Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Alex Witt 20180317

It all politically motivated . Did it cross any lines . Turning up the legal heat, President Trumps lawyer sues Stormy Daniels for 20 million. Then the porn stars attorney fires back with a new threat. Tamping down rumors and reports about whos next in the parade of President Trumps aides and cabinet members heading for the exit. The latest ahead on that. But we begin with this breaking news this morning, former fbi Deputy Director Andrew Mccabe lashing out at the Trump Administration following his firing last night. Attorney general Jeff Sessions fired him at 10 00 p. M. , 26 hours before his retirement. Nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams has more on this. How did this all unfold . Well this stems from an examination by the Justice Departments Inspector General into how the fbi conducted the entire Hillary Clinton investigation. The attorney general says mccabe was fired for repeatedly misleading investigators about his actions, but mccabe says this is the result of the administrations consistent attacks on the fbi. Andrew mccabe stepped down as the fbis Deputy Director in late january and his actual retirement date was tomorrow. But late friday, attorney general Jeff Sessions accepted a recommendation from the fbi itself, that mccabe should be fired after 21 years of service. The fbi recommended firing him over his decision to let fbi insiders talk to a reporter during the president ial campaign about the investigation of the clinton foundation. Attorney general Jeff Sessions said mccabe made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor when asked about it, including under oath on multiple occasions. And Justice Department officials said 19 other people had been fired from the fbi in the past year, for lack of candor. Mccabe was a frequent target of twitter attacks from the president. Who called him a comey friend and urged sessions to replace him. The white house spokeswoman thursday added her criticism. We do think it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior. And by most accounts, a bad actor. And should have some cause for concern. In a statement mccabe said he had full authority to speak to the reporter and did so with fbi legal approval to clarify that the fbi was continuing an investigation that people in the Justice Department opposed. Mccabe said hes being singled out because he supported james comey after he was fired. Mccabe sheered the agent ranks by saying at the time that comeys firing would not derail the bureaus mission. Quite simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the fbi from doing the right thing, protecting the American People and upholding the constitution. Mccabe says his fire something part of an unpress deathed effort by the administration. Driven by the president himself, to destroy his reputation and possibly strip him of his pension. Overnight President Trump called the firing quote, a great day for the hardworking men and women of the fbi and for democracy. He took another shot at james comey, calling him sanctimonious and saying he made mccabe look like a choir boy who knew all about the lies and corruption at the highest levels of the fbi. Alex . Pete, the last line of your piece there, talking about losing pension, i mean hes been at the fbi for 21 years. Can that all go up in smoke now . Not necessarily. There are some options according to the personnel experts that weve talked to. That he can pursue. Its not going to be easy. The important fact here is that the firing doesnt erase the fact that he has 21 years of service. And the question is whether that can still be tapped into to get him at least part, if not all of his pension. Pete williams, a heck of a Birthday Gift for Andrew Mccabe who turns 50 tomorrow, his retirement date. Lets bring in democratic senator ben cardin of maryland. A member of the Senate Foreign relations committee. I want your reaction when you heard this news about Andrew Mccabe. Alex, first good to be with you, its very vindictive by the Trump Administration. Its not only personally devastating to mr. Mccabe and his reputation, but it also is a reflection on the administrations disdain for the fbi itself. And i just think this is outrageous, the department of justice, the fbi should be independent and this type of Political Behavior should be unacceptable in america. Sir, as you heard in petes report there, mccabe is going after the Trump Administration for his firing. He let out a blistering Statement Last night, late. But if career officials at the Inspector Generals office first faulted him and recommended this, does it make it not nakedly political as mccabe might suggest . There are ways of handling disciplinary actions to fire someone, just before his retirement date is very suspicious. It looks like its politically vindictive and it just, a reflection of how this administration feels about the fbi. Theres so many things going on, heres just one more example of the Trump Administration trying to interfere with the independents, the career people at the fbi. In your assessment, sir, did mccabe do anything wrong . You