William starts now. Tonight, the trouble for trump. The president headed into a new month after a week of damaging new accusations of failure to land a deal with north korea. And now weve got exclusive reporting tonight that democrats are getting ready to formally ask for his tax returns. Plus, in a court filing late today, Paul Manaforts lawyers argue for less jail time before the former Trump Campaign chairs sentencing next week. The 11th hour on a friday night starts now. Good evening from here in new york. Im katy tur in for brian williams. Day 1,771, and the president is entering march with a host of new and growing and political and legal challenges for himself, his family and some onetime members of his inner circle. Just a few hours ago, one of the former associates, campaign chairman, paul manafort, asked a federal judge in virginia to give him a prison term, significantly below the 19 to 24 years called for under sentencing guidelines. His lawyers noted what they call special counsel muellers attempt to vilify manafort as a, quote, lifelong and irredeemable felon, accusing mueller of grossly overstating the facts. Manafort, now 69 years old, was convicted in virginia of bank and tax fraud. He is set to be sentenced in virginia next thursday. And in washington, d. C. , six days later. There has been much speculation about a potential pardon from President Trump. One former associate who more than likely will not receive a pardon is trumps former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. He is headed to prison in may, but spent three days this week on capitol hill, denouncing trump, and detailing his alleged crimes. He is a racist, he is a con man, and he is a cheat. The president of the United States thus wrote a personal check for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme. People have asked me about whether mr. Trump knew about the release of the hacked documents, the Democratic National committee email ahead of time. And the answer is yes. Mr. Trumps personal lawyers reviewed and edited my statement to congress about the timing of the moscow tower negotiations before i gave it. I am in Constant Contact with the Southern District of new york regarding ongoing investigations. Do you think we need to review his Financial Statements and his tax returns in order to compare them . Yes, and you would find it at the trump org. Cohens public testimony on wednesday triggered a barrage of attacks this morning from the president , including, quote, now that the twoyear russia collusion case has fallen apart, there was no collusion, except by crooked hillary and the democrats. They say, gee, i have an idea. Lets look at trumps finances. And every deal hes ever done. Lets follow discredited Michael Cohen and the fraudulent and dishonest statements he made on wednesday. No way. Its time to stop this corrupt and illegally brought witch hunt. Tonight nbc news reports the top taxwriting committee in the house is getting ready to ask for years of Donald Trumps tax returns. And Michael Cohen will be back before Congress Next wednesday, continuing the closeddoor hearing he began yesterday with the house intelligence committee. Cohens revelations came as trump was hoping to score a big Foreign Policy win at his second summit with north koreas kim jongun. But talks over Nuclear Weapons and sanctions relief broke down, and trump came home with no deal. It was a very interesting two days. And i think, actually, it was a very productive two days. Sometimes you have to walk. The real backlash came with trumps remarks about kim jongun and the death of a captured american student, Otto Warmbier. Did kim jongun he felt badly about it. I did speak to him about it. He knew the case very well, but he knew it later and some really bad things happened to otto. Some really, really bad things. He tells me he tells me he didnt know about it. And i will take him at his word. More on that this hour. Trump had a new Crisis Brewing when he returned home from vietnam. The New York Times reported trump ordered his chief of staff to grant his soninlaw, Jared Kushner, top security clearance over the objections of intelligence officials and the white House Counsel. The Washington Post reported that Colton Kushner and his wife ivanka trump pressured the president to grant kushner the clearance. This year, both trump and his daughter, ivanka, denied he was involved. Today white House Counselor Kellyanne Conway was asked about that. Was the president involved in Jared Kushners security clearance process . We dont discuss security clearances. But i will tell you that the president has the absolute right to do what was described. Late today Jared Kushners lawyer, abbe lowell, issued this statement, quote, whatever the accuracy or not of recent news stories, mr. Lowell was not aware of, nor told of any request for or action by the president to be involved in the security clearance process. Again, officials affirmed at the time that the regular process occurred without any pressure. Meanwhile, House Oversight chairman, Elijah Cummings, has given the white house until monday to turn over documents as part of its investigation into the security clearance process. Lets bring in our leadoff panel for friday night, michael steele, former chairman. Annie carney, White House Reporter for the New York Times. Matthew miller, former chief spokesman for