer. In the court of Public Opinion, jussie has lost. Hes lost the fight in the court of Public Opinion. And thats where his battle is. Legally, if he has to go whatever he has to serve, if its jail time, if he has to do probation, if he has to pay whatever. But in the court of Public Opinion it matters. It matters. And he lost that because of how and not his fault. Maybe people were i dont know what they were saying to him. Maybe because of his representatives, who knows. I dont know. But it was handled poorly. I dont know if its not his fault. You think its his fault . Well, he went out and he gave the interview. Understand this. Now lets talk from a defense perspective. Theres two things to think about. Number one is the law and whether it makes sense legally to be out there speaking and everything else. From that perspective, its damning. All those things you heard him say on tv are going to be played in a courtroom in the event it goes to trial and its going to crush him. Now, from a Public Relations imperative, people say get in front of the cameras, express what happened. Show some real anger. Show some this, that, the other. The fact is that works from a Public Relations perspective but again, i have nothing but the utmost respect for my friends at abc and other things. Robin did a terrific job on that interview. Im just talking about how you respond to this sort of crisis. That doesnt really work anymore, and i think that is old school. This is playing out every single moment. Yeah. In cable news. Sean hannitys going to eat Jussie Smolletts lunch every single second. Tucker carlson is going to eat Jussie Smolletts lunch every single second. The president of the United States the president of the United States is going to eat his lunch. And who does the president of the United States watch every night . You. Well, cable news. So thats all im saying. Thats all im saying. Well, the pushback on this needs to be that the framing cannot be that simply because of this one case, that all the other victims that come forward are somehow no longer believed. Thats really important. You know thats what the narratives going to be. I know, but its time that we stop being led by other peoples narratives is the point im talking to make. Lets talk about the Chicago Police because a lot of people dont trust the police. I know the police are upset in chicago that theyre being portrayed or have been portrayed unfairly in the media. A story that is this highprofile, this many ramifications, im not sure that the Chicago Police would put themselves on the line for Something Like this when they feel that they dont have something really credible to make their case. Am i wrong with that . You go, then ill go. Two things. Number one, i could talk all night. Im sure we all can about the Chicago Police and about some of the things that exist as it relates to that Police Department, as it relates to the department of justice, as it relates to their transgressions, particularly as it relates to people of color. In this case, i dont have things that are bad to say about them. Let me tell you why. They investigated the case. They investigated it thoroughly. When people started speaking about an issue of there could be a hoax and, oh, my goodness, they said we dont have information that would support that at all. I think they dotted their is. They crossed their ts, and they were very sensitive with regard to the investigation. I disagree. If you want to speak about the Police Department and their troubles, we can have a conversation about that. A lot of people are wondering whether there were leaks. There were absurd leaks coming out almost every single day. But do we know the leaks were coming from the Police Department . They were unnamed sources within the Police Department. And if you are on top of what it is youre trying to do and youre trying to sort of project an image of being professional from a Police Department standpoint, put a cap on that. There was no reason for these sort of leaks to be coming out every other day. It almost made it it almost kind of gave this image or this impression as though they had this sort of vested interest in making sure that proving that jussie was wrong. You understand what im saying . So i worked in chicago for three years as a local reporter. So i know the Chicago Police department well. I know chicago very well. My building is in the neighborhood where jussie lived, loews, which is attached to a hotel. Thats why some people were wondering if you live in the loews residence, they deliver room service, dont they . I would presume why would you be out getting a sandwich when you can call room service . That was one of the things, whatever. What i will say is i have been talking to the Police Department. I would call and say, i have a reporter on tonight, and weve heard this. Can you give me any information . They have told me every day, have not leaked anything to me. They told me every single time up until today that Jussie Smollett was a victim. They were looking at him as a victim. Now, what they did outside of me, i dont know. But my experience with them during this case is that everything was above board. They only gave me the facts about whats happening. They didnt say, don, off the record, im thinking this. That never happened. Good. As it relates to as it relates to this case, and maybe because its me, they did that. To you. But just almost every other day, there was a news story and it seemed to be coming from and i could be wrong, but a lot