know, i really cant speak to that. Im not privy to all the information. I know that hes been a public servant. I know that he feels deeply about the mission of the fbi. I know he has the support of the rank and file at the fbi. And this is no way that he should be treated. I know when james Comey Told Congress that the president asked him to let go of the fbis flynn investigation, you tweeted that trump was inappropriately prying into fbi investigations. So here we are a year later, nearly. Whats your take . Do you think the president had any direct influence over his a. G. , Jeff Sessions decision . Well i think that the attorney general did the right thing in setting up mr. Mueller in the special counsel. And i guess recusing himself, mr. Rosenstein actually appointed mr. Mueller. But mr. Sessions, the attorney general, did the right thing when he said that he had a conflict and under the rules of the department of justice, he could not be involved in the Russian Investigation. I think he stayed out of the Russian Investigation. And mr. Rosenstein has been the principal person in regards to those decisions. Thats how it should be. With regard to the fbi, which as you know is currently investigating the possible ties between the president and russia, do you think mccabes dismissal intimidates agents who are now assigned to the russia probe . I think theres a lot of questions as to how much the Trump Administration will try to influence the independence of the department of justice and the fbi. Yes, i think theres a chilling impact on individuals who are trying to do their work at the department of justice and at the fbi. What about congress, sir . Is congress conducting any oversight of the many highlevel firings from trumps Justice Department . And what happenes if democrats take back the house or senate . Clearry right now the republicans who control the house and Senate Control all investigations, we cannot set up democrats, cannot determine investigations or set the agenda of either the floor of the house or senate. In the mid term if the democrats take back the house or the senate, that changes and it gives us more opportunity for oversight. Quite frankly i think the republicans have been very reluctant to do appropriate oversight, when the Trump Administration. And thats disappointing, because one of the principle roles of the congress of the United States as an independent branch of government is to oversight the executive branch. Whether its a democrat or republican in the white house or control of congress. I think the Republican Leadership has not carried out that responsibility. Senator card, im going to switch top ins, the department of Homeland Security is accusing russia of hacking into political infrastructure. Power plants and energy grids. Some hacks occurring as recently as last year. Who is responsible for preventing this . And are they doing enough . Alex, i issued a report in january about russias activities, not just here in the United States, but in europe and around the world, we see in the european countries, the leaders taking action to protect against cyberattacks. To protect against misinformation to protect against the misuse of social media. To protect against financing by russia of the Campaign Activities within their own country. In the United States, the president of the United States has not even acknowledged that russia is a threat against us. And certainly has not taken the necessary steps. What i want to see this administration do is charge all of their agencies with protecting america from mr. Putins attacks, whether its our energy grid, whether its our financial grid. Whether its our free elections, whether it is our department of defense. All should be, we have to have a comprehensive strategy, recognizing that mr. Putin will do things to try to undermine our democratic country and our National Security. As you know, sir, word came down this week about something which allegedly happened several weeks ago when special Counsel Robert Mueller reportedly issued subpoenas to the Trump Organization seeking documents about russia. What does this say to you about the investigation . Mueller now requesting material from trumps organization, from his business. Well you know, mr. Mueller has been conducting an independent investigation, he has been very tightlipped about what he is doing. I admire that in the professionalism of which hes going about. Obviously he is concerned about connections between mr. Trumps business dealings, which by the way, mr. Trump has not divested of. Hes the first president to refuse to set his personal business into a separate trust. So it makes him vulnerable. It makes our country vulnerable. I think mr. Mueller wants to know more about that. Senator ben cardin, awfully good to see you again, sir. Thank you so much for joining me on this saturday morning. Thank you. Joining me now, political reporter for npr and jeremy peters, a msnbc contributor. Jeremy, its no secret that the president wanted to see mccabe go. Do you think theres a sense of relief there in the white house . Or at least on behalf of the president , that this has happened now . Among the