Murder and ron goldman, now hes about to become a free man again after serving nine years for Armed Robbery and kidnapping. Plus, hes vowing to return to sparring with fellow lawmakers after a brain cancer diagnosis. And hes already tweeting about his differences with trump about u. S. Policy in syria, so what is the prognosis for maverick of the senate, john mccain . Good afternoon, welcome to the lead, im jake tapper, beginning with our politics lead today. The nations top Law Enforcement officials find themselves in the extraordinary position of defending their right to keep coming to work today. After the president of the United States attacked the top officials at the department of justice and the fbi. In an interview with the New York Times, President Trump attacked the attorney general, the Deputy Attorney general, the former head of the fbi, the acting head of the fbi, and of course, special council, Robert Mueller whos investigating his campaigns possible ties to russia. The subtext of many of these criticisms, being that these men do not seem to understand how they should be trying to serve him. Donald trump. The president. Instead of serving the American People or for that matter, justice. The most humiliating of the many belittlements in the interview was perhaps his personal rebuke of the first u. S. Senator to ever publicly support him. The attorney general, Jeff Sessions, for being, quote, very unfair to him by recusing himself from the russia investigation after it was revealed, of course, that sessions had been during his confirmation hearing less than transparent about contacts he had had with russian officials. Then giving the president zero heads up about it. Zero. So Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, reaccuses himse himself, i then have which, which frankly, i think is very unfair to the president. How do you take a job, and then reaccuse yourself . If he would have recused himself before the job, i would have said, thanks, jeff, but im not going to take you. Its extremely unfair, and thats a mild word to the president. I spoke with four republican senators today to see what they thought about what the president said in this interview. One spoke to me on the record, the other three spoke to me on background because they didnt want their concerns to deinvolve into a food fight with President Trump. Republican senator number one told me, quote, im very disturbed that the president would throw Jeff Sessions under the bus. I think sessions did the right thing ethically and the right thing legally to undermine the attorney general is very bad forum for the president. That senator continued, one gets the impression that the president doesnt understand or he willfully disregards the fact that the attorney general and Law Enforcement in general, they are not his personal lawyers to defend and protect him. He has his own personal lawyers, and of course the white house has the white house counsels office. The attorney general is americas top Law Enforcement official. Its unclear if he understands that. And thats pretty disturbing. Again, that was a republican senator. A second republican senator told me, quote, i know Jeff Sessions to be a person of real integrity, which is why he recuseded himself. I dont think its good for any president of the United States to undermine the federal judiciary. A third republican senator told me, quote, if youre Jeff Sessions, its got to be tough to come to work the next day, but, attorney general sessions did come to work today. He said this i have the honor of serving as attorney general, its something that goes beyond any thought i would have ever had for myself. We love this job, we love this department, and i plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate. President trump went on in the interview to attack former fbi director james comey, accusing him of lying. And he went to impugn the reputations of the acting fbi director Andrew Mccabe as well as rod rosen stien, and of course suggested that the special council, Robert Mueller, appointed by rosenstein had conflicts of interest. Amidst all of this, perhaps the most troubling part of the interview was the president would not rule out firing special counselor mueller if mueller looked into his and his familys finances. Mueller was looking at your finances, your familys finances unrelated to russia. Is that a red line . Would that be a breach of what his actual part is. Yeah, i would say yes. The New York Times reporters followed up, one asking, would you fire mueller if he went outside of certain parameters of what his charges and asking what would you do. The president saying, i cant answer that question. Because i dont think its going to happen. The third republican senator told me, he was stunned by this remark. Quote, maybe i shouldnt be that the point he said, but this one seemed to go a little further. Any thought of firing the special counsel is chilling. Its chilling. Thats all you can say. And that would certainly cause congress to hire its own somehow. I cant imagine it happening, but, many of us couldnt