of those articles were coming from unnamed sources within the Chicago Police department, and that is unprofessional. As we say, innocent until proven guilty. The attorneys say like any other citizen mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one, where information both true and false has been repeatedly leaked. The question i have for you midwin, are you surprised he didnt go in and speak to the police again . Very surprised. So you think that he should have went in and spoken to the police again . Yeah. Very surprised. Can i ask you something too as well . If youre innocent, why do you have to hire a crisis p. R. Or a criminal attorney if you know the truth . Well, you kind of just laid it out. You just said that he is fighting two battles on two fronts, a legal battle and a battle in the court of Public Opinion. Mmhmm. So its 2019. Everything is played out on that camera right there. So you have to have a team in place to deal with these kinds of things. You understand what im saying . So i understand why he hired that team and whatever. Thats less of an issue in terms of his credibility. What i found to be the most astounding thing, particularly when i watched that interview, is he didnt come across as someone who was genuinely upset as a victim of crime because when you are a victim of crime and ive worked with a lot of victims of crime as a defense attorney. The number one thing they want is to be believed. And in order to be believed, you will do whatever it is that you are asked of to be believed, such as turning over your cell phone records. So heres the other side to that equation. No one victim acts in the same way. True. True. Thats how it will always be explained. We all process information differently. That is absolutely true. Having said that, i think the storys very troubling. I think hes in a world of hurt notwithstanding the presumption of innocence, and i think this is not something we needed as a country right now. I think it diverted resources. I think it demeans victims who really need assistance. Are we going to think twice next time someone says anything . I hope not. He is one person, one case. I hope not. Can we be honest . To certain groups of people, even if they were skeptical, they said, i hope this is not true. Black folks, gay folks, you know of course. And you know why black folk and gay folk say that, because there are real victims of well, because there are real victims of homophobia and of racism, but also because unfortunately we tend to all be painted with the same brush when one person does wrong. And thats why we always say that when something goes wrong, is we hope the person is not black. We hope the person is not gay. Yeah. Theyve been wrapping me for about ten minutes now, and i just am going on. Again, like any other citizen, mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information both true and false has been repeatedly leaked. Tough conversations. Necessary conversations. But these are necessary conversations. They are. And no one here on this set is against anyone. We just have to report the facts, and this is where we are right now. You do it well, sir. Keep it up. Thank you both. Of course. Thank you. Well be right back. Isnt what goes into your soup. Just as important as what you get out of it . Our broccoli cheddar is made with aged melted cheddar, simmered broccoli, and no artificial flavors. Enjoy 100 clean soup today. Panera. Food as it should be. Drama queen with serious root issues. She sees a bit of gray and thinks. screams luckily, theres magic root cover up from loreal. Three seconds to flawless roots 3. 2. 1. Done the number one root concealer in the world. Magic root cover up from loreal paris. You turned a family recipeher, into a brewing empire before prohibition took it all away. I promised our family id find your lost recipe. By tracing our history on ancestry, i found the one person who still had it. Now, im brewing our legacy back to life. Im david thieme, and this is my ancestry story. Now with 100 million family trees, find your story. Get started for free at ancestry. Com. Were learning more about a u. S. Coast guardsman who was arrested last week on gun and drug charges. Heres what prosecutors are saying. They say, Christopher Paul hasson is a selfidentified White Nationalist who allegedly plotted a major terror attack. Federal agents found 15 firearms and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition at his home in silver springs, maryland, just outside washington, d. C. Court documents say he was inspired by norwegian terrorist anders breivik, who killed 77 people in a terror attack in 2011, to make a hit list. On that list were democratic politicians including senators chuck schumer, richard blumenthal, kamala harris, cory booker, congresswoman maxine waters, and journalists from cnn, msnbc, including myself. We are all safe, and we thank the coast guard and Law Enforcement for stopping this in time. But we need to talk about why once again critics of the president are being targeted with violence. Just last october, cesar sayoc was arrested for sending bombs to people and media organizations the president considers his enemies including george soros, the obamas, the clintons, congresswoman waters, and cnn. These things dont happen in a vacuum. The president s words matter. Just look at the suspects list of targets. One of the names on that list, poca warren. Its a reference to massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren using the same racist