president , his senior advisers, a lot of the Republican Party and frankly a lot of trump supporters, there is this belief that the fbi, the Justice Department, and more broadly, institutions of power and culture in this country, are out to get this president. So yes, i do think that they are highfiving one another. You saw the president s tweets this morning as Pete Williams was reporting earlier. Hes absolutely ecstatic about this. He thinks this was a great move, not only great for him personally, but great for the country and great for the credibility of the fbi. The problem is the president has continuously waged war on these institutions that the country used to have great deference for. Our political system, our media, and now our Law Enforcement. So i think theres a real question, just about the way in the end, when history looks at this trump presidency, what he has done to the institutions that we once were very respectful of. We revered. Danielle, what about this move by sessions . Does it change the attorney generals standing with the president . Listen its clear its been on rocky ground for months now. Right. You know we cant be clear on whats going on in attorney general sessions head. The fact does remain that you know, over the last year or so, we had seen the president you know, in one tweet he sort of seemed to be goading mr. Sessions into you know getting rid of mr. Mccabe. The president also taunt pld mccabe on twitter. So i mean you know look, were still going to wait for that Inspector General report from inside the fbi to see what it says about mr. Mccabe. If he really did mislead anybody. But you know, these various actions that the president has taken, including his sort of i think one of your reporters said gleeful tweets certainly threatens to cast a different pall over all of this this. Mccabes statement says this attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the fbi, Law Enforcement and intelligence professionals more generally. Part of this administrations ongoing war on the fbi and the efforts of the special counsel investigation which continue to this day. So jeremy, you talk about how this is undermining this reaction, these revered institutions in our country. But mccabes dismissal was made based on the recommendation of the fbis disciplinary office. So does that cover any influence that the Trump Administration may have had over this decision . Absolutely. There was just cause apparently for his firing. His firing was recommended by veteran fbi officials. This was not something that was done on a whim. There was a long investigation, he released some information that the Justice Department felt he shouldnt have. To reporters. And then contradicted himself or was less than forthcoming about it when asked about it. So yes, there is a process that went through that appeared to go correctly. Now that said, his firing also taints his credibility as a witness in some peoples eyes. And thats what mccabes lawyer will say. Thats what the people close to him are saying now. Is that this is more about undermining the Mueller Investigation. Because mccabe is in a position to corroborate what comey has said about trumps interfering, trumps trying to get comey to defend him publicly and say there was no russia collusion. Thats whats really at the heart of all this. And to that point, what jeremy has just said, danielle, is that why the president sent out that tweet overnight . Because hes really putting these two men together in this tweet. You know, thats altogether possible. Its also true that you know, look, mr. Mccabe put out that very fiery statement that you know, is certainly something the president is probably not terribly happy about. Its possible the president is just swinging back, which as we know is a thing that he likes to do. Do you think were going to hear a lot about the i. G. s report from the doj . Are are they going to have to come out and talk about this, jeremy . This isnt going away. This is like Stormy Daniels, like the broader mueller probe. This is just going to be part of the dripdripdrip of the donald trump presidency. The ongoing saga that has him frankly in americans heads 24 7. Which guarantees well be having these conversations again. Danielle and jeremy, thank you so much for your time this morning. We have new developments unfolding, the Stormy Daniels saga, including how the president s name is being directly linked to the case for the very first time. But those days are over. 