Republicans hear and the public to fully support impeachment . Or will it do the opposite . Thats all coming up. Were hot in the middle of week number five of the impeachment inquiry. 13 new witnesses discussing the president s conduct in front of the colleagues but of the close door type, this despite having none on friday. Former john bolton aid, Charles Kupperman did not comply. Or an order from the white house. The judge set a midseptember date to hear oral arguments on that. Tuesday, Lieutenant ColonelAlexander Vindman testified. Notable here, a military man who was one of the few on the call in question between the president s of the u. S. And ukraine. Vindman is the nsas top ukraine expert. He testified that the transcript of that call omitted crucial words and phrases. Plus, that his attempts to correct that transcript failed. Vindman said he quote, did not think it was proper for the president to ask a foreign power to investigate a domestic political rival. That gets us to wednesday. Two Career State Department diplomats testify the president displayed a deeply pessimistic view of ukraine. Katherine croft and Christopher Anderson said President Trumps attitude was out of step with most white house and state department officials. They viewed support for ukraine as critical. Then on the last day of testimonies, that was thursday, the nsc senior director for europe and russia, tim morrison, corroborate held u. S. Security aid passed by congress. The coup de gra here was the house vote thursday where members voted along party lines to approve a resolution setting out rules for impeachment and removal. Meanwhile, we got a new poll. It shows 49 of americans now support impeaching and removing the president. A number that grows slowly but also a number that is not a majority. Corrupt politicians, nancy pelosi. And shifty adam schiff. Shifty. And the media are continuing with the deranged impeachment witch hunt. The word impeachment. To me, its a dirty word. Joining us now, New York Times washington correspondent Charlie Savage. New York Times Justice Department reporter katy benner. Usa today columnist. From the white house, hans nickels here in new york. Great to have you on set as always. How is the white house reacting to this week, week five, compared to would you say last weekend . In some ways, its the same. In some ways, the president s message change. What changes is the venue and what he decide to emphasize. Last night, we really saw him double down on this idea democrats are trying to nullify, cancel the election. Weve heard that from him before but seems slightly different in the context given they have, as you said, established these r l rules and how theyll go forward. Its basically the same version of a single argument. That is, the president did nothing wrong and that democrats have an investigation in search of a crime. They used it for mueller. Theyre using it for ukraine. I dont suspect well see a lot of deviation from that. Straight ahead, and to you charlie on this, now that the house has moved forward with a vote and thats what critics of what the democrats were doing has said, come on, lets take it to the floor. Lets get a vote. They got it but along party lines for the most part. Thats right. This remains a highly partisan issue. I dont think people were that surprised that republicans werent flocking to sign up to be bashed by President Trump. Ahead of potential primary challenge season in their own republican leaning districts. It was interesting, though, that there were just zero republicans joining. So this was a sign that in the house at least this is going to be a lockstep party line vote. It looks like the momentum is becoming unbreakable towards a towards impeachment. But if the house is any sign of whats going to happen in the senate, theres no way trump gets removed. Katy benner, the kupperman question that is now going to be the bolton question in this coming week, where will that end up . Weve got, what, some until middecember. That could put a lot of potential folks that will be going to the deposition potentially or for testimony saying, no, im waiting for that decision to be made. Sure. I mean, if historys any guide, i think that that this will go to the court. Its not going to move quickly. So i dont know that were actually going to hear from kupperman on the time in the timeframe that democrats would like. But it will be an important decision because it will set the tone for the rest of the hearing. Now, even absent kupperman or bolton, what weve seen again and again from these witnesses and what we are likely to see in the testimony when its public excuse me in the publicized version of the testimony are many people reiterating that john bolton himself was horrified by what Rudy Giuliani was doing and that he did not want any part of it. Tom nickels, what did you make of that which you heard from the Lieutenant Colonel vindman . What Lieutenant Colonel vindman said is the same story youre hearing from all the other witnesses. That this is what the president wanted. There was a quid pro quo. I mean, whats remarkable is that that theres really no change in the story. I think what was remarkable was not what Lieutenant Colonel vindman said but rather the reaction to his testimony. That there was this just really, i think, disgusting pileon particularly by some of the president s enablers in the conservative media to smear this guy. So smear, you know, a decorated combat veteran and to somehow suggest that he was an agent of a foreign power because hes a naturalized citizen and a refugee from the soviet union. I mean, it was really remarkable. I think in that sense, the vindman testimony, not because of its content but because of the reaction to it, was an inflexion point. Hans, did the president did the white house the president said he