nickname the president uses for her. And according to prosecutors, the president was on the suspects mind. On the same day hasson made his list of targets, he googled what if trump illegally impeached and civil war if trump impeached. Just this morning, the president attacked the press, singling out the New York Times as the enemy of the people. Hes done this before. The New York Times counts 151 public statements or tweets by the president attacking the media since he took office. The publisher of the times responded to the president s tweets saying in demonizing the free press as the enemy simply for performing its role of asking difficult questions and bringing uncomfortable information to light, President Trump is repeating from a distinct retreating, i should say, from a distinctly american principle. The phrase enemy of the people is not just false. Its dangerous. Hes right. Words matter. A lot to dig into. Philip mudd, david gergen are here to do it next. To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best to make you everybody else. Means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight and never stop. Does this sound dismal . It isnt. Its the most wonderful life on earth. With expedia, i saved when i added a hotel to our flight. So even when she grows up, shell never outgrow the memory of our adventure. Unlock savings when you add select hotels to your existing trip. Only with expedia. They have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps. Com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the Amazing Services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps. Com tv and never go to the post office again shocking news tonight. A coast guard officer, an alleged white supremacist arrested on gun and drug charges. Prosecutors say he wanted to conduct a mass killing and that he had a hit list that included journalists and prominent democratic politicians. Im joined now by philip mudd and david gergen. Gentlemen, good evening to you. Im so glad that you could come on to discuss this. Phil, im going to start with you first. I want your take on this coast guard lieutenant. His name is Christopher Paul hasson. Allegedly wanted to conduct a mass killing. This is what prosecutors say. He intended to, quote, murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country. Its a thwarted attack. What do you think . This is pretty straightforward. People will look at this and say look at an individual like this and say hes deranged. This never would have happened. Thank god for Law Enforcement, but this is something that happens in the movies. Does it happen in real life . Let me tell you something, don. The way this is diverted by Law Enforcement is not because theyre geniuses. Its because somebody made a mistake. The difference between mass murder and an arrest like we saw today is somebody like this individual speaking to the wrong individual, a friend or a family member, saying something wrong on the internet for every person in america and there are 330 million americans who look at this and say, dont worry about this. This is a fake plot. If this individual remember the pulse nightclub. Remember dylann roof in south carolina. Remember what happened in california with that shooting at an office place a couple of years ago. Remember Oklahoma City decades ago. For every person who says this is fake, this kind of stuff cant happen because people like this are idiots, people like this are idiots until they dont make a mistake and they kill dozens of people. Thank god he i dont know what mistake he made. Thank god he made a mistake. Otherwise wed have a different story tonight, don. David, when you see that this person had a hit list that included democratic politicians, people in the media including myself and some of our other colleagues, what goes through your mind . Just despair about where were going as a people and whats dividing us so deeply. I think the question tonight is, is the Trump Administration to blame for this man . In fairness to the two people who believe in donald trump, i think they would argue, how can you blame the president for some crazy, sick person . There are a lot of crazy, sick people in this country who have nothing to do with this. And by the way, people who believe in trump get beaten up from time to time as well. There was just a story the other day with a couple guys getting beaten up. I dont know the origin of the story. So i think we dont want to say that the Trump Administration directly is to blame for this. What i do think is important to underscore in a time like this and i wish more trump people and i wish all of us would say the president and his team do set and are responsible for setting the moral tone of the country. And the moral tone of the country right now is very unhealthy. It does give rise to people who are violent, crazy guys. You know, hes got almost two dozen weapons hes bought in the last two years. Hes got a thousand rounds of ammunition downstairs in his basement. Hes obsessed with whats on the internet, and he wants to go after all the lefties. Is there some responsibility thats borne by the administration . I think the administration in fairness ought to sort of own up to they should set a better tone. David, thank you. Thats going to be my tease. Is he setting the right tone . Can he set a better tone . Lets discuss that on the other side of the break. Well be right back. Every day, visionaries are creating the future. So, every day, we put our latest technology and vast