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With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brainhealth supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. Approaching 20 past. More breaking news this morning, as the president is now linked to the Stormy Daniels legal battle for the first time in a filing by his personal attorney. It happened late last night and nbcs White House Correspondent Kelly Odonnell has more. Good saturday morning to you. What are the steps that are being taken by the president s legal team now . Well this is in response to Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is stephanie clifford. She is the person who signed a nondisclosure agreement right before the election in 2016, to not discuss a relationship that she claimed she had with the president , then a decade ago. The president denies that relationship. Since shes dock publicly trying to say more about this and her lawyer has been very visible, the team on the trump side first Michael Cohen, his private lawyer, who was the person involved in negotiating this nondisclosure agreement, had come forward and tried to stop Stormy Daniels from speaking out. And now theyre taking a new action, and the president has signed on to that. So his name now appears in the legal documents. So it directly ties the president to this action related to Stormy Daniels this comes at a time when here at the white house theres also been high anxiety about what might be coming in terms of changes that the president has even hinted should be coming, would be coming soon. Thats been causing some real nerves here for staffers and weve seen that play out in the, really over the last 14 months with the president , different times when the notion of a shakeup seemed to be looming. Well that is sort of the season were in again. And it has some wondering who will be next to go. Two new legal strategies, from President Trumps personal lawyers. Against Stormy Daniels. A 20 million counterpunch, against the porn star suing the president. Friday, Trump Organization lawyer Michael Cohen sought damages claiming daniels repeatedly violated the nondisclosure agreement which carries financial penalties. And the president s lawyers requested the case move to federal court. Daniels lawyer blasted that as more of the same bullying tactics from the president and mr. Cohen. Intended, he says, to move their battle to private arbitration behind closed doors. The president s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment. In 2016, daniels was paid 130,000 by cohen, to keep quiet. She claims she had an affair with trump a decade ago, that the president denies. On morning joe, daniels lawyer claimed the president was behind the hush money. Do you have any doubt in your mind that President Trump himself directed that payment to your client . None. And he ratcheted up the accusations. Was she threatened in any way . Yes. Was she threatened with physical harm . Yes. But the white house kept its distance. I have no knowledge of that situation. A very different storm has been brewing. Speculation about more staff shakeups. Much of that focused on National Security adviser h. R. Mcmaster. Who was smiling under the pressure friday. The press secretary tried to tamp down the uncertainty. Staff actually spoke to a number of staff this morning. Reassuring them that there were personnel changes, no immediate personnel changes at this time. That people shouldnt be concerned. And that reassurance is something that staffers at Different Levels may hear differently inside the white house. Of course it comes just days after secretary of state Rex Tillerson was forced out. And that of course means there will be other changes, mike pompeo who has been c. I. A. Director, has been nominated to replace him at state. Then the deputy at the c. I. A. Has been nominated to replace pompeo as director. So theres already a lot of volatility if you will with, just those changes, plus some additional criticism of other cabinet secretary who is have been under scrutiny for how they have used government money for their Office Expenses and their travel. Alex . Kelly odonnell at the white house, thank you for all of that. Joining me now to discuss the Stormy Daniels legal battle is msnbc legal analyst katie fang. Lets get into it here. The president s personal lawyer seeking out 20 million in damages from Stormy Daniels. This for violating a nondisclosure agreement. What is this . A scare tactic . Or is this legitimate . Its definitely a scare tactic. But its a completely legitimately legal move by the trump team. Whats fascinating about this is the reality now that donald trump himself is embracing this litigation, with Stormy Daniels. Donald trump who claimed previously he didnt know who this lady was, didnt have a relationship has now basically said yes, i am a party to this litigation and i am more importantly, alex, hes saying hes a party to that Settlement Agreement. Hes acknowledged that he is, because hes been sued in this case as David Dennison, an alias used in the Settlement Agreement. So the idea of removal from state court to federal court is a legal move could be a smart move on the part of trump and his essential consultants, llc run by Michael Cohen. Its left to see whether a federal judge will agree that the binding Confidential Arbitration provision in the Settlement Agreement will take everybody into closeddoor proceedings. Interesting these pseudonyms, David Dennison and peggy peterson. Why the request to move it from state court to federal court . Who does that benefit . Only a defendant in litigation can do the removal from state court to federal court. Its not like Stormy Daniels could have done it. The reason why you want to do it if youre a defendant, sometimes in federal court theres a level of formality and speed and