the justice department. And nelson cunningham, former assistant u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york. Also a former counsel to the Senate Judiciary committee. Michael, when you look back at this week, which like so many weeks has felt like a month. And you think about what happened, donald trump went to vietnam and came back with no deal. Right. Then he praised kim jongun to the detriment of the death of an american student. Michael cohen testified for three days on capitol hill. Jared kushners security clearance is in question once again and trump and his daughter appear to have been lied to have been caught in a big lie and his taxes might get subpoenaed. How bad was this week . Its a bad week. But i think the one word that sticks in my mind we describe this week as unprepared. The president was unprepared for north korea. He was unprepared for the cohen testimony. He was unprepared for the narrative now thats emerging around his soninlaw. And his security clearances yet again. He was unprepared for the blowback from not just the way the summit went but the very personal nature regarding the death of the student, mr. Warmbier. And so it is consistent, i think, with what we have seen in the administration. Again, a lot of people who could potentially help the president deal with a lot of these things dont have to lie about them. Dont have to make up stories, are not in a position to do so, because, as we saw in the presser, the president likes to throw stuff out there and makes it harder for folks to do that. And so that lack of preparation shows through every time. Was Kellyanne Conway confirming this happened by saying if it did happen the president had the right to do it essentially, yes. And with respect to the security clearances in particular, what should have been a fairly pro forma process really got pushed in the wrong direction, because the president wanted a particular outcome. He wanted his soninlaw to have whatever clearances he wanted him to have for the purposes that donald trump had in mind at that time. Annie, why was Jared Kushners security clearance held up for so long, and why did the white House Counsel object ultimately . Why were Security Officials objecting to him getting the full clearance . We dont know the details as to why the cia and other intelligence agencies raised questions, but theres been problems with jareds security clearance from the outset of this administration. If you remember in the first forms he filled out, he failed to list meetings with russian officials on it. Youre supposed to disclose all meetings with Foreign Government officials, and he didnt. And he blamed it on a clerical error at the time. But so we dont know exactly what they objected to, but we know there have been questions about his the kushner company, his familys real estate business and their dealings and business dealings with Foreign Governments. And the bigger question here, though, is, again, why the president , ivanka and Jared Kushners lawyer, who all said there was nothing out of the ordinary here when there was, and the president Kellyanne Conway is right in that statement. That the president has the authority to do this, in which case the bigger question here is why didnt he just say i said Jared Kushner, my soninlaw, hes my guy, i want him and im giving it to him. Why didnt he own up to it, i guess. Right. What was the pressure to cover it up . Why . Matt miller, you compared this to the way donald trump also treats the criminal Justice System. What parallels do you see . So in each case, in both the the security clearance system, the criminal Justice System like a lot of ways in which the government works, theyre governed by longstanding rules, longstanding procedures, decisions made on the merits, oftentimes, by officials who are supposed to be nonbiased. That is a system that in each case donald trump has always just really been hostile to and rejected. So i think when we see him act in the security clearance arena, you see him in this instance we find out, you know, hes not content to leave decisions to career officials. Not content to take the recommendations. He wants to intervene to help the help the people who are close to him. So in this case rewarding Jared Kushner with a clearance he wasnt qualified for. And on the other end of the spectrum, to use it to retaliate against his political opponents. We saw him last year yank the security clearance of john brennan, the former cia director who is a critic of him, the same pattern we have seen him approach the criminal Justice System with, where he has tried to retaliate against his opponents. People like jim comey and Hillary Clinton and andrew mccabe, call on to be prosecuted, while trying to get investigations into his allies. Mike flynn, paul manafort, and to himself. So this is in each case, decisions in these arenas are supposed to be made on the merits. Not because of your standing with the president. And the way he corrupts them has longstanding deleterious effects for the overall House Democrats said theyre going to investigate this, nelson. This is just another component of what they plan to investigate. They had Michael Cohen on the hill this week. Michael cohen has been compared to john dean during the nixon era. And john dean wrote an oped, and responding to it, he said what is most similar about my and mr. Cohens