have imagined hed fire comey. Either knowing it would lead to mueller or Something Like that. Republican senators one and two expressed concerns about the appointment of a special counsel which they view as often leading to fishing expeditions, regardless, they could not believe the president was saying that he possibly would fire mueller if he looked into trumps finances, if he crossed that red line. Quote, thats just making the bad situation hes in worse said senator one. Not smart, said republican senator two, youve got a special council, let the individual do his work. Dont comment, dont interfere, just let the special council do his job. Senator susan collins, republican of maine is the only senator who would go on the record, she is not one of the other three senators i referred to. She said quote, it would be catastrophic if the president were to fire the special counsel. Mr. President , these are republican senators. Some of whom are considered strong supporters of yours, all of whom want you to succeed. And their message to you on this issue is cut it out. Just moments ago, President Trump was asked about his relationship with attorney general Jeff Sessions and heres how that played out. Great job. Mr. President , does Jeff Sessions have your full support . Thank you, everybody. Mr. President , did you authorize elon musk ringing endorsement, no comment in fact from the president as he wrapped up an announcement related to his make America Great initiatives this week. Lets go to sarah murray. Similar question was asked at todays briefing, and that was at least acknowledged. Reporter well, thats right, jake, its a natural question. After he said all of these negative things, does he want his attorney general to resign . Sarah Huckabee Sanders said essentially, well Jeff Sessions is still here, isnt he . Heres what she said. As the president said yesterday, he was disappointed in the attorney general sessions decision to recuse himself, but clearly he has confidence in him or he would not be the attorney general. Reporter now that may be the public reaction were getting from the white house, but privately, sources are telling my colleague jeff, that this has had a Chilling Effect on staffers in the west wing. There was no one who was more loyal to President Trump along the way than Jeff Sessions. He was the first senator to come out and endorse President Trump. And it was very lonely road early on. And so theyre looking at this and saying, if hes not even loyal to Jeff Sessions, who will he be loyal to . You talked to a number of senators, jake, of course our colleagues on the hill caught up with a number of them too. And they had their own messages for President Trump. Heres a sampling of what they had to say. We proceed and well do our Due Diligence and we got two committees now in the senate, we have one committee in the house, you have a special council. So a lot of investigation is going to take place, regardless. The independence of our judicial officials is highly critical to the functioning of our democracy. The president makes a lot of statements off the cuff that sometimes come back to haunt him, and thats one of them. Reporter so that is the message from the hill. Despite the protests, mr. President , the investigations are going to carry on, not only on capitol hill but also at the Justice Department, jake. Sarah murray, thank you so much. What does a member of the Senate Committee investigating possible Trump Campaign ties to russia think about the president s red line for the special council . Well ask next. Stay with us. Having mplaque psoriasise is not always easy. Its a longdistance run. And you have the determination to keep going. Humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for nearly 10 years. Humira works inside the body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. In clinical trials, most adults taking humira were clear or almost clear and many saw 75 and even 90 clearance in just four months. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal, infections and cancers, including lymphoma have happened as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. 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Everyday, i think how fortunate i am. I think is today going to be the day, that we find a cure . I think how much i can do to help change peoples lives. I may not benefit from those breakthroughs, but im sure going to. Im bringing forward a treatment for alzheimers disease, yes, in my lifetime, i will make sure. Dad flash drives . Yup. Thats dad taking care of business. Laptop setup . Yup. But who takes care of dad . Office depot, office max. This week, all hp ink, buy one get one 30 off. Taking care of business back with the politics lead now. President trump slamming his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the russia probe and warning special council Robert Mueller not to go too far in investigating his or his familys finances. Joining me now democratic senator chris kunis of delaware, he serves on the Senate Judiciary committee. President trump has confidence in