efficiency you may not see in state court if you needed to have something especially set in state court it may take months to have it heard in federal court theyre exceptionally speedy in terms of how they deal with litigation. So if youre a defendant and you want to get to a quick resolution, you may want to have it in federal court. Okay. Stormys lawyer said on morning joe that his client had been threatened physically to keep quiet. How does this impact the lawsuit, katie . In terms of the optic of it, it makes it worse, think about the evolution of the case so far. If you voted for donald trump and you didnt have a problem with the fact he had an extra marital affair, thats one thing. If there were Campaign Finance violations that might give you cause for pause, because it doesnt smell or look good. But now if you hear that potentially there was threats of physical harm to silence a woman who otherwise only quote had an affair with donald trump, that should really make you pump the brakes. Thats a criminal act. And if the threat of physical harm happened prior to the execution of the Settlement Agreement, then that may in and of itself invalidate the agreement and it may mean theres no reason why Stormy Daniels cannot say what she wants to say and apparently shes already said in that 60 minutes interview thats going to air. Is it going to air, though . Are you definitively certain that theres nothing that can stop that from airing next sunday night . Other than death and taxes, i cant say it definitively. But from a legal standpoint, prior restraint meaning trying to stop people before they Say Something doesnt happen in the United States. Theres a Supreme Court decision that says you cannot restrict the First Amendment free speech right for someone like 60 minutes to go forward. There is a liquid aated damages provision in a Settlement Agreement if Stormy Daniels says something and it breaches that agreement, shes on the hook for 1 million for each time she breaches. If youre donald trump and the 60 minutes interview airs, sue her and you get your liquidated damages, thats the reason why im fairly confident that the 60 minutes interview will go forward. Okay, katie phang, thank you so much. Coming up, condemnation from a former c. I. A. Director on mccabes firing. And the mood in the white house, a Washington Post piece describes it on converging on mania. My white house Insiders Panel weighing in next. Captivating exteriors dynamic lighting elevated comfort powerfully efficient and one more thing the world comes with it you can go your own way. 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When the full extent of your veenlty, moral turpitude and political corruption become known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history america will triumph over you. Mccabe claims that he was singled out for his role in the russia investigation saying in his Statement Last night the attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally. But to taint the fbi, Law Enforcement and intelligence professionals more generally. Joining me now, authors Chris Whipple and david parise, with a welcome to you both. I know david, youre a former c. I. A. Officer. Can all this be seen as part of the president and gop attacks on the fbi . What would the implications be here for National Security . At the very least its a bad impression, adam schiff on the House Intelligence Committee. Ranking democrat, called this an odious taint on the president. This doesnt look good even if the Inspector General report comes out and shows there was clear wrongdoing. There is still the issue of the president going out before this. And essentially taunting the attorney general to fire the Deputy Director of the fbi. Even if there is cause theres still something to be concerned, that has people across the Law Enforcement and the Intelligence Community concerned. If they step the wrong way, say the wrong thing, and somebody associates them with something the president doesnt like, are they going to be summarily fired . If youre the president , he has reportedly attacked mccabe privately. Asking him who hes voted for. Telling him to ask his wife how it feels to be a loser and publicly the president has turned up the pressure on attorney general Jeff Sessions to fire mccabe. How account president not be seen as having influence here, having tipped the skalcales in s firing . No doubt about it, this was a brazen political vendetta on the part of donald trump. The victory tweet just confirms that. Beyond a low blow, clearly. But beyond that, the really troubling thing here to me is that this just confirms that were dealing with a president who has no regard for constitutional norms, who attacks democratic institutions. He smears the fbi. He trashes the reputation of dedicated Law Enforcement professionals. And there is apparently no line he will not cross. After the saturday night massacre, Richard Nixon essentially backed down. And justice took its course. But its not at all clear that theres any line donald trump will not cross. And unfortunately, there are no grownups in the room. David mccabe said that the Inspector Generals report