is his sole Team Fighting this issue regarding impeachment. Teach m of one. Did he react at all to this vote coming from the house . Did that jar him a little . Then lets also go to the polling number,s. They seem to be going slightly but not he admires the democrats for staying so close together and their party unity. He seems to be vacillatings on whether or not he thinks republicans have a Similar Party unity. Last night, he came close to criticizing mitt romney but then walked back and didnt criticize him. I think the main response from the president is really admiration for democrats for being so partisan about this. While at the same time insisting that theyre partisan. But, you know, what you get from the president and you got it last night is this condensed version that you cannot be impeached if youre doing a good job. So he mentions the economy. He mentions job numbers. He mentions the stock market. He talks about all his successes with judges. We can look at the poll numbers and even if that number gets to 50 , what matters is republican states where republican senators are representing and thats why the president s spending so much time and effort making sure the republicans dont have any defeats in this offcycle election. Hes been in louisiana. One place to watch that could be a barometer the president might not be able to affect very well is virginia because virginia has a legislature and they have the state house that are going to be up and that could be a barometer for where the country is in year three of the trump presidency. Where a purple state is and thats the one im really looking forward to seeing the results. That could go either way potentially. Tom nickels, you wrote this week about the republicans and the vote and its not necessarily a new question. But its a question of character. Yeah. The Republican Party has really had, i think for some time now, have to make a decision does it believe in the things that the party once stood for . Does it believe in the constitution . Does tbl it believe in limited government . The answer has been the Republican Party believes that the Republican Party should stay in power. So and and i think thats why you saw that party line vote. And i dont think thats going to change. I think thats right about the senators. Youre not going to see him convicted in the senate. Charlie, react to that and was the timing right for this vote . Was this a good time for nancy pelosi to do it this week, week five . You know, what was interesting about the timing was that it came a week after a federal judge ruled that the impeachment inquiry the democrats have said theyve been conducting since the summer was, in fact, a lawful impeachment inquiry. That there was no need for a resolution like this. So it was from a position of strength that the democrats said, okay, yeah, now were going to officially bless it anyway. If they had done it a few weeks ago before that ruling, i think it would have been taken as a tacet admission. Now, they are able to do it just as a sort of belt and suspenders to something that they had already received judicial blessing for. And that helped them a lot. And the other point about that was they didnt necessarily have the same amount of support in their own caucus back in the summer when they began this. They might not have succeeded in getting a resolution like that through with a lot of purple district democrats being shying away from it. So doing it this way, Nancy Pelosis strategy of sorting of letting it slow burn to this boil and only now having the vote seems in retrospect to have been shrewd. Katy, what stood out to you on the vote . Yeah. I think one of the things that stuck out to me was it was so strictly along party lines. I think that we are going into a hyperpartisan battle. When you talk to people about the last impeachment versus this impeachment, one of the things they say is the tone in washington has so completely changed that in some ways what matters not is the outcome of this hearing, not the outcome of what happens in the senate. Its really how the battle is fought. Because almost what happens in the senate is a foregone conclusion and we just are in a much more hyperpartisan era now. You know, hans, the speaker said in november is when were going to see public hearings. So, america, get ready for that. Youre in the beltway all the time. You know the calendar. You know whos going to be there and whos not going to be there. When might this happen . We have thanksgiving this month. Yeah. You have thanksgiving. You also have you got to fund the federal government. And theres still on occasion talk of the usmca. The replacement to nafta. Nancy pelosi runs a pretty tight ship. Maybe theyll get to november but there are always intervening factors in congress and its easy to see how this can stretch into december past the holidays and into the primary season when were all focused on iowa and new hampshire. But pelosi feels the pressure. Democrats do not want this to go on and oddly, the white house doesnt want it to drag on. Theres almost like convergence of interest. When you talk to white house officials, they do not want this to cloud the rest of 2020. They want to get down to business. What would that business be i guess one might ask . Funny, the government, right . What can they work on with democrats if they are at each others throats. And its really since nancy pelosi suggested the president was criminal the idea of doing an infrastructure bill has been off. Now, republicans were pretty divided on the actual mechanics of the infrastructure bill but thats what the president wants to do. He wants to build roads heading into an election, especially if the economy gets a little quirky charlie, quickly but talk about the calendar. What can we see in the month of november when it comes to