the attorney general, otherwise he wouldnt be there. In your view, do you think President Trump was trying to send a message that sessions should step down . Should quit . Well, i thought it was really striking that in interview with the New York Times, media outlet that the president has often criticized, that he chose to do two things that struck me as inappropriate. One, to brush back special Council Bob Mueller by saying he better not go too far and the other suggesting that he wish he hadnt hired the attorney general and he wouldnt have if hed known he would recuse himself. In both cases, jake, i think the president is confusing what the role is of the department of justice. The officials who lead the department of justice take an oath to uphold the constitution, not a loyalty oath to the president. And i think if the president mistakingly thinks the department of justice is merely a political extension of the white house, then he ought to have a good look at the constitution and the importance of the independence of the investigatory functions of the fbi, the doj, and in this case, special council, bob muler. Do you interpret what President Trump said today about sessions . Do you think he was trying to suggest to him that he quit . If i were in Jeff Sessions shoes, if i were attorney general, i think this was a suggestion i should quit. It is strikingly a disloyal from someone who should be grateful that senator sessions was literally the first senator, now attorney general sessions, was the first senator and in some ways the longest and most dogged defender of donald trump in the course of his campaign. So, i think he both misunderstands why the attorney general recused himself, and shows a striking lack of loyalty to one of his strongest and earlier supporters. There was an interesting moment in the interview where the president said it wasnt until Richard Nixon that the fbi began reporting to the Justice Department out of courtesy, he said, quote, the fbi person really reports directly to the president of the United States, which is interesting. You know, which is interesting, and i think were going to have a great new fbi director, unquote. Your Committee Just unanimously approved Christopher Wray to be the next fbi director. Now goes to the senate floor. Do you think President Trump is trying to send a message to him, you work for me, pal . President trump sends all sorts of messages. Some of them focussed, some unfocussed. Some of them in long form interviews, some in twitter ranlts. Frankly, what matters here is what Christopher Wray understands about his job. And he comported himself well in front of the judiciary committee, the reason he got a unanimous vote that was he persuaded the members of the committee that he understands his obligations to the constitution, not loyalty to the president. The white house is saying that President Trump was making it clear that special council Robert Mueller should not, quote, move outside of the scope of the investigation. In your view, do you think President Trump was threatening special counselor muler in any way . If you peek too much into my familys finances, im going to fire you . The language of the interview certainly was implicitly threatening, bob should stick solely to things related to russia. Thats not the scope of the special counsel. Hes looking into obstruction of justice and looking into whether or not there was inappropriate collusion between russian officials and the Trump Campaign, but as he investigates, as this goes along, i would expect him to follow the facts where they lead and to reach whatever legal conclusions are appropriate. One of the things that makes bob mueller strong is the special council is that hes clearly got bipartisan support here in congress, he is wellrespected as a career federal Law Enforcement officer, and i suspect hes not intimidated at all by the statements by the president in the New York Times interview. Susan collins, senator from maine, republican told me that if the president fires mueller, it will be, quote, catastrophic, another republican senator told me that if he fires mueller, he suggested that congress would seek a way to continue the investigation beyond just the committees. What do you think would happen if President Trump fired special counsel mueller . What do you think the senate would do . I think there would be very widespread rejection of that action as being a fundamental threat to the rule of law in our country. And i think strong action would be taken on a bipartisan basis. I think the president really underestimates the extent to which there is deep bipartisan concern about this ongoing russia matter, and real enthusiasm on both sides to see it resolved. To get to the bottom of it, and to understand whether theres a there there and there needs to be some prosecutions and some further consequences, or whether theres nothing there, and its been fully investigated and it should be something we can move passed. Theres a real hunger on the part of many members of both parties to have this resolved appropriately. And if the president steps in and cutting it off by firing bob mueller, i think hell pay a very heavy price here in congress. Senator chris kunis, democrat from the wonderful state of delaware, thanks so much, sir, good to see you. Diagnosis of brain cancer is not stopping senator john mccain from paying attention to whats going on on capitol hill. So what are mccains options for fighting this disease . Stick around. Dad flash drives . Yup. Thats dad taking care of business. Laptop setup . Yup. But who takes care of dad . Office depot, office max. This week, all hp ink, buy one get one 30 off. Taking care of business buy one get one 30 off. So we know how to cover almost almoanything. Hing even a swing set standoff. And we covered it, july first, twentyfifteen. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum finding the best hotel price is now a safe bet. Because tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites so you save up to 30 on the hotel you want. Lock it in. Tripadvisor. 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Mmm, fine. Okay, what do we got . Okay, watch this. Do the thing we talked about. What do we say . Its going to be great. Watch. Remember what we were just saying . Go irish see that . Yes im gonna just go back to doing what i was doing. Find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. Were back with the health lead today. We just learned that President Trump has called senator john mccain, who is of course fighting Breast Cancer in arizo brain cancer in arizona. He issued a statement about the syrian war and also tweeted this, quote, i greatly appreciate the outpouring of support. Unfortunately for my sparring partners in congress, ill be back soon. So standby. Privately the arizona senator and his family are trying to decide how to treat his latest diagnosis. An aggressive brain tumor discovered during a cranonmy above his left eye last week. Lets bring in sanjay gupta. Mccain has a long history with skin cancer. How might that factor in to what treatment he might consider . Its a great question, two points about that. First of all, sometimes the treatment for other cancers, such as if you got radiation for another cancer, can increase your chances of developing Something Like this. I looked into that, and i reviewed his medical records back in 2008, it doesnt sound like that was the case. He didnt receive radiation at that time. That probably didnt increase his chances. So really shouldnt affect what Treatment Options are available to him. Typically, its chemotherapy and radiati radiation, sort of specified to that part of the brain. In combination, but there are other treatments, theres about 150 clinical trials, ongoing right now, jake, looking at all sorts of Different Things from vaccines to viral vectors to the polio virus as a potential sort of treatment. There may be various options. We shouldnt sugar coat, this is going to be a tough battle for the senator. You obviously mentioned chemotherapy and radiation as potential options for mccain. Is one more severe than the other . Is one preferable . You know, in this case, they are typically given in concert. You know, either just one right after the other, even at the same time, what i would say is that chemotherapy, you know, people tolerate it differently, but to acutely or in the short term that can be harder for people to tolerate. The radiation in the longer term can be harder to tolerate because it tends to have a sort of more delayed affect on brain function overall. And they both, they both are hard to take. I think the point youre making, and despite that, you know been prognosis across the board, with everybody, survival is around 14 to 14 1 2 months. And the fact that he has done so well with the previous cancer does sort of increase his chances, but again, we shouldnt sugar coat it as you point out, jake. Dr. Sanjay gupta, thank you so much. It the special council investigating ties to russia likely to look into the trump Family Finances . 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Before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Never give up. See me. See me. Clear skin can last. Dont hold back. Ask your dermatologist if cosentyx can help you find clear skin that lasts. Were back with our world lead. President trump was briefed today at the pentagon about troop deployments and the war against isis. Last september, you might remember, then candidate trump said this. So were going to convene the top generals and give them a simple inspection. They will have 30 days to submit to the oval office a plan for soundly and quickly defeating isis. They will have 30 days, but were at the six month mark, and that has yet to happen. Lets bring in pentagon correspondent barbara star. President trump always said he doesnt like to reveal his plans. Have we gotten any glimpse in his administrations new strategy to fight isis . Well, theres been bits and pieces like arming rebels and working with opposition groups, but an overall comprehensive strategy, not at this point. And the president was here at the pentagon today in the