was accelerated after his testimony of the House Intelligence Committee in december when it revealed that he would corroborate comeys accounts of the discussions he had had with the president. Do you agree this was very quick, unusually speedy in terms of this disciplinary action. Or do you think that mccabe got appropriate due process . It seems to be it was sped up. We dont know exactly what went into it without the inspectorgeneral report. But pressing the attorney general to move on this and i think even mentioning his pension in a tweet earlier, that put pressure on somebody already feeling the heat from the president. Because look, Jeff Sessions is in a tough position, but hes put himself in that tough position. Hes recused himself from the investigation, but then all of these things in a close orbit around the investigation, he is acting on. That has him in some jeopardy. If hes trying that hard to keep his job from a president who disrespects him, he needs to look in a mirror and reflect on his choices. I want to talk about Rex Tillerson and all that went down there about his firing this week. We have the Washington Post reporting that h. R. Mcmaster may be next. Of course john boltons name has been among those leading floated to row place him. But the mood inside the white house in recent day has verged on mania. The wall street journal reporting a truce would keep john kelly in place for the time being. Do you think, chris, that the chief of staff is defining this presidency . Well look, donald trump is, is who he is. And he will always define this presidency. I mean its, this is not some sort of complicated chaos theory of management as he might have you believe. This is just sheer chaos. This is a white house thats broken. And i think its going to get a lot worse. You know, john kelly has failed even by his own narrow definition of the job, which was to make the trains run on time in the west wing, clearly the trains are off the tracks now. All the competent people are headed towards the exits. H. R. Mcmaster is probably soon to join them. And so its just its just a disaster in the making. What about david, the president who is favoring c. I. A. Chief mike pompeo as new secretary of state. Hes been criticized for bringing c. I. A. Overtones to investigations. Its certainly possible for one person to be both a good Intelligence Leader and a good diplomatic leader. Those two arent necessarily in conflict. But what we have here is a Musical Chairs approach to senior staffing. Its no way to run a government. What you have is even the adults in the room, the socalled adults in the room, where you have a jim mattis and a Rex Tillerson and perhaps even john kelly. Even these people have not had experience at that senior level before. Yes, perhaps theyve been wellregarded generals, but theyve not worked in a functioning white house before. Theyve not worked with a president who respects the norms and institutions of the presidency. So if you replace them or shuffle them quickly youre in the getting the continuity you need to actually enact programs and policies. As a former c. I. A. Guy, i want to assume you have a government pension. Where im going with this a is Andrew Mccabe being fired 26 hours before he would have been able to retire and receive the pension he was afforded for 21 years of service. Yeah. What does that do to mccabe . Where does that leave him . Well i got to tell you before i had an opportunity to get a pension, im in the same boat as mccabe right now. But he has several options. Certainly his reaction, the detail he put into his statement, certainly implies that he is going to look to appeal this decision. That he may sue if necessary. Certainly laid the groundwork for that. What i look at is the signal this sends to people who are considering a career in government. If youre looking at working in the fbi or the c. I. A. Or some other agency or department where you do have some restrictions put on your behavior, where you do have some limits on what you can do, you want to do that, work for 20 years and then summarily have this happen right before your retirement, thats the kind of thing that i hope does not dissuade good americans from joining their government. Absolutely. Chris, white house maintains tenuous relationships with the current fbi director, Deputy Director, Rod Rosenstein and attorney general Jeff Sessions. What are the odds theyre going to survive the president s fury over the Russian Investigation . Do you think Jeff Sessions did himself any favors to curry favor with the president , with regard to firing mccabe . Well maybe. But i tell the story in the new chapter of the paperback of my book, in which sessions actually resigned on the evening of may 17th and he stormed down to the west wing parking lot. Got in his car, Reince Priebus had to chase him down, drag him out of the car and bring him back upstairs. Obviously trump would have been delighted had he resigned then and there. And i dont doubt that as i say, donald trump will cross any line. And i dont doubt that he will, may try to fire sessions again. That will be a defining moment for this presidency. And also for john kelly. Because if he doesnt throw his body in front of that, he will have failed as white house chief of staff. Okay. Chris whipple, david priess. Gentlemen thank you very much. Coming up next, the special counsel subpoena of Trump Organization business documents. What is Robert Mueller looking for . Thats next. For all the eyes that get itchy and watery near pollen. Theres flonase sensimist. It relieves all your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. And all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. Flonase sensimist. You wto progress. Move. 