public hearings . Thats right. Well, so we have a few more closedoor depositions to go through. Earlier in the segment, you sort of flashed through some of those names. Were not going to see public hearings this week . No, not at all. But then were going to switch to a phase in which the House Intelligence Committee holds public hearings. It will probably bring back some of those witnesses so people can hear from them directly on their tv screens. And then at some point after that, will pivot to the House Judiciary Committee holding impeachment hearings directly. In the latter phase, information gathered by the intelligence committee, by adam schiffs committee, will be presented to the Judiciary Committee and in the latter phase, President Trumps lawyers will have the right to crossexamine witnesses and present rebuttals to things. So that will be a particularly interesting phase as we look forward. All right. Hans nickels, thank you so much. Great to see you in studio. I know youre heading out to be with the president now. Charlie savage, katy benner, tom nickels, well talk to you in just a little bit. How will democrats conduct the open hearings and what are their limits . Were joined by member of the House Rules Committee who helped to make them. House rules committee who helped to make them oh oh oh ozempic® announcer people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of onceweekly ozempic®. In a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7 and maintained it. 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Ys and like all doors, theyre safer when locked. Thats why you need xfinity xfi. With the xfi gateway, devices connected to your homes wifi are protected. Which helps keep people outside from accessing your passwords, credit cards and cameras. And people inside from accidentally visiting sites that arent secure. And if someone trys well let you know. Xfi advanced security. If its connected, its protected. Call, click, or visit a store today. Democrats on the intelligence committees down in the scif right now is like a cult. Trying to put a ribbon on a sham process doesnt make it any less of a sham. This is unprecedented. Its not only unprecedented. This is sovietstyle rules. Republicans responding to the resolution put forth by democrats this week, which sets the rules for the impeachment process being undertaken right now. Now, the house voted 232 to 196 to adopt the rules along party lines with just two democrats voting against it. In comparison, the similar impeachment inquiry for president clinton was 410 to 4 and that was bipartisan. The eightpage resolution outlines how democrats will conduct the open hearings phase of the impeachment process. This allows for the president and his counsel to participate in Judiciary Committee proceedings as they go. Now, it establishes as well an open and transparent investigative procedure for the intelligence committee. The committee is also allowed to make deposition transcripts public with appropriate redactions for classified and other sensitive information. It also expands the scope of the inquiry by allowing the Judiciary Committee to conduct proceedings related to the impeachment inquiry. Joining me now, democratic congresswoman norma torez who is a member of the rules committee. Thanks for being with us. Thank you, richard, for the opportunity. Let me ask you this. The criticism and you heard some of it not only in person but what we played just now, why is this only along party lines . When you look at, for instance, with president clinton, there was a 4104 bipartisan vote to move forward for the impeachment inquiry. Look, i sat through 4 1 2 hours of testimony during or debate during the rules committee hearing. For a party that is so tainted with russian influence, i am embarrassed that they would even talk about this being a russianstyle of of of process. The fact is, is that the process that we have put forward as outlined in the agreement in the resolution that we signed is something that came right out of the rule book of the Republican Party. Rules that were set and voted by a republican speaker of the house when they were in power. So they didnt have a problem with that process then. You know, why cry about it now . Have there been conversations youve had with republicans that are not willing to put down the vote to support this particular resolution but behind doors are hinting, intimating, saying other things . Its its unfortunate that the cowardice from the Republican Party continues to display its ugly head in public. The bottom line is they owe it to their constituents, they owe it to the American People and to allow for the truth to come forward. What we are investigating here in this process that has been outlined, it is something that the president has already stated that he has, himself, said and asked for. Asking a Foreign Government for assistance in investigating a political opponent is as unamerican as they could get. And republicans need to stop this process of capitulating to this bad behavior, which has now turned into a criminal behavior. The president told us that he could kill someone on 5th avenue and could get away with it. You know how he can get away with it . With a jury of republicans that will continue to hide his bad behavior. The speaker said, it may, she does not know this as they move forward, as you move forward as a democrat pushing for the inquiry and potentially an impeachment vote. It could include that which encompassed the Mueller Report potentially. Is that, as critics would say, a scope creep that is going too far . That this specifically should be only about the ukraine telephone call . I certainly hope that it would include more than those five words. Do us a favor, though. You know, those five words that are going to go down in american history. Those