expertise to work. the United StatesPostal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Enhanced with cinemastream for less buffering and smoother streaming. Cinemasound for audio up to 60 louder with 260 more perceived bass. And cinemacolor with dolby vision to bring your entertainment to life with ultra vivid colors and stunning contrast. Experience the incredible color, sound and streaming of dell cinema. Get 200 off select xps13 laptops at dell. Com. Tmobile is always happy to see you. When you join tmobile you get two lines of unlimited with two of the latest phones included for just one hundred bucks a month. The New York Times hitting back after President Trumps latest attack on the newspaper and the press in general. The times calling it fast and dangerous. False and dangerous. Phil mudd and David Gregory are back with me. Phil, lets talk about the tone of this and so forth. There is no sign the president is going to admit this to the people. You think he understands the dangers of that but ignores it anyway . I think he calls this as a Winning Strategy to demolish to diminish mueller. Miller, to oppose anything that miller says thats negative. Instead of working for the common good, he set himself up for a winner takes all kind of politics. And its hes not the first, but weve never seen him be so relentless and so in your face. That was my next question, because it was it was just late last year that my colleagues and i had to evacuate the offices because a man sent bombs in the mail to media organizations and highprofile individuals. The president considered them his enemy. Does this feel like a new phenomenon to you or a different climate . I think the climate is quite different from anything weve ever seen. The nixon case, we go back to that frequently and watergate, that was more contained. It didnt say much about the country, it said something about what was going on among nixon and his cronies. This is a cultural phenomenona were seeing now. For a lot of us, the question becomes what is going to come after trump . He is not going to be in office forever. When he leaves, how is the nation going to change . And i think the big question is, are we going to be able to snap out of this and change our culture back to what is more traditional, or are we setting ourselves on a course that is going to continue long after he leaves, after people leave. And i think it would be quite threatening to our democracy. So, phil, it should not go unsaid that you have had threats against you. You talked about it on the air here. How big of a concern are domestic terrorists in this climate . I find this interesting. I spend my years typically following people overseas. When they think of terrorists, they think of terrorists coming from other places, especially the islamic world. If you look back to the 1970s, if you look at today, people in this country who hate who are oftentimes. More often are domestic terrorists. Who hate other people, that is people who are white supremacists, who look at people who are foreign, whether its blacks or hispanics, theyre foreign and we need to do something about them. Tone is something in this environment. Important in this environment. If you suggest someone who is an immigrant or black or theyre a member of the media, im not suggesting a politician is responsible for a potential act of violence. What i am going to say is that if you say that the media or a black person or a mexican person is sort of a threat to the american people, there is onetenth or 1 100 of the population who will say, im going to do something about that. That percent and is significant. There are 30 million americans. If. 100 of 1 say im going to take something in the media and act on it, we have to worry about it. People have to worry about it. Thank you. I appreciate your time. The Justice Department is expecting Robert Muellers report as early as next week. And thats not all. Michael cohen is now set to testify publicly in front of congress on wednesday. With the most lobster dishes lobsterfest of yeart red lobster like lobster lovers dream with butterpoached, creamy and roasted lobster. Or new crispy, coconutty lobster in paradise. New ultimate lobsterfest surf turf is here too. Its time to lobsterfest, so hurry in. Drama queen with serious root issues. She sees a bit of gray and thinks. screams luckily, theres magic root cover up from loreal. Three seconds to flawless roots 3. 2. 1. Done the number one root concealer in the world. Magic root cover up from loreal paris. Or psoriatic arthritis, Little Things can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats differently. For psoriasis, 75 clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. For psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ready to treat differently with a pill . Otezla. Show more of you. This is cnn tonight. Im don lemon. Robert muellers investigation is about to end, two years after it began. Attorney general william barr is about to make that announcement early next week and to receive a report on the special counsels findings. Sources are also saying the attorney general plans to submit a summary of the report to Congress Soon after the investigation ends. But exactly what information hell send to capitol hill is unclear. In his confirmation hearings, bill barr testified he would be as transparent as possible with congress and the american public, but in his words, consistent with the rules and the law. I want to get right to it now. Shimon prokupecz is here