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I think we have to separate the merits of mccabes firing from the circumstances. We dont know what happened that would prompt the oig, the Inspector General at the Justice Department to determine that mccabe deserved to be fired two days before he was due for retirement. We know given the circumstances it does look very suspicious. I mean Jeff Sessions, who was supposed to be recused from the russia investigation, who was a highlevel surrogate for the trump campaign, did this firing. He fired Andrew Mccabe. We now know from trumps reaction on twitter that this is something that trump had been hoping for. Its kind of like the lester holt interview all over again after former fbi director james comey was fired. And trump came out and said well the russia investigation was on my mind when i did it. He came out with a tweet this morning and he said well you know its a great day for america, a great day for the fbi. That andy mccabe was fired. This indicates you know, perhaps corrupt intent. And its something that mueller will be looking at because andy mccabe is a very important witness in the russia investigation. He was told by comy about potentially dropping the investigation into mike flynn and mccabe did stress this in a statement he issued last night, he said that he believes that hes been unfairly targeted because he is a witness in this investigation. It is extraordinary to think this could actually be part of the Mueller Investigation potentially. Lets go with the New York Times reports that mueller subpoenaed the Trump Organization for documents. This could ensnare the trump family . Maybe even his children who have traveled to russia in search of deals for the company . This is a very big development. Its not altogether unsurprising. It would be more surprising if mueller had not subpoenaed the Trump Organization. Its interesting that the Trump Organization did come out and say they were cooperating with the special counsel. And that they had voluntarily handed over a number of documents last year. The fact that mueller has issued a subpoena to the organization indicates that perhaps he did not think that they were being entirely forthcoming with what they did hand over. And perhaps he was looking for something very specific as it related to a particular business transaction, internal memorandums, communications, we just dont know, the New York Times did not report on what the actual breadth of the subpoena is. But it is a very significant development. Because it indicates that mueller is setting his sights on the followthemoney aspect of this investigation and the potential leverage that the russians or any other foreign entity may hold over trump when he entered the white house. Guarantees its all keeping you very busy. Thank you very much. Coming up next, a stunning allegation from the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, hes going to be on a. M. Joy at 10 00 a. M. To discuss it. Today at 12 30 eastern. Live from the south x southwest conference. But now they know. They descend from the people of ireland. In fact, more than half of our community have discovered their irish roots. Which means your smiling eyes might be irish too. Order ancestrydna and find the surprises in you. Just 69 through monday. Get your kit today. Ftheres flonase sensimist. F up around pets. It relieves all your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. And all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. Flonase sensimist. Which is Breast Cancer metastatthat has spreadr, to other parts of her body. Shes also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptorpositive her2 metastatic Breast Cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. 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Test drive the ztrak z540r at your john deere dealer and learn why its not how fast you mow, its how well you mow fast. Nothing runs like a deere. Save 250 dollars when you test drive and buy a john deere residential z540r ztrak mower. New this morning, President Trump taking actions over Stormy Daniels violating her socalled hush agreement. Breaches for nondisclosure agreement. Daniels lawyer calling the move a bullying tactic. Trumps team has denied all allegations of a sexual relationship. Jonathan alther. Good morning to you both. Ladies first. Sophia, what are republicans supposed to make of this filing . Does it appear to confirm that the president just wants to keep daniels from talking . Well, i think that the congress of the United States has an oversight responsibility