five words that are the cause of a great concern to our National Security. But the fact is that the Mueller Report has provided a lot of information. Now, i dont know ultimately when the the impeachment procedures are going to be written and when we will actually move forward. What i do know is that we want an expedited process. So if its going to be something that is going to take a long time to investigate, we may not go down that route. Quickly here as you were going through as a member of the rules committee, some of the parts of the resolution here. What stands out to you in the resolution . And do you expect, as the speaker was saying, to see public hearings this month . I absolutely expect to see public hearings this month. Congress is in their district working this next week coming up. But we know that the Intel Committee will continue to hold classified briefings. As soon as they complete those classified briefings, then we will move forward with an open process. And full disclosure, with a transcript of what was said, the testimony that has been given, in a classified setting will be available for all of us in the general public to read. Obviously, we need to be careful and the law impedes us from divulging information associated with National Security concerns or the whistleblowers identity. Very quickly here, representative. What did you learn in the process of putting together the eight pages of the rules here that will be undertaken by congress very quickly . What did you learn that you didnt know before . What i learned is that we are extremely committed to having an open process for the general public to participate in this. And what i learned is that americans are paying attention. This is not the Mueller Investigation. As we saw a year and a half in the making. Okay. Thank you so much representative norma torres. Democrat from california thank you so much. Thank you, richard. You got it. Joining us now former federal prosecutor and legal analyst glenn kershner. Back with us, katy benner, Charlie Savage as well. Glen, what did you make of the reactions the democrat gave of the rules themselves and your reading of the rules, what stands out the most to you . So i think what stands out, richard, is the fact that they are essentially giving the president Due Process Rights. I mean, i think its important to recognize that our Due Process Rights as american citizens come from the fifth amendment to the constitution. But they only apply in criminal prosecution. So thats when i heard republicans complaining and whining about how the president is not being given his Due Process Rights. Well, you know what . With impeachment being a political process, the fifth amendment to the constitution and the due process guarantees dont apply. However, i think it was brilliant, quite frankly, that they decided to give the president what his critics were asking for. Due process rights. So his lawyer can participate. He can participate. They can crossexamine witnesses. They can call defense witnesses of their own. And the reason i think that is such a good move is because, you know, when we prosecute cases, usually the governments evidence is pretty good or else we wouldnt bring charges in the first place. Doesnt mean were going to win every trial. But usually, we feel confident that we have enough evidence to actually get the case to the jury for a decision. Often, the defense has little or no evidence and they just sort of stand on the burden of proof. They make the government prove the case. Here, i predict the president and his lawyers are not going to be able to find a lot of witnesses to come in and contradict everything that we now know the president did. Particularly, in connection with the dirty deal with the ukraine. The quid pro quo. So i actually think its a very wise move on behalf of the democrats to give the president those rights. Katy, what does this mean for bill barr as he looks at these rules that have come out . Were looking at an attorney general who has certainly looked at this process with a very questioning eye, shall i say, and as hes moved forward with his Justice Department, not been supportive of this process. And how might he throw a wrench into this . I think that we need to do is look at the impeachment and then look at whats going on at the Justice Department almost today as parallel processes. So on impeachment, yes, we have seen the republicans employ a strategy of trying to delegitimize the impeachment process all together. It will be interesting to see how they pivot once things are very public and transparent. At the same time, i think the Justice Department has been very weary of wading into the actual impeachment battle. You know, putting aside the mention of bill barr on the ukraine call, theyve been very skilled at not being called in as witnesses. Instead, what theyre doing is almost running a parallel investigation led by a very wellrespected prosecutor, federal prosecutor in connecticut named john durham and what theyre doing is investigating the roots of the russian investigation. The inquiry that sort of sparked this all that President Trump has long felt delegitimized his win and wanted to discredit. So we see these things sort of coming to ahead at the same time in the runup to an election where you will have a very public hearing on impeachment that could dredge up all sorts of terrible things about the president potentially or sort of like distasteful things about the president. At the same time, Justice Department running an investigation that could in some ways give him some ammunition to say, hey, there are so many people in this government and washington who are out to get me, it is totally unfair. And it could help him in the election. Really great break down there from katie. If youre a member of congress, are you looking over