tank with top officials for two hours discussing all of this. Described to us as a chinscratching session, walk around the world to look at all of the threats. The Pentagon Press secretary came out to brief us, offcamera, no surprise there, and what she told us that when it came to discussing pakistan, afghanistan, and the korean threat, the discussion was not needy, her words. Little bit odd to know why the president was here for two hours, if it wasnt going to be a meaty discussion. Meanwhile, the fight has been going on for years. President trump said today, before the briefing, quote, isis is falling very fast. Does that square with what youre hearing from generals. Well look, it is falling where it stands in iraq and in syria, but in syria in particular, isis has already moved out of rocca into other areas that the u. S. Hasnt been able to get to yet. And very much isis still an ideology that is not going to be killed off. Experts will tell you by bombs and bullets alone, this is still an ideology that can inspire extremists around the world and youll only have to look at those attacks the world has seen in many places in europe and other places to know this is still a group that can cause agony wherever it strikes, jake. Barbara starr at pentagon, thanks so much. We have a lot to discuss with the political panel. Lets dive right no. President trump obviously skewering Jeff Sessions today, saying he should have recused himself, had he known, he wouldnt have hired him. The christiannology makes it complicated, lets not get into the that. Can your former state attorney general, have you ever seen anything like this . Well, this is, i think, a repeat of earlier complaints, the president has made, its just that this weeks raising of them. Even the frustration over the recusal of Jeff Sessions is not new, and its my understanding that the attorney general offered his resignation, it wasnt accepted and after that step was taken, hes in for the duration. And what the attorney general said today i think was absolutely appropriate. I love the department of justice. I respect the people here and im going to keep doing my job as long as, you know, and press ahead until Something Else symptoms that. His phrase was until thats no longer appropriate. Exactly. About steps he might take if he feels like mueller is going to places that he shouldnt, including his and his familys finances. Yeah, i mean, i dont think theres any question that donald trump does view this still like a Family Business. You know, he had his government, you mean. Governments a Family Business and everybody woks for him personally and should be taking care of him. And that he should just basically tell everybody what to do and they should fall into line. Thats how a Family Business runs. Thats why he has his children as his closest confidants. People will take the marching orders and go do what theyre supposed to do. Thats not how government works. There are certain lines youre not supposed to cross. Theres certain youre supposed to allow people to do their jobs. Not supposed to humiliate people who work for you. The attorney general should operate with independence, theoretically, ian though it is a political appointee, he works for the country, not donald trump. Thats a loaded phrase. He gleed. He said listen, yeah, that would be over the line, but if its not related to the russia investigation, it is outside. But, ken, heres the point. We expect transparency from our president. And Donald Trumps defensiveness to be transparent about his personal finances, whether it is signaling to mueller that he should not look into this. Which by the way, bob mueller, if youre listening, means you should absolutely look into this. Why shouldnt he . Why shouldnt he . Unrelated to russia. Unrelated. We have the sound, go to question four. Its what you think. No, no, no, that was the question. Lets not debate about what he said. Listen to what the president said about special council Robert Muellers probe. Looking at your family or your familys finances unrelated to russia. Is that a red line . Would that be a breach of what his actual part is . I would say yes. Thats what he said. Unrelated to russia. A red line no New York Times said red line. And he said, i would say yes. So thats an answer so its over the line. Over the line. It crosses the line, would it be a breach . And it does. And the followup question, what would you do . And he wouldnt answer the question. And he has suggested before in the context of all of this, that and my point simply is that it is being presented by the media, including here, that he is making these threats affirmatively. Hes answering questions, look, i ran against Terry Mcculloch for governor. I dont remember the media giving a flying rats tail about that. Not one bit. I dont think i covered im not dragging you into it. Im not dragging you into it, but now all the sudden, it goes the other way from a partisan standpoint, and now theres all of this massive interest, unrelated to russia. Unrelated. You do not know if it is related or not. Because you do not know