Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20180328

Of staff james baker in just a moment. But we do begyp with the latest legal threat to President Trump. Stormy daniels Attorney Michael Avenatti filing a motion in federal court seeking permission to depose the president and his personal lawyer, michael cohen. Just days after daniels 60 minut minutes interview after an encounter with mr. Trump. Mr. Avenatti made a case for putting the president under oath for public consumption. Were going to test the veracity or truthfulness of mr. Cohens, his attorneys, statement. Were confident, gayle when we get to the bottom of this well prove to the American People theyve been told a bucket of lies. The other side is intending to endorse this case into a private ashization hidden from the public where the public doesnt really learn what happened. Nbc News National correspondent, my friend and colleague, Peter Alexander at the white house right now. Weve been tracking this story for quite some time. Theres been no reaction from the president this week. Still no reaction from the white house to these latest developments as you and i both know, they want to turn the page on this whole controversy. Whats the mood there . What are your sources telling you . I think you are exactly right. This president , this selfproclaimed counterpuncher has pulled his punches on this. We have yet to see him in the last days with a public event here at the white house. He was in florida over the weekend. But he knows in a moment like that, that hed be pressed on this, the same way sara sander has been pressed by you, and our colleagues on this issue, which the white house has repeatedly denied speaking on behalf of the president. But he himself hasnt spoken to this issue right now. The hearing on this request is set for april 30th. The goal of Michael Avenatti is to keep this in the face of the president , trying to depose him putting him ifn a position wher he could face other legal problems. Bottom line as we hear repeatedly from this white house, this is not a topic they want to be focusing on right now. We are also hearing from the attorney for michael cohen, david schwartz, about this specifically saying it is a reckless uls of the legal system in order to inflate Michael Avenattis inflated ego and keep himself relevant. This is politically motivated and people see through this charade. Thats the latest on this, as we wait for the next shoe to drop. We certainly are waiting for the next shoe, peter. And we are learning in terms of the other legal issue the president s dealing with, the russia probe. There is a new attorney thats coming into new focus, someone whos been a part of the legal team with jay sekulow, ty cobb, but whos going to be more front and center. Andrew economo is going to be a bigger player for now. Frankly, very few people know the details about this individual. Hes 69 years old, a little known former prosecutor. He has a doctorate in medieval history that many people have found interesting. Right now is playing a more prominent role. Ty cobb leads the investigation. Here in the white house they say hell be stepping forward in effect, economo will, coming after the departure of john dowd just last week. It also comes as weve been watching President Trump try to find a new toptier white collar lawyer. Ted olson declining. Two other lawyers declining in the last two days as well. In those cases its been a conflict of interest but for now this president s team appears to be a tight circle as we try to learn more details about this individual prosecutor taking a role. Peter alexander, thanks for covering all those headlines. Ill see you back at the white house in a shoert time. The other story were following, the first foreign trip by kim jongun since 2011. Beijing rolled out the red carpet for the north Korean Leader. President xi wanted to make sure kims first summit was with him. It had all the makings of a state visit. Kim says hes open to a denuclearization and a summit with President Trump. Officials say that meeting could happen at the end of may. For that and much more, Andrea Mitchell, the host of this show, has a very special guest. Take it away, andrea, in houston. Thank you so much, kristen welker. I am here at Rice University Baker Institute for Public Policy for their president ial Campaign Election forum. Todays very special guest, the former secretary of state, former treasury secretary, former white house chief of staff in the reagan administration, james a. Baker the third and founder of the Baker Institute. First of all, a summit. A summit with kim jongun, the first summit between a north Korean Leader and an american president , if it takes place. An we see overnight chinas role in welcoming kim jongun for what we believe to be his first foreign visit of all with all of the red carpets and the pomp and circumstance. What does this tell you about what china is trying to do here . Well, i think theyre doing what they ought to do, and thats staying close to their state, north korea. Theyve got a big interest in making sure a couple of things dont happen. One, they dont want a failed state there. They dont want a whole lot of refugees flowing across the border into china. And they dont want u. S. Troops on their border. If would be the case of course if the United States and south korea ended up with a very friendly government there in north korea. So i think that chinas doing what china ought to do. But what im struck by, really, frankly, andrea, is that the United States and china both have a problem with the past behavior of north korea and kim jongun. I mean chinas not happy with the idea that theyre going to have a heavily nucleararmed Korean Peninsula right there on their border. They dont want to see that. We dont want to see that. So i think its too bad that there wasnt some way that we could work with