your shoulder . Or just looking straight ahead . I dont think the durham investigation or the barr investigation is threatens too much what congress is doing to the extent that theyre so focused on the ukraine matter now as opposed to that was a counternarrative. You know what i mean . A counternarrative. Absolutely. It will give republicans something to pound the table about when they have a chance at the microphones and they will certainly take it. I do think, though, that looking to sort of wrap all this conversation together, looking at these rules, looking forward in the the open phase of these hearings thats about to come, there are two places in the rules i would point viewers to as the places where these sort of partisan fights are going to erupt. One is if republicans propose if trumps lawyers or republicans propose calling a witness democrats dont want to hear from, they can vote down that subpoena. So i can expect that were going to have a fight where republicans will say lets hear from the whistleblower. Lets bring this mysterious person in front of the cameras and democrats will say no and republicans will say, see, this is a sham. This is not due process. And the other thing adjunct to the rules is that jerry nadler, the Judiciary Committee chairman, can shut down trumps lawyers. Not let them crossexamine witnesses if trump continues to instruct the exec tutive branch not to cooperate with the process. Not to come and testify. And so that whether he uses that stick, i dont know. But it will be a place where Due Process Rights become kind of weaponized. Glen, youre the prosecutor here. Are you looking forward to these public hearings . And how would you conduct them if you were that person that is able to lay down the line of questioning . Yeah. It makes me miss the courtroom, quite frankly, richard. I wish i could somehow be involved in this. But, you know, charlies points are a good one. There may be some tools in the rules that would allow the democrats to do some things that might look heavy handed. But heres what ill say. I dont think weve seen the democrats as theyve moved through this process be particularly heavy handed. We all know that they have famously declined to even enforce their subpoenas by using the lawful vehicle of inherent contempt. I suspect youre going to see the democrats run a very fair, evenhanded, balanced hearing. And they are probably going to give the president and his lawyer enough rope to hang themselves. And speed seems to be definitely one of the characteristics theyre taking into their quiver at the moment. Glenn kershner, former federal prosecutor. Katy bennett. Charlie savage washington correspondent at the New York Times and msnbc contributor. Thank you all three. Have a good saturday. All righty. Coming up, the mueller memos. Were getting our first look at never before seen documents from the Mueller Report. Going to break down the key findings in that, as well. Stick around. Is. Now, theres skyrizi. Things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free to bare my skin yeah thats all me. Nothing and me go hand in hand nothing on my skin thats my new plan. Nothing is everything. Keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months. Of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. And skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. I see nothing in a different way and its my moment so i just gotta say nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. 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They filed five separate freedom of information act lawsuits in an effort to gain access to primary source documents from the Mueller Investigation. Buzz feed reported the 500 pages of summaries of fbi interviews with witnesses is just the tip of the iceberg with more document installments to be released quote, every month for at least the next eight years. Now, some of the key findings from the new batch of documents include a tie to the current impeachment inquiry by House Democrats into President Trump. According to the documents, former Deputy Trump Campaign chair rick gates told muellers team in a 2018 interview that former Trump Campaign chair Paul Manafort had pushed the Conspiracy Theory that ukraine, not russia, was behind the hacking of a dnc server. That theory is the same one referenced by President Trump during his nowinfamous call with ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky earlier this year. President trump asked zelensky for a quote, favor, to help investigate it. Joinin joining us now, Senior Investigative reporter of buzz feed nows. White house columnist for the hill. And back with us, National Security expert and usa today columnist tom nichols. Lets start with you on this because you broke the story, jason. The tie into here from the documents that you were able to obtain of, again, going to rick gates and where Paul Manafort fits in this if we got our months right, when the president did say during in front of cameras and he reached out to russia saying if you can help us and im para phasing here of course with these emails, please do so. How does that come together . Thats right so as you noted, rick gates was interviewed by the by the fbi as part of this special counsels investigation last year. And this is what he told the special counsel. Excuse me, the fbi. That, in fact, that the theory, the seed was planted that ukraine was involved in the dnc hack in 2016 when the Trump Campaign began to discuss that. And it was another manafort associate who had suggested that. Then manafort took that to the campaign and essentially said its unlikely that its russia. Its likely that its ukraine. And as part of these interviews, rick gates is discussing how manafort felt pressure to get additional leaks from from whether its wiki leaks or elsewhere regarding