if there is any let me finish. Let me finish. Let me finish. You have no idea if there has been any russiarelated connection to his personal businesses. You do not know. Thats why bob mueller may look into it. There may be a connection but can i say i talked to four republican senators today. I talked to five republican senators today, all of them read the interview, all of it interpreted the same way. He was leaving out this possibility that if mueller goes too far, if its a breach, if its a red line, words of the New York Times reporters that the president agreed with, that he could, he would fire him. And within the context to the fact that he fired comey, i think it i mean, thats i think thats probably it. I mean, i take your point. Youre right. He didnt say he was going to fire him, but i think in the context of what happened with comey, a lot of people read it that way because what is he going to do . Hes going to like go bad boy, no, hes going to do something. And he has the power to do it. Hes going to with cause. Regulation that requires good cause. Anna, i knee senator john mccain is a close friend of yours. And i know you wanted to comment on the horrible news and obviously were all rooting for him. Yesterday when i heard the news, it was a shock. A kick in the gut. John mccain is 80 years old, but he doesnt act like hes 80 years old. 16 years old, really. Collect the wherewithal, the energy, so, you know, you think nuclear war happens, theres two things that survive, cockroaches and john mccain. And, you know, and to see that hes facing mortality and facing this Health Challenge at this time when this country needs his voice and his leadership and his seriousness and his courage, more than ever, is very painful. But then this morning, i thought, i know my friend, and the last thing he wants is a pity party. The last thing he wants a premature obituaries. What weve got to hope for is that john mccain is able to get back here, to get back in the game, to do what he loves most, which is making a difference, speaking, being a leader. Showing his principles. And i thought, you know something, hes going to be completely free to be unincumbered john mccain, should he get back here. Interesting to think, interesting to think weve had the john mccain thats been holding back. Hes been holding back all of this time. Thanks to one and all. Its really appreciated. Soon hell be a free man. The surprise answers he gave to the nevada parol board, next. This is a story about mail and packages. And its also a story about people. People who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams theyre handing us more than mail theyre handing us their business and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you breaking news this afternoon, o. J. Simpson is set to walk out of prison after serving nearly nine years there. Moments ago in nevada, he was granted parol after his 2008 conviction for Armed Robbery and kidnapping in las vegas. So based on all of that, mr. Simpson, i do vote to grant parol when eligible. And that will conclude this hearing. Thank you. Of course, his most infamous legal bout was the 1995 socalled trial of the century, his acquittal for the murders of exwife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend ron goldman. Lets bring in sarah sidner. What led to the decision today by the parol board . Reporter there were lots of different factors. And this is the Order Granting parol that weve all looked at and there were six crimes he was still serving time for. Many of them including use of a deadly weapon. And o. J. Simpson said to the parol board, it wasnt me holding the gun, although in the trial, it was clear he knew that there were people who had guns in this, but they look at all sorts of things. Testimony from o. J. Himself, they listen to testimony from a friend of his, testimony from his daughter. His attorney read a letter that he had written to a legislator here in nevada. Ultimately, they made their decision that o. J. Simpson will be released from prison. Heres what o. J. Said to try to plea his case. Ive done my time. You know, ive done it as well and as respectfully as i think anybody can, i think if it you talk to the wardens, theyll tell you, ive been i gave them my word, i believe in the jury system. Ive honored their verdict. Ive not complained for nine years, all ive done is try to be helpful. Reporter and when you heard that from him, that wasnt of course all he said. He said many Different Things, some people listened to his testimony, he was very selfserving. He talked about how great he was, how great he did in prison and blame on those who brought the guns, but ultimately, he did say that he was sorry, jake. During the hearing, we heard from simpsons robbery victim. He came forward, its unusual to hear from a victim during the parol hearing. It absolutely is. Bruce fromong, he was the memorabilia dealer who was o. J. Simpsons longtime friend. He came out very strongly, most compassionately for o. J. Simpson, probably more compassionate than anyone else, including o. J. Simpson