the chinese to achieve this, this result of denuclearization of the peninsula. China is the only country in the world that really has significant influence on north korea. But but, thats not the route were going. Were going the route of negotiating with north korea. Thats fine. Im a great believer in diplomacy. Im also a realist and i know whats happened since 1994. Weve seen the North Koreans talk a lot but not do anything constructive by way of reducing their missiles and development of nuclear weapons. Youre in the past someone who has prepared for big summits. This was so unprepared that the president just said, yes, ill go, as the South Koreans were preparing to brief him and make decisions on whether to go. Well, i think the South Koreans probably are pleased with this decision. They want to see us but should the president have waited and thought it through . You could make that argument. That certainly was the way we used to do things. But hes president. Hes the decider. And so we are where we are. Having said that, there is some chance, i suppose, that an agreement could be crafted that would provide for denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. We ought to make sure we stick with that as our goal. That of course would require extensive verification procedures on the ground, anywhere, be any time, any place type stuff. Let me just ask you about the risks here. If he goes in with Great Expectations and it is way too complicated to have real results in the first meeting, whats the downside if he comes away and kim jongun disappointed . Downside you face in any decision you make in politician is wanting to always be able to exceed expectations. Thats how you do well in politics. Thats how some of the people i worked for, frankly, were so successful. Everybody totally underestimated ronald reagan. But he exceeded expectation. But you dont want to fail to meet expectations. What about what you have here . If you fail here, you need to know, be prepared, what your next step is going to be. Everybody knows the cataclysmic consequences of a war on the Korean Peninsula in terms of loss of life. Primarily korean loss of life. And the failure here would be going to a military option. Well, we dont know whether it would mean that or not, but it is very likely that it could. I dont know the degree or extent to which we could take out north Koreas Nuclear capability. Im told we could get the vast majority of it in a Surgical Strike type activity. But thats not a very good option, in my mind. And lets hope that somehow we find a breakthrough diplomatically. If i was in there, what i i would have sent some highlevel enjoy to xi jinping, the president of china, that the chinese trust and have confidence in. I would say, look, you dont like whats going on in the Korean Peninsula, we dont like whats going on. Why dont we do something to stop it . The United States will support any government you install in north korea provided they repudiate the acquisition or maintenance of nuclear weapons. We will trade with that government. We will establish diplomatic relations. We will execute a peace treaty ending the korean war. We will do all of these things. Your job is to put a government in place there thats different than this government and one that repudiates youre talking about regime change. Yeah. Well, thats what it would be. That the chinese are not happy. Were not happy. Now this guy here is going to change his behavior and actually agree to denuclearization, or neither the United States or china are going to be happy. So at some point youll get to the question of regime change. The only thing we would be asking china to do is take care of that change. And theyre in a position to do it. Theyre saying, oh, no, we cant do that, we dont have that kind of influence. I dont believe that. China controls everything that happens in north korea if they want to. They can cut off exports from the North Koreans, so forth. Let me ask you about russia. The president on one hand a week ago congratulates Vladimir Putin on a sham election in contradiction to his own advice, in big, bold capital letters, and doesnt bring up the fact that the kremlin tried to kill a former russian spy and his daughter on english soil with a nerve agent thats a band chemical weapon. Even though he had been told to do that. And then a week later, were expelling more spies at any time since the cold war. I think its important to i think message discipline is really important in running a campaign or in running the white house. I think there could be an improvement in this white house with message discipline. You think . Needless to say. On the other hand, i will remind you that ronald reagan, for whom i worked for eight years, told the bureaucrats at one point when they told him dont say, mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. Youll create a terrible problem. He said listen, im president and thats what im going to say and he wrote it back in the speech. That turned out all right. Let me turn to twitter. A president fires his secretary of state on twitter, and calls kim little rocket man. I thought that was humerus. How does that affect americas diplomacy and americas position in the world . Are diplomats overseas dont know which president is going to be show up to be effective as secretary of state, you have to have the full support you have to be seen with the president , youre in his lane, in his turf. Secretary of state has to be supportive, protective and defended by the president if hes going to be effective. And i thought that firing Rex Tillerson that way was absolutely the wrong thing to do. I dont think i just think its too bad that happened the way it did. Im proud of rex for being willing to serve. I called him and told him that and im sorry that it ended the way it did. Could you be secretary of state if the president s soninlaw is