hillarys emails, Hilary Clintons emails, that trump was really growing frustrated that more leaks were not coming. So, you know, to circle back to your original question. Right. This is at the center right now obviously of the impeachment inquiry. But you can see from these interviews that the seed was planted very early on in the campaign or at the height of the 2016 president ial campaign. And in all standards, according to jasons reporting as well as what weve heard from the reporting on the testimonies given from the hill, that that this issue of ukraine being at the heart of the question of the dnc server had happened not only from this very call but before and after. How might this all fit together, nile . Well, look. I mean, clearly this is an important aspect of this. The fact that Paul Manafort was pushing this theory so early. And i think the documents that are uncovered here are going to be fascinating as people look at also whether they feel Robert Mueller pulled his punches. But to your question, richard, i think it is important here to remind ourselves the central question of the Mueller Investigation was, did the president or people close to him solicit help from a Foreign Government for their domestic political purposes . We now have an emphatic yes to that question pertaining to ukraine that doesnt require us to get into the weeds of the Mueller Investigation. But is laid out for all to see in the white house own transcript or memorandum pertaining to that call. So i think this stuff is interesting. Im not at all belittling the work jason and his colleagues have done whatsoever. But the we need to keep our eyes on the central question here, which is this seeking, the eliciting of foreign interference. Tom, your reaction . Theres a couple things. First of all, people are, i think, expecting these materials to provide a smoking gun when, in fact, were standing in the middle of a field that is littered with spent shell casings and smoking guns all over the place. Think about how unbelievable and incredible this discussion is that a group of people at the top of a president ial campaign are talking about how to approach russia or get ahold of things that everybody believes russia has stolen. While a guy thats not supposed to be part of the campaign anymore is pushing a Conspiracy Theory that is congenial to russian interests in hopes of turning the republican nominee hostile toward ukraine. Nobodys calling the fbi. Nobodys thinking about how to keep the russians out of this business. Theyre all sitting around trying to think about how to use this angle to Donald Trumps advantage. It is atrociously unpatriotic behavior. And its and it tells you something that weve just gotten used to it that we that we read these things and that we are not simply, you know, enraged and shocked. And to go to nialls point, what it really says to you is it makes it very easy to believe this white house would go out and solicit foreign intervention in our election because they were talking about it before they were even in office. It shows a certain kind of habit of mind among these people that National Security is not the paramount concern. Getting dirt on your political opponents is the paramount concern. I mean, it really is an astonishing thing to see the future National Security advisor in the United States and the future president of the United States with a bunch of campaign flunkies talking about how to get stuff from hostile foreign intelligence services, including wiki leaks. Again, i dont think, you know, if you are looking for a smoking gun, theyre all around us. But i think it does tell you something about how corroded and how denatured our expectations of political leaders have become. That were reading this and sort of saying, yeah, you know, of course they did it. It is really its its really astonishing. Again, from jasons reporting, this was before the election. Its its its a piece of runway that is getting longer and longer according to the reporting, not only here from jason but also on the testimonies given so far. Jason, a couple quick other highlights from your reporting from the memos themselves that Michael Cohen had to keep the president out of the messaging related to russia. Another point that you brought up in your reporting. That after the hacked dnc emails, the president told rick gates that more leaks were coming. What else do you think stands out here, jason . Of course, im just pulling a couple from the report that just came out this afternoon. Yeah. And i i need to make a point of just noting here that this is the First Release of what the fbi says are approximately 46,000 pages. So, sure, dont look for a smoking gun. 46,000 . 46,000 pages, perhaps, with interviews that were conducted with nearly 500 witnesses, if not if not more. So theres going to be a lot of information revealed down the road, every month for the next eight years, as you noted. But, you know, some of the one other detail sorry to interrupt you there. As it released, is there any logic to the release . Or is it that which they decide to give to you . It is that which they decide to give to us. I mean, the fbi will go through these documents. Theyll conduct a security review. Theyll either declassify information if anythings classified. Redact information, what needs to be redacted. But we do not know who who will be what what interview subject will be released per month. So its its a grab bag. But one of the other details that stood out in these documents that i thought was just amazing color was steve bannon talking about in his fbi interview how he told the fbi that Jared Kushner was vacationing off the coast of croatia. He was with a russian billionaire and the russian billionaires girlfriend. And his intelligence sources told him the billionaires girlfriend was questionable and they