himts, jake. Yeah, veried to have a victim come forward and ask for parol for the person who committed the crime against him. Sarah sidner, thank you so much. Senior legal analyst jeffrey tube whon covered the 1995 murder trial extensively, we have with us, criminal defense attorney danny and also mr. Steven wolfson, hes the top prosecutor for clark county, nevada, where the Armed Robbery took place. First of all, jeff, let me start with you. You said the testimony in your view was nauseating, obviously the parol board either disagreed or it didnt matter. Well, i think they thought both of those things. The rules of parol seem very much to guide this result, and i have no quarrel with the parol boards decision, but i think the character that o. J. Simpson displayed, the narcissism, the selfpity, the selfjustification, the statement that i simply couldnt believe that he said he had led a conflictfree life. Now, he, of course, is entitled to say that he didnt kill Nicole Brown Simpson and ronald goldman, he was acquitted, but he was convicted of domestic abuse, and nicole had called 911 repeatedly, and for him to say this wife beater, this domestic abuser, to say he had led a conflictfree life indicates how he views Domestic Violence as something thats not really a crime, its just sort of a personal matter, and i thought it was appalling, but it was indicative of the character that o. J. Simpson has displayed in private through most of his life. Danny, what factors do you think influence the parol boards decision today . You know exactly what factors because its laid out in nevadas parol guidelines. And they went through them, each and every one at the hearing. Some of the factors that helped o. J. , the fact that hes 70 and the fact that he remains sort of conflictfree, while he was in prison. Although as jeffrey says, certainly not in life in general. On the other hand, some of the factors that hurt him was that this was a property crime, and statistics show that people are likely to repeat offend when you commit crimes like robbery or burglary. But then the patrol board took into account all kinds of facts, and surely, they had to take into account how o. J. Acquitted himself when answering their questions, which i think nobody would give him anything above a c plus. Your wife is retired District Court judge who oversaw the las vegas Armed Robbery trial against simpson. Have you spoken to your wife about todays decision . Well, not yet today, jake. You know, my wife works fulltime in another job and i work fulltime, so we havent spoken yet, no, not yet today. What do you think about the criticism that the sentencing of nine years for the Armed Robbery was essentially just pay back for the alleged double homicide he is alleged to have committed . You know, i take great exception to that because under nevada law, mr. Simpson was convicted of crimes that required a mandatory prison sentence. First kidnapping with a use of a deadly weapon. Thats a minimum patrol eligibility sentence of six years. So, my wife jackie, who by the way is a great judge, of course, i have to say that, gave him nine to 33 years. So anybody that criticizes her for racking it up, realist click, she could have racked it up and sentenced him to even more years in prison. Jeff, you wrote in the new yorker, quote, the american legal system is not supposed to be a karmabased organization of retribution, but thats thousand worked in nevada. The las vegas case was a transparent attempt by the local authorities to issue payback for his acquittal in the 94 murders. You disagree. Do you think the Justice System did its job today . I do. I think this was payback from the beginning. I dont blame the nevada authorities. I thought o. J. Was guilty of the murders, but this was a wildly excessive prosecution, a wildly excessive sentence, and you know, im going to take exception with that. Im sure you do. Have you ever had a gun pointed in your face . Have you ever been in a small room with gunmen directing you not to leave and not to do certain things. Thats a scary thing but why do the people but why did the people Crimes Involving guns seriously. Exactly. Thats why the people with the guns got no time or they got probation or tiny sentences and acquittal let me finish, i let you finish. Mr. Simpson was heard to say, bring the heat. I take exception with him saying that he didnt know the guns were going to be there. I dont think either of you are going to convince the other one that hes wrong. We have to leave it there, folks, im sorry. Thank you so much. President trump is signaling that the special council should steer clear of his Family Finances. Will that work . Member of the House Intelligence Committee will weigh in coming up. Dad flash drives . Yup. Thats dad taking care of business. Laptop setup . Yup. But who takes care of dad . Office depot, office max. This week, all hp ink, buy one get one 30 off. Taking care of business buy one get one 30 off. Youre in the match app. Now tap on the new missed connections feature. It says ive crossed paths with kate six times this week. That is a lot