taking care of the middle east, china, mexico and the persian gulf . You need to make sure that the president , when he asked you to serve and this applies as well to secretary designee pompeo, that he wants you to in fact be his secretary of state in the way the statute calls for, that youre his primary Foreign Policy advisor and implementer, and that youre his chief spokesman. And everybody in washington, as you know, wants a piece of the Foreign Policy turf. And you cant be an effective secretary of state unless the president empowers you and makes sure everybody else gets out of your turf. Would you blow up the iran deal next month . I dont know. I was not i was not enamored with the result. I think blowing it up could be very problematic, and ill tell you why. Because i dont think that were going to be able to i think what brought the iranians to the table an it was very effective were multilateral sanctions joined in by our western european allies. If theyre not going to be there, if we blow up the deal, theyre going to point to us. It is going to be really hard for us to continue sanctions or to enhance sanctions. If we dont, we might be able to get them to convince them, hey, look, you want to keep this agreement going . Then lets get stronger sanctions. Lets make sure they stay in effect. If you were the new secretary of state, say mike pompeo gets confirmed, or john bolton as National Security advisor, how do you be the chief Foreign Policy advisor, as you described it, with an insider like john bolton . John is an extraordinary bright guy. I gave him his first job, i think, in government in the first reagan term when i suggested that he find a spot in the white house counsels office. He was very effective for us. He was effective in the first bush administration. Controversial in the second bush administration. John has some very deeply held views, many of which i disagree with fundamentally. But i think i know he is a patriot and hes an extraordinarily able and capable public servant. Now will he get along will he defer to the secretary of state the way he should . The job hes now in is one of consensus and coordination, not too much one of articulating your own views, although youre free to express those to the president. Time will tell. The president has apparently told some advisors that he doesnt need to have a chief of staff. John kelly seems to be on thin ice. You were chief of staff. How important is that role . I think its pretty darn important because the white house is big, the administration is big. Running an administration is not a lot different than running a Political Campaign for president. So you need organization. You need message discipline. You need procedures. You cant have everybody just running in any time they want to into the oval office. You had that at the beginning of the Clinton Administration and they corrected it, got control of it. I think john kellys done a remarkable job in bringing some order and discipline to the white house. I got to ask you about campaigns. Youve got campaigns where we didnt even know none of us knew exactly what was going on. We knew there was russian meddling but not to the extent of social media and all. What would be the political impact of orchestrating the fire of Robert Mueller at this point . I think the political impact would be adverse for the president , clearly. I think if you dont have anything to hide, like some senator said cant remember which one it was you dont have anything to hide, act like it. Why fire him . Let him finish his investigation and conclude his report. Now having said that, i agree with some of the things that i see coming out of the white house unattributed that many of those prosecutors are hardline opponents of some of the things that i have believed in as a conservative republican. But i dont think you fire the special prosecutor. You let him finish his job and because thats way our system works. We are, after all, a country of laws. James baker. Thank you very much. Thank you for your service. Great to be with you again. Kristen welker, back to you. Is there andrea, fantastic interview. A lot of headlines from iran to russia, the special counsel investigation, even raising the specter of possibly regime change in north korea. Andrea, we are going to check back in with you to break down some of those big headlines you just got. Thank you so much. Coming up, military option. Angry that the trillion dollar spending bill didnt fund his border. Is the president bringing in the big guns to face the problem, or at least pay for it . This is Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. Because if you only want the best thing, you get the 1 thing. Directv is rated 1 in Customer Satisfaction over cable. Switch now and get a 200 reward card. More for your thing. Thats our thing. Call 1. 800. Directv sarge, i just got a tip. Thatll crack this case wide open turns out the prints at the crime scene awwwww. Did Mcgruffy Wuffy get a tippy wippy . Im serious we gotta move fast before whos a good boy . Is him a good boy . Erg. Im just gonna go. Oh, you wanna go outside . You gotta go tinky poopoo . I already went, ok . In the bathroom as long as people talk babytalk to dogs, you can count on geico saving folks money. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. And whos going to pay for the wall . Whos going to pay for the wall . Mexico whos going to pay for the wall . Mexico isnt it true that mexicos not going to pay for that wall . Im not going to go beyond what the president s already said. I think he still has plans to look at potential ways for that to happen. What way is he considering having mexico pay for the wall is this. When we have an announcement on that ill let you know. Not exactly a denial as we learn President Trumps thinking of making mexico pay for his longpromised border wall. Instead he is considering the u. S. Military picking up the tab. This comes as the president is privately fuming over the omnibus spending bill which lax sufficient spending for that wall. We know he got a lot of heat from his base. Lonnie chen, Research Fellow at the hoover institution. Josh ernest, former White House Press secretary and msnbc political analyst. Thanks to you both for being here. Monty, this is one of President Trumps Signature Campaign promises that mexicos going to pay for the border wall. We know he is now looking to u. S. Taxpayers. Hes infuriated by the omnibus. But is it realistic to have the military pay is it. I dont know if it is realistrealist ic but certainly from a political perspective, it is important in mexico pays. Not that mexico pays, but there is some progress on the wall. I think people almost didnt take him literally there. The big question is can he make progress on the wall in order to motivate the Republican Base going into the Midterm Election. Josh, your take on that. Democrats have long said it is unrealistic. It isnt realistic. I think this is important to the Republican Base. I think any time you are in a situation to ask the 2kdepartme of defense to pay for something for political reasons, youre doing the wrong thing. Let me play sound from the interview we all watched, andrea with james baker. Listen to how he responded to a chief of staff. I think it is pretty darn important because the white house is big. The administration is big. Running an administration is not a lot different than running a Political Campaign for president. So i need organization. You need message discipline. You need procedures. You need proprocesses. You cant have anybody you want to at any time running into the oval office. That question comes as the president s been mulling the idea, however seriously or not, as potentially not having a chief of staff. Does he need one . The president thinks he is his own best messenger. I think any president is going to be well served by having an empowered chief of staff. Thats something that President Trump actually never really has had. Hes had somebody like john kelly who is well respected and somebody who has had more success in instilling some discipline on that organization. But President Trump i think as even evidenced by the public speculation that he doesnt really need general kelly i think will undermine general kellys ability to do that job. Not empowering him will make him less successful. Lonnie, josh raises an important point. Has general kelly already been undermined by President Trump, all of these rumors coming out of the white house that hes going, hes staying. How does that impact his effectiveness . Its been a very challenging environment. Make no mistake general kelly brought order to a situation where there really was no order before. To secretary bakers point, thats extremely important. The process drives a lot of that outcome. If you dont have a good process manager youll be in deep trouble. So i think kelly has been very effective and i hope he will be able to do his job. Because if hes not, the president s not going to get a whole lot more done. As we are watching, tracking a new scandal, Stormy Daniels seems to escalate by the day. Today we woke up to the news that her attorney is now trying to have the president deposed. Lonnie, big picture this for me. If you are a republican running in the midterms, how concerned are you about this headline, particularly when it comes to women voters . The white house says it is not going to have an impact. I actually dont think it has too much of an impact. I think they are looking at fundamentals like the economy. I think much more worrisome if i were a republican is not doing anything about obamacare. Because that continues to be one of the chief motivating issues but obamacare hasnt been in headlines. These stormy headlines are sort of overwhelming the white house on a daily basis. But i dont think republicans voters are looking at that. I think they factor this in to the president s behavior. This is who he is. We knew what they were getting into. I kind of think thats right. Josh, Peter Alexander confirms your former boss is going to be out on the campaign trail in Beverly Hills campaigning for senator mccaskill. Obviously shes running a very tough reelection campaign. What do you expect former president obama to play . How tough is he going to be about President Trump . Had. Senator mccaskill is my home state senator so i have a vested interest. Shes somebody thats been counted out before. I would say that a tough race in the fall. Republicans who underestimate her do so at their own peril. This is in terms of president obamas ability to raise money for her, this is the prince this is among the most significant contributions he can make in the midterms. He can raise a lot off money. I do think president obamas trying to walk a fine line here. He does not want to be the dominant figure on the democratic side in the Midterm Election so he wants to pick and choose his spots to make an impact on some of these key races. Certainly raising a million or two dollars for senator mccaskill is one important way he can benefit her and benefit democrats without, frankly, dominating the debate. Great conversation, josh ernest, lonnie chen. The Supreme Court hearing a case today which could have major implications on how states draw up districts. 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Help protect yourself against pneumococcal pneumonia. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about prevnar 13®. With pg e in the sierras. And im an arborist since the onset of the drought, more than 129 Million Trees have died in california. Pg e prunes and removes over a Million Trees every year to ensure that hazardous trees cant impact power lines. And since the onset of the drought weve doubled our efforts. I grew up in the forests out in this area and honestly its heartbreaking to see all these trees dying. What guides me is ensuring that the public is going to be safer and that these forests can be sustained and enjoyed by the community in the future. The Supreme Court could be on the brink of an historic change in the way the country conducts elections. Today justices heard arguments in a highprofile partisan gerrymandering case, a challenge brought by republicans in maryland who say democrats intentionally carved up a Congressional District to get an electoral edge. It is the second case this term that examines whether it is unconstitutional for states to draw boundary lines for voting districts in a blatantly partisan manner. Nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams joins me now from the Supreme Court. Pete, i know youve been tracking this. This is, frankly, an issue that democrats and republicans have had. But this case is being brought by republicans, so what are the implications and how likely are they to prevail, do you think . Let me tell you what happened in the argument here today. Gerrymandering is always done by the Majority Party and they always do it to help themselves. And the Supreme Court has never said thats unconstitutional. So the question is when would it cross a constitutional line. Now the republican challengers from maryland say it crosses the line in this case in redrawing the sixth district which has been held for 20 years by a republican named roscoe bartlett. In 2011 the state intentionally drew it to give the democrats that seat. The challengers say that violates the First Amendment because it punishes them for their political views supporting a republican candidate in the past. So one question is how can you tell when theres too much partisanship. And on that, a majority of the Supreme Court seems today to say it is pretty clear that there was too much partisanship in this case. Justice elena kagan said the question is always how much is too much. This she said is too much. Justice Stephen Breyer seemed to agree saying thats true but when are we going to have a case thats this clear . That is the second problem. If you decide it is unconstitutional to have acceptably partisan gerrymandering, then what do you do about it . What is the test. Thats where the Supreme Court majority seemed to be struggling today just as samuel alito says once you open that door, then you are going to get the courts involved in every legislative redistricting unless partisanship is never an issue. That doesnt seem very practical. You mentioned the fact the Supreme Court heard the wisconsin case in october. We assume that they were holding a decision for that case until they heard the maryland case. Well, it didnt seem from todays argument that theyre any closer to finding that answer, that test for deciding when partisanship because too much, so blatant that it is unconstitutional. They seem to say that maryland has gone too far but unsure what to do about it. Fascinating case that could have major implications for our political system. Pete williams, thank you for tracking all of the developments from the Supreme Court. Really appreciate it. And coming up under oath . Could the lawyer for Stormy Daniels really call the president of the United States into court . One of the countrys leading constitutional experts joins us next right here on Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. If you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, Little Things can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,. With reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Tell your doctor if these occur. 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. 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Thats Stormy Daniels attorney defending his decision to file a motion in federal court to depose President Trump and michael cohen, his attorney, a potential big legal problem for mr. Trump and his presidency. Professor hassen is the author of the justice of contradictions. Andr andrew, thanks for being here. Weve been looking at a number of potential legal cases against president , including one by some observers, a former contestant on the apprentice. A lot of people thought she had a real case. She is accusing him of sexual misconduct. But now you have Stormy Daniels giving that bombshell interview on 60 minutes and her lawyer overnight, Michael Avenatti, trying to get the president to be deposed. Do you think theyre going to be if effective . Well, the threshold question is going to be whether or not this case remains in court. You may remember that this whole thing is potentially going back to a private arbitration where we wont know whats going on. There is a reasonable chance that the federal court says, tho, thth this case goes to arbitration. All the claims youve got are going to be handled privately. He has to get over that threshold. A federal court is going to actually hear the case. Then the paula jones case which Stormy Daniels lawyer pointed to does say that the president can be deposed, but it also says that youve got to work around the president s schedule and you have to be very flexible in terms of how these things go. Were a lot of steps away from President Trump being put under oath and asked all these questions about this. You point to paula jones, and of course thats the crux of this argument, that former president bill clinton was deposed and that he purr jerjur himself and that ultimately led to his impeachment. How dangerous is it for President Trump to be deposed, even if it is several months or years away . I think it is very dangerous for any president who is involved in a controversy to be deposed, especially here by a private party that you know is quite adverse and very aggressive. The president is known as someone whos said a lot of things that are not always found to be true, and