needed Jared Kushner to come back because the campaign was running out of money and they needed kushner to fire manafort. It becomes clear how they came to rely on these leaks to pump up their poll numbers. And and thats discussed here. So the documents, what they do is they provide a window into what was taking place behind the scenes. What was happening during these interviews. What these individuals were telling the special counsels probe. And i do think that it adds quite a bit of value and it allows the public to see, you know, what the fbi memorialized firsthand. Right. Very quickly, and jason, can you tyou foia the actual details . The fbi does not record interviews. They dont take verbatim transcripts and these are essentially what they are. Yes. Great stuff, my friends. Senior Investigative Reporter buzz feed news. Jason leopold, thanks for joining us. Tom ni nichols as well, thank you all. We appreciate it. Coming up, several big events that are taking place across the hawk eye state to iowa. Big today of course the countdown to the caucuses. 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We have nbc news road warrior Team Coverage in iowa. We got Vaughn Hillyard is in cedar rapids. Shaquille brewster is in des moines. Big number she put out there. Many of her opponents are saying give us the number. Is it 34 trillion . Is it 20 trillion . Shes saying 20. Exactly. Thats a big distinction. There are some folks that economic analysts that suggest this could be 36 trillion. Her own team and some outside folks say that put it more at the number of 20 trillion, which shes put it in. And this is the part where Elizabeth Warren has come under scrutiny over these last months not from necessarily republicans but its her own democratic contenders, including the likes of bernie sanders, who is also in support of medicare for all. The question has been how do you pay for medicare for all . Bernie sanders has suggested that the reality will be that you have to increase taxes on the middle class. What Elizabeth Warren said yesterday that she was able to make up for that by continuing to boost taxes on corporations, investors, and essentially make up for that. Over to you, shaq, beto now out. Hows that resonating on the ground right now . And im also seeing the crowded field of four now is specifically in iowa. Thats right. And he was actually supposed to be at this event i was covering in des moines, iowa. Its an event with the naacp focused on africanamerican issues and how these candidates policies affect africanamericans. And one thing that we really see is that these candidates on stage are making a play for beto supporters. Beto leaving the race was a surprise to not only many in his campaign but many outside of his campaign. Many of his supporters and volunteers. So these campaigns and nicely of bet toe. One thing youre seeing and something i heard talking to a attendees leaving this event today is that you get a sense of how fluid this race is. Were just over three months from the iowa caucus, but when you look at the polling, when you look how close things are, you can see that most of the people here are still making their decision, trying to figure out who theyre deciding. One person i spoke to said they came in supporting sanders, but left supporting cory booker. Window shopping, thats what makes iowa so interesting. Vaughn hillyard and shaq brewster, thank you both socialism for those quick hits. Coming up if twitter presidency. Twitter has become a major tool for President Trump. Up next, well dive into the president s love for twitter and how it has forever changed the political landscape. Some farms grow food. This one grows fuel. Exxonmobil is growing algae for biofuels. That could one day power planes, propel ships, and fuel trucks. And cut their Greenhouse Gas emissions in half. Algae. Its potential just keeps growing. Must be hot out there, huh . Not especially. [ slurping continues ] what you drinking . 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Stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or lifethreatening allergic and skin reactions. Decrease alcohol use. Use caution driving or operating machinery. Tell your doctor if youve had Mental Health problems. The most common side effect is nausea. Quit smoking slow turkey. Talk to your doctor about chantix. Let me tell you about twitter. I think that maybe i wouldnt be here if it wasnt for twitter because i get such a fake press, such a dishonest press. When i can reach whether its 90 million or 100 million or 80 million, how far many people, it may turn out to be, when i can reach that many people, twitter a wonderful thing for me because i get the word out. Today the New York Times combed through the over 11,000 trump tweets since inauguration day, taking a deep dive into into how President Trump gets the word out, as he was describing. Half of his tweets, 5,889 have been attacks. The times notes half of those attack tweets were sometime between 6 00 a. M. And 10 00 a. M. , the time he spends without advisories around him he has praised himself in 2,000 of his tweets. In 1,700 tweets he has promoted conspiracies. He has attacked ally nations in 233 tweets, and he has praised dictators in at least 132. The times reports the white house even considered asking twitter to put a 15minute delay on the president s twitter account early on in his presidency. For now, Trumps White House counselor, kean tells the times trump, quote, needs to tweet like we need to eat. That wraps it up for me this hour. Im Rachel Maddow lui. Ill be back tomorrow at 4 00 p. M. Eastern. Have a great night. My insurance rates are probably gonna double. 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This friday marks the end of a harrowing week in the house impeachment investigation. All foreshadowing the day of