and this clearly is something they need to look in from an election standpoint. Is there a nexus there between the lawyer and the payment and was it done through the campaign . And now you have a situation where the president is heretofore denied all of this. First he denied he knew her and there were pictures, then he denied this happened. Ive seen agreements as a lawyer and a liquidated clause is what theyre talking about here. She got 130,000. If she talks and breaks the agreement then shes subject to this liquidated damages. I cant imagine anybody signing a 20 million liquidated damages clause on 130,000 payment. So the republicans have got to start standing up. I keep saying this every time i come on your show. Where are the republicans, paul ryan, the oversight committees holding the president s feet to the fire on any number of these scandals and problems that we have . Theyre simply absent and theyre aggregating their responsibility for oversight. I dont know than, how unusual is it for a u. S. President , a sitting president to take this kind of legal action against a private citizen . This is not someone in the administration. And this is over personal matters. You know, im not sure but i dont think this has ever happened in american history. American president s have Better Things to do than get involved in lawsuits with porn stars. But this is the way donald trump rolls. This is the way he has always rolled. In 1990, his lawyers threatened to sue me over something that i said about him that was true in a documentary. And remember i was working newsweek at the time. I took a really threatening letter from trumps attorney to the newsweek lawyer and she laughed at it. She said youve got a lot of company. Dont worry about it. This is the way this Real Estate Developer plays the game. He likes to threaten to sue everybody. He has been involved in literally hundreds of lawsuits over the course of his career. This is, as Stormy Daniels very competent attorney said, a bullying tactic. It does trump no good and opens them up to discovery that will not be helpful to trump, who has claimed before to have nothing to do with Stormy Daniels and denied the affair. All it does is build anticipation for a 60 minutes appearance and otherwise hurt trump. He cant see more than one or two steps ahead. All he knows how to do is act like a bully, whether as president or a litigant in the case. Do you remember, was that letter to you from Michael Cohen . Honestly, i dont know. I dont think it was. But it may have been from one of trumps other attorneys, whose name sounded more familiar to me when it appeared in public a few months ago. Got it. Sophia, here is what daniels attorney told one of my colleagues on msnbc morning joe. Here it is. Was she threatened in any way . Yes. Was she threatened physical harm harm . Yes. Can you tell us if it came from the president directly, the physical threats . Im not going to answer that. Will you deny that the president threatened your client . I will not confirm nor deny. How do you interpret that, sophia . In the United States under contract laws and due process of any kind, you never want somebody to sign any document under coercion or threat. These people i mean, america, i dont know what to say about where we are right now but we have a president that has allegedly threatened people, suing a porn star. He refuses to talk about russians, hes firing people in the fbi via his attorney general. I dont know what its going to take us to realize that this is not just normal and it needs to be dealt with. There needs to be oversight on all of this. Jonathan, im out of time. Im going to reiterate read, rather, the transcript from avanatti and how he responded to mikas comment that you would not take a case like this unless there was a relationship between donald trump and Stormy Daniels and he tried to silent her and he said correct. I dont think you have to be a Rocket Scientist to figure out they had a fling, apparently consensual. The biggest question is whether this may have violated Campaign Finance laws, 130,000 payment and if trump knew about that, he could be in legal jeopardy over that as well. Good to talk with you both as always, sophia and jonathan. Thank you so much. Dueling conclusions from the House Committee Russian Investigation despite House Republican report, theyre still digging for answers. Ill speak to denny heck here at noon today. Captivating exteriors dynamic lighting elevated comfort powerfully efficient and one more thing the world comes with it you can go your own way. The 2019 Jeep Cherokee you know whats not awesome . Gigspeed internet. When only certain people can get it. Lets fix that. Lets give this guy gig really . And these kids, and these guys, him, ah. Oh hello. That lady, these houses yes, yes and yes. And dont forget about them. Uh huh, sure. Still yes xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. Now you can get it, too. Welcome to the party. That is a wrap of this hour. I will see you again at noon. For now settle in for am joy with my good friend joy reid. Thats a determination we would leave up to attorney general sessions. But we do think