so it would be very dangerous. But im not so sure thats actually going to happen. Picking up on that point, you talk about the fact that we are looking at a time factor here. Couldnt the president and his legal team throw everything they have at this and just essentially refuse for the president to sit for deposition . Of course, the difference here is that it was trumps ally thats actually brought the suit against Stormy Daniels. Remember, he tried to get that temporary restraining order and got that order from the arbitrator. Then you had daniels go to state court. Then trumps lawyers move it to federal court. So unlike a case like bill clinton where clinton didnt want to be involved in this, he was just a defendant, here you have action by the president to try and get some relief either from the arbitrator or from the court. If that happens, it is harder to argue, well, im too businey, i dont have time. We know the president does have a lot of extra time on his hands. We can see he is on twitter around we know about the executive time, so it is going to be less credible to argue hes just too busy handling affairs of state to be able to sit for two hours. Fascinating insights, rick hasen, really appreciate it. Coming up next, protecting a prosecutor. Why are Senate Leaders making new moves to keep the president from firing special counsel Robert Mueller. This is Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. Were also leading water projects in more than 100 communities. And for every drop we use. Were working to give one back. Because our products rely on the same thing as we all do. Clean water. And we care about it like our business depends on it. With its historical ance records. Test. You could learn youre from ireland. Donegal, ireland. And your ancestor was a fisherman. With blue eyes. Just like you. Begin your journey at ancestry. Com vo just one touch. Ith with fancy feast creamy delights, she can have just the right touch of real milk. Easily digestible, it makes her favorite entrees even more delightful. Fancy feast creamy delights. Love is in the details. I dont think you fire the special prosecutor. You let him finish his job and because thats the way our system works. We are, after all, a country of laws. That is former secretary of state james baker telling andrea just a short time ago that there would be an adverse political impact if the president orchestrated the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller. Lets get the inside scoop from our own Andrea Mitchell who is back. White house bureau chief. And msnbc political analyst phil rucker. And betty woodruff, politics reporter for the daily beast and msnbc contributor. Andrea, you asked james baker that question. He had that fascinating answer, very strongly worded. It comes as we are learning that a group of nine senators sent a letter to the department of justice asking them to protect mueller. How much concern is there on capitol hill, throughout washington, that there is a real possibility . I think there is a lot of concern because of the recess. Theres been no movement at all by the leadership on the republican side to put that Bipartisan Legislation that was put forward. It is bipartisan and there are a number of republican senators who would support it but its gotten nowhere on the hill. But now in recess, there is some real concern especially because of some guidelines sent up and down the line to members of the high officials from the department of justice from attorney general Jeff Sessions that seemed to be perhaps a warning signal that something could be afoot, wihich would of course start with rosenstein and move on down. What did you think of bakers response . He certainly was firm that mueller shouldnt be removed. He also said that he did have some concerns about different aspects of this investigation. I think a lot of people, conservative republicans like jim baker, have concerned about some aspects of the investigation. And white house he is a former chief of staff have traditionally been concerned about special prosecutors or independent counsels, in this case. But the question is now that it and that as one said earlier, if youre not guilty, you have nothing to hide, why push back so hard . I think thats a strong signal tr him. Stronger signals from current elected officials, republicans as well as democrats, about how catastrophic the mueller firing would be. That said, the leadership is is really not shown any strength on this because they wont let the issue come forward. Betsy, let me bring you into this conversation. The former Deputy Campaign chair now under a new microscope. Hes already embroiled in the russia probe. But for having contact in 2016 with the russian Intelligence Officer who he knew was a russian Intelligence Officer. What can you tell us about this . This revelation comes from Court Filings that Robert Muellers team filed. Whats important to remember is they dont actually name the individual with the alleged ties to russian intelligence, but we can infer with a high degree of confidence they are talking about a person who was a Russian National who worked with Paul Manafort and rick gates operating in ukraine. Hes gone on the record saying he actually did not have ties to russian intelligence. Thats his position. Although he hasnt, to my knowledge, mae made comments sie the filing came can out. It says the fbi has reason to believe he had ties to russian intelligence. This isnt just base. Ed on what we have been a i believe to gather through reporting. This is Robert Mueller saying the fbi concluded that one of Paul Manaforts Business Partners could have been a russian spy. Its another sign that the russia probe continues to intensify by the day, phil. Let me turn to you now. We havent is heard from the president as we have gotten this new report or the Stormy Daniels koef controversy, which has