testimony, we challenge authoritarian president s of the United States by revealing their lies and abuses of power. Mr. Trump is the first authoritarian president since mr. Nixon and neither he or supporters will play fair. Mr. Cohen will be dealing with these people all the rest of his life. All americans are affected by the growing authoritarian that was made pop already by the president. These people who facilitated his rise will remain long after mr. Trump is gone. Nelson, what do you think . Well, cohens testimony wednesday was riveting. And dont forget, that was only onethird of the testimony he gave this week. He spoke tuesday to the house intelligence committee. He spoke wednesday in public. And we all saw that. Thursday, he spoke to the Senate Intelligence committee. We only saw onethird of it. Think about this. All of the pieces we have seen this week, the cohen testimony, trumps tax returns, perhaps, about to be provided, bob mueller has known all of this for months, because he had the opportunity to question cohen for months. Every question that was asked of cohen this week, mueller has already asked him months ago. Trumps tax returns, you have to assume that mueller had those not long after he began this investigation some 20 months ago. What were seeing now, thanks to the house, is a slowmotion reveal of what the Mueller Investigation would have picked up and generated and collected over the last 20 months. I dont know when the Mueller Report will come out. I actually am not confident it will come out as soon as other people say. But its going to be a blockbuster when it does. If we get to see it, though, and matt miller, thats going to be up to the new attorney general, william barr, and there are questions about what he will release, what hell show to congress and what the public will get to see. Democrats have been concerned about this. Theyre trying to get a clearer answer from bill barr. Without that happening, is this the democrats way of getting to had the bottom of what mueller might have already seen while they can, in order to make sure the public has some idea of whats been happening . I think its part of it. I think the decision will be ultimately up to not just the attorney general, but also probably to the courts. Because i suspect at the end of the Mueller Investigation, democrats in the house are going to demand not just whatever the report looks like, but also all the underlying evidence. There has been a precedent set over the last year where doj has turned over hundreds of thousands of documents at the insistence of house republicans. They turned over lots of documents at the end of the clinton investigation. So i think youll see Democratic House chairmen insist on the same. By the way, i suspect that goes not just for the Southern District of new york investigation, which notably is the only investigation in which the department has said in court already that the president directed the commission of a crime. Thats not something they have said in the russia investigation. So i think as we get to the end of these investigations, youre going to see democrats demanding evidence and demanding testimony. And if you look at the other witnesses who are like Michael Cohen, people like rick gates, people like mike flynn, who have been cooperating with the government, testified before grand juries, there is not a good reason why they should not be coming up and testifying in open hearings, as well, once the doj investigations come to an end. And annie, does the white house have any plan of action . Michael steele was saying at the top of the show, they seemed unprepared for the events of this week. Michael cohen accused the president of committing a felony while he was president of the United States. Are they going to end up cooperating with House Democrats . I know Elijah Cummings wants a lot of documents, he wants witnesses. So far he hasnt had that. He feels like the republicans didnt do their job while they were in power. Is the white house going to cooperate or will they be stonewalling . Do they have a plan of action . So far its the latter. Its stonewalling. The new white House Counsel has made it clear he doesnt think that Elijah Cummings should have access to all of the documents hes requesting, specifically on the security clearance issue, saying asserting executive privilege. Its been reported that the Treasury Department is already preparing ways to slow down or stall any requests for tax returns. So, no. I dont think its going to be cooperative. And in terms of being prepared to fight back, the white house approach to the cohen hearing was similar to the approach you saw from the republicans asking him questions, which was more focused on discrediting cohen as a liar, which has some validity to it, given he lied to congress once before, rather than putting ahead any positive defense of the president. It was all about discrediting cohen. Thats the same message you heard from all of the talkers out of the white house in the days before the hearing. And thats what you saw. And the rapid responsibility to the rnc, that was their m. O. As well. Michael cohen was no doubt a problematic witness, but he did come with receipts. He did come with evidence. When you look back at the events of this week, is it the cohen testimony that sticks out to you, is it the kushner clearance, is it the warmbier moment where he seemed to have no sympathy for Otto Warmbier and, again, cozied up to the north korean dictator . Theyre all just incredible moments. I think though, for me this was the week of cohen. This was the week where we got to see the guy, the villain, the liar, humanized in some respects. Where you could see and judge for yourself. Everything thats been said about him. And i think it was impactful. I think its something thats reflected in the aftermath of es they do after events like this. Some of the opeds that have been written really cast a different light on the Michael Cohen story. And i think that story is a dot. But its a big dot in that will connect a lot of other pieces from mueller to sdny. And i believe were going to look back on this week and go, it was the turning point in this whole affair. The saddest part, though, is how republicans stuck their neck out further for this president. Did not take the opportunity to the point that was just made to actually make his case to some degree in this hearing in front of cohen. Yes, you can discredit him by saying hes a liar. But then the back part of that is how you say, my guy is not. And no one did that. Nelson, final question to you. Whats more problematic or potentially dangerous for the president , the mueller hearing, or the Mueller Report, or the potential investigations at the sdny or other u. S. Attorneys offices around the country . Yeah. I think theyre both dangerous for very different reasons. The Southern District of new york located at the lower end of manhattan, where trump has his real estate empire. They can look at anything that occurred. Any federal crime that occurred within manhattan, bronx, new york state. They are they can go after anything that donald trump has done with his taxes, his businesses, going back years. Thats hugely dangerous for the president. The Southern District is good at investigating whitecollar cases. Theyve got very practiced fbi agents who know to go after how to go after transactions like that. But what mueller has is hes got the direct connection to congress. As matt was saying, congress will find a way to get their hands on the Mueller Report. They will find their way to get their hands on the evidence. It happened in watergate when the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Leon Jaworskis evidence. They used it to begin their impeachment proceedings. Mueller holds the Political Risk for trump but the Southern District may hold some criminal jeopardy for him, as well. And for his family. Both pretty bad. Essentially after he is no longer president. Nelson cunningham, thank you so much. Michael steele, thank you so much. Annie carney, matt miller, we appreciate it. As it laid the groundwork, some say not so fast. And one day after trump says he takes kim jongun at his word, the parents of Otto Warmbier name who they think is responsible for their sons death. The 11th hour just Getting Started on a friday night. I know what it means to have reliable support. I found a company who believes in me. They look out for me. And they help me grow my career. At comcast its my job to constantly monitor our network, prevent problems, and to help provide the most Reliable Service possible. My name is tanya, i work at the Network Operations center for comcast. Were working to make things simple, easy and awesome. Is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding donald trump that we havent yet discussed today . Yes. And, again, those are part of the investigation thats currently being looked at by the Southern District of new york. I lied to congress when mr. Trump stopped negotiating the moscow tower project in russia. I stated that we stopped negotiating in january of 2016. That was false. Our negotiations continued for months later during the campaign. How many times did mr. Trump ask you to threaten an individual or entity on his behalf . Quite a few times. 50 times . More. 100 times . More. 200 times . More. 500 times . Probably. That was more damning testimony to come out of Michael Cohens sevenhourlong house hearing this week. He implicated the president in numerous crimes, and even provided the committee with a copy of a 35,000 check he says trump wrote to cover a hush money payment. This new information puts democrats in an interesting position as they decide whether or not to move forward with impeachment proceedings. As nbc news first read put it, quote, how do they reconcile their growing belief that President Trump has committed crimes, especially after Michael Cohens testimony on wednesday with their hesitation slash reluctance to consider impeachment. Nancy pelosi has avoided the question all week, and democrats i have spoken with are hesitant to take a firm position. Were going to wait for the Mueller Report. I think that weve got to be cautious about it. Impeachment is the most serious thing you can do in american democracy. So its not ever something you can take lightly. Have you heard anything today that would lead you to believe that the president committed a high crime or misdemeanor . Yes. But i am not going to make a conclusion. Ive heard evidence. Evidence is not a conclusion. But its a reason to keep looking and testing other accounts. With us tonight, anita kumar, White House Correspondent and associate editor for politico. And twitter a go to political Factchecker Daniel Dale for the toronto star. Daniel, why are democrats so hesitant to start impeachment proceedings . They have an abundance of avenues to take. Theres the obstruction angle. Theres Donald Trumps taxes potentially, what they may hold. Michael cohen accused him of committing a felony while he was president of the United States. Thats a lot more than they had with nixon. I think theres the political reason and the substantive sort of commonsense reason. The political reason, theyre coming off a midterm where they had a wave in the house. They won the popular vote by a lot. They see a president who already has very poor approval ratings. They think theyre wellpositioned going into the 2020 election and know that the consequences of pursuing impeachment can be unpredictable. You can spark a backlash toward independents who have been strongly trend ing after 2016 and so they dont want to do anything what will upset a favorable position. And the substantive reason, they dont have all of the evidence theyre going to have. You know, the Mueller Report is not out. You have various other investigations that are not completed. And so i think that their attitude is they will if and when they pursue this, they will be able to make the case to the public they were forced into it. Its not something they jumped into. But its something that the evidence compelled them to do. And i dont think they believe that with all of the stuff outstanding, including the Mueller Investigation, that theyre at that point yet. Nina or anita, excuse me, are all of the democrats in line on this, or is there some impatient among a contingent of democrats that could potentially move pelosi in a different direction . Oh, definitely. You are seeing that rank and file democrats, some of them, anyway, really do want to talk about impeachment. Do want leadership to go that way. I dont know that theyre going to break her. She and the other chairmen and chairwomen are pretty adamant that the way to go about this is through many investigations. I think it at least six committees now are looking at various aspects of the president , the president s business, the president s family. His conduct. So there is a lot of different ways to go at this. And i think they think they can just go after so many different avenues, that thats harmful politically in its own right and also harmful legally. It gets at that same thing without going to this politically tricky impeachment avenue. Anita and daniel are sticking with us. Coming up, trump stakes the stage at cpac tomorrow, but the star of the conservative conference is a democratic socialist from the bronx. Were back right after this. Finding dental and Vision Insurance plans can be confusing. Confusing like why am i sitting here in a hospital gown waiting to get my eyes checked . Ready . Absolutely not. See, having the wrong coverage can mean you get the wrong care, or youre paying more than you have to. Thats why i love healthmarkets, your insurance marketplace. They make sure you have the right coverage, health insurance, medicare and, yes, dental and vision too. Wow, think thats painful . Wait until he gets the bill. A cavity can cost as much as 350, and a root canal, whoa. But with healthmarkets, for less than a dollar a day, you can save a bundle every time you go to the dentist. Exams, cleanings, and xrays . Those are covered at 100 . That sounds free to me. 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You can save now on dental and vision plans with healthmarkets. Call the number on your screen. Call healthmarkets now. Your favorite restaurants now it doesnt matter dash. Where you are. It doesnt matter what youre hungry for. It doesnt even matter how many you are. Restaurants come to you. Delicious at your door. Download doordash. First order, no delivery fee. Look, i think there is a technical description for whats going on. That is that democrats have gone bat crap crazy. That system is socialism. That is why alexandria ocasiocortez has introduced the green new deal. Its a watermelon. Green on the outside, deep, deep red communist on the inside. They want to take your pickup truck. They want to rebuild your home. They want to take away your hamburgers. This is what stalin dreamt about but never achieved. As far as those cows you mentioned, ive got 100 cows. You just let alexandria ocasiocortez show up at my house and try to take my cows away. As you heard there, conservatives are using their National Stage this week to decry socalled socialism and democratic extremism. While she wasnt there, the star of the cpac conference might have been freshman democratic congressman alexandria ocasiocortez, whose policies attendees reference time and time again. Still with us, anita kumar and daniel dale. There seems to be an obsession, anita, on the right with alexandria ocasiocortez. And you reference a story that one of your colleagues wrote about why theres this obsession with her and why conservatives are actually quite in awe of her. They are. My colleague wrote a story about how all these people on the right wish they were her. They dont want her policies. They dont like her policies but say they she has political game, meaning she is determined and has this political spirit and on social media. Shes actually a lot like President Trump taking on the media. And that sort of personality, they really actually kind of admire. And so she she really did kind of take over cpac today and has for the last couple days. Daniel, is she going to be their white whale . You heard gorka there saying she is trying to take away your hamburgers, and Jerry Falwell jr. Saying she is going to take away my cows. Do they believe thats going to be effective in 2020 . I think they do. I mean, i think the unmistakable signal from cpac is that this socialism attack you know, the red scare, the red menace, is going to be a primary if not the primary line of attack for them through the democratic primary, if not into the general election. I spoke to democratic strategist and democratic socialists today and they kind of shrugged and said, look, this is always their playbook. Ive been at cpac for the last few years. There were some references to socialism, but it wasnt the dominant theme. And today and yesterday, it was the thing that they were talking about. So it was pretty interesting. To talk me about how cpac has changed over the years, daniel. Well, in various ways. There were times where it was this forum for sort of raucous debate among various elements of the right. In recent years, it became sort of trump pac. I think he joked it would be tpac, thoroughly taken over by trumpian conservatism, which some traditional conservatives say is not conservativism at all. And then this year it was again thoroughly taken over by trump. But, you know, it was less about him and his accomplishments and what he plans to do Going Forward than about the menace posed by the democrats. So i think that was a shift even from last year. Anita, a lot of the plans that progressives on the democratic side, democratic socialists are proposing are quite popular when you poll them among everyday americans. Broadly supportive of tax reform, et cetera. Is it a good idea for republicans to just laugh at her and make fun of her . Is that the effective way of trying to take her down . Well, i think daniel is right. They have actually been talking about this for years. If youll remember during president Barack Obamas term, they talked about this a lot. It seemed to have died down a little bit, and i remember on the campaign trail in the midterms, maybe, that the president President Trump was starting to see some of these candidates for congress, and so he really started talking about it. I mean, they definitely think this is an effective talking point. But youre right. Some of these policies are popular. You know, so its a contrast they want to make. Clearly, a lot of these Democratic Candidates for president now are, you know, all kind of lumped together on some of these issues. So they are trying to make that contrast. So i think its going to continue. I wonder if theyre underestimating the popularity, though, of those policies and the desire to really change things and the way things are done in congress and to address things like Climate Change and tax reform, especially for the middle and lower classes. Anita kumar, thank you so much. Daniel dale, thank you, as well. Coming up, he may not be a household name, but one democrat hopes tackling Climate Change can propel him to the white house. The 11th hour back right after this. Beauty editors have tried everything. In search of a whiter smile. Their choice . Crest 3d whitestrips. Our exclusive whitening formulation safely whitens 25 times better. For a noticeably whiter, smile. Trust americas 1 whitening treatment. Crest 3d whitestrips. Even our pets know to go because its the easiest way to save 30 on all the medications we carry. So skip the search and go directly to petmeds. Com now. And now it is time for our nation to set a new priority. So i am announcing today that i am a candidate to become the next president of the United States. [ cheers and applause ] it is our moment to solve americas most daunting challenge and make it the first foremost and paramount duty of the United States and that is to defeat Climate Change. This is the list of democratic president ial nominees now includes washington governor jay inslee, the 11th person running for president as a democrat. But we are still expecting more. Reports this week fueled rumors that joe biden and beto orourke are growing closer to announcements. Still among the candidates is vermont senator Bernie Sanders. According to the latest report coauthored by summers, welcome to bernie 2. 0, a more professional Campaign Based in washington with a team that is embracing a more personal message, a more diverse staff and much more organized nationwide operation. Its all backed by the strongest fundraising operation in the 2020 democratic field. With us tonight, gabby orr, and lets start with you in your reporting of Bernie Sanders. It does sound a bit like a different Bernie Sanders in 2016. Is that going to benefit him or could it potentially hurt him with his grassroots supporters . Sure. I think its something that could cut either way. One of the things im interested in seeing tomorrow when senator sanders launches his campaign in brooklyn is whether or not his attempt to weave more of his personal story into his campaign will really resonate with the grassroots base thats been lit up by hearing senator sanders talk about policies like medicare for all and the 15 minimum wage hes been talking about for years. Sanders is someone who hasnt liked to talk about him a lot much to the chagrin of his