of times. Shes cute too yea how did i miss her . You didnt. Match picked it up for you. Check out new missed connections on match. Start for free today about to see progressives new home quote explorer. Where you can compare multiple quote options online and choose whats right for you. Woah. Flo and jamie here to see hqx. Flo and jamie request entry. Slovakia. Triceratops. Tapioca. Racquetball. Staccato. Me llamo jamie. Pumpernickel. Pudding. Employee hey, guys home quote explorer. Its Home Insurance made easy. Password was hey guys. Its Home Insurance made easy. The Energy Conscious whopeople among usle . Say small actions can add up to something. Humongous. A little thing here. A little thing there. Starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. Who are all these caretakers, advocates too . Turns out, its californians its me and its you. Dont stop now, its easy to add to the routine. Join Energy Upgrade california and do your thing. Welcome back to the lead. Turning to our pop culture lead today. And our newest lead read. We have with us, journalist mother cohost of new day, Allison Kamara toe, novelist to her resume. She has written her first book. Amanda wakes up. Its about a young female journalist. In the middle of an election year. Hmm. Hmm. My imagination, wild. She joins us now. Goes from being a local reporter, pulled into the limelight of a morning show with kind of a beefy, handsome cohost. Beefy, i dont remember that description. So you should tell people how much of this is actually about your life . Amanda does have Life Experiences that are early similar to mine. And you know, look, you write what you know. So there is 25 years of experience in tv news that i have, all of it, some of it, is in here. So, its from, you know, when i was in my 20s and all of the things that i was wrestling with and its also more recently, i actually started writing it in 2012 during that crazy president ial race. And there are a lot of things ethical dilemmas and tough decisions that i was wrestling with then that i sort of processed through writing a fictionalized version. But there is, its interesting because you wrote this in your previous job, and its the network describes is not quite fox, its not quite cnn. Its its own thing. It was, actually, my dream, vision, when i was working at fox, and i felt sort of beleaguered when it was so partisan and such a partisan ecochamber and people assumed i was this conservative journalist, i sort of had a fant i have is what would it be like to work someplace where there werent any partisan leanings and everything was fair and it was my dream, my sort of utopian vision that then turned into a nightmare right. Because it turns out that manufactured balance is actually not news, and not much fun to try to report on. So, lets read our equipment excerpt. Explaining what her job is. Amanda writes, i have moral to bare witness to history, even the stuff i dont like. I said, then sighed, and maybe its not the job of journalists to solve problems, maybe that was always a gimmick, but just reporting problems doesnt feel like enough anymore. I want to help both sides understand each other. Is that thats amanda, but is that also allison. Is that how you feel . I dont believe thats necessarily our job. We are a conduit of information. We do bear witness to history, but sometimes, you feel, and i know you know you are in the mix as well when people are yelling at each other, and it is so partisan, i do want to try to help them understand each other. And i want to help the viewers try to understand both perspectives, i do share that sentiment. So quickly, the readers are going to want to know who the inspiration for your handsome cohost was. I will admit it now for the first time. It is. You . It was me . Im the inspiration for the handsome cohost. People are going to think its your actual cohost. Right, right, right. Well funny you should ask, i also work with a handsome cohost in addition im not sure that words been used. And i must say, its not based on chris cuomo, however, i did, with permission, steal some of his best lines and assign them to rob. All right. Its a great book. Amanda wakes up. Thank you so much. And congratulations. Thanks so much. Follow me on facebook and twitter. Tweet the show at the lean cnn. We to want welcome a new member of the lead family. Claire Elizabeth White was born monday to our senior editorial producer, scarlett white, oh my goodness. Look at that face. Look at her. Both mom and baby are home and doing well. Congratulations to the loving parents. Thats it for the lead, im jake tapper, now Brianna Keeler is in in for wolf blitzer in the situation room. Happening now. Breaking news, conflictfree life. Nevada parol board agrees to let o. J. Simpson out of prison after the former nfl star says he spent a conflictfree life. Simpson acquitted two decades ago in the deaths of his exwife and served nine years in a robbery and kidnapping case. At this time, the white house says President Trump does not intend to fire special council Robert Mueller at this time. A day after the