been escalating by the day. The president has been noticeably quiet. What are sources telling you about the strategy by the president . Thats exactly right. I think its important to point out the difference between the public trump and private trump. Publicly, hes been very quiet about Stormy Daniels the last few days. He said nothing. Hes also had no media appearances where theres been an opportunity for reporters to ask him a question. But privately, hes talking about this. Hes following the News Coverage very closely. Hes bothered by the Stormy Daniels saga. He feels like he has done nothing wrong and has been telling friends and confidants that these accusations are talls. Hes even said that Stormy Daniels is not the kind of woman he finds attractive, but hes not said that publicly, but we know, as with the mueller case, these controversies surrounding him really both. Er him and get under his skin. Andrea, speaking of the messaging coming out of the white house, you asked baker about that. I want to play some sound is and then get your reaction on the other side. I think its important to message discipline is really important. There could be an improvement in this white house with discipline. Your takeaway from that . I think that that criticism from a former chief of staff who ran the white house like clockwork is really a strong signal. And i think they know that. They know that. Phil is a lot closer to it than i, but youre going to see a change. Youre going to see a new Communications Director. I would prekelli ann conway in that role and she would bring that strategic skill to the daily messaging. One wonders why dont dont do something easy on infrastructure with the close area around washington, d. C. You could do a lot on sub wways and bridges and rail lines. Theres just a lack of focus on what they want to do each day and this is often derailed by twitter. By. The president s own message. Indeed. Andrea brings up the point that Kellyanne Con way has gotten a lot of buzz. Someone who is is in a league of her own when it comes to a role in this white house being close to the president and saying no to this president. How important that the president put someone in that position quickly or do you expect that hes not going to move very quickly . Its very important. I expect he will move relatively quickly. We may not have ab announcement by the end of this week, but i assume well have one in short order. The Communications Director job is an important one for President Trump. It is any any way, but especially for trump. He lives and dies by the media every day, as you know. And Kellyanne Conway has edadvid him on messaging and what he should say in public. He admires the work that shes done as a surrogate and her work in the media. So i think it would be a natural step for her ton the Communications Director. Shes currently a counsellor with a lot of policy correspondents as well on opioids and other issues. Were talking about the communications drrkt. The chief of staff has come under a microscope. A lot of people wondering will he stay or go. What are you hearing about that . Theres been withering criticism at this point its unsafe to say whether a decision has been made by the president. But one thing we know is is chief of staff kelly generated a lot of enemies in the white house. Theres a number of people who are always looking for opportunities to leak damaging material about him. And as long as those leaks continue, its going to be a strong cant cater his enemies have not quelled their venom. One thing about Kellyanne Conway is shes doing work on opioids. If she were to leave that post, the white house would face a lot of criticism for having a vacancy there. Thank you so much. More ahead. This is Andrea Mitchell reports, only on msnbc. Trouble. Learning from him is great. When i can keep up anncr thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. Dads got all the answers. Anncr prevagen is now the numberoneselling brain Health Supplement in drug stores nationwide. She outsmarts me every single time. Checkmate you wanna play again . Anncr prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. He gets the best deal on the Perfect Hotel by using. Tripadvisor thats because tripadvisor lets you start your trip on the right foot. By comparing prices from over 200 booking sites to find the right hotel for you at the lowest price. Saving you up to 30 youll be bathing in savings tripadvisor. Check the latest reviews and lowest prices. This is frank. Sup this is franks favorite record. This is franks dog. And this is franks record shop. Frank knowns northern soul, but how to set up a limited liability company. Whats that mean . Not so much. So he turned to his friends at legalzoom. Yup they hooked me up. We helped with his llc, contracts, and some other stuff thats part of running a business. So frank can focus on the beat. You hear that . This is franks record shop. And this is where life meets legal. That does it for this edition of Andrea Mitchell reports. Remember to follow the show online on facebook and on twitter. Craig melvin, my pal and friend and colleague is up next here on msnbc. Good to see you. Good to see you. Im well. Thank you so much. Good afternoon to you. Craig melvin here at msnbc Head Quarters in new york city. Best defense as President Trumps legal fight grows, so does his team. The new demand from Stormy Daniels returning to depose the president under oath and the vir yulely unknown lawyer about to take on a much bigger role defending the president. Also historic change shs the Supreme Court just heard arguments in a acase that could change the voting system. Ill talk to the governor whose comments about redrawing Congressional Districts to win votes could help potentially end gerrymandering in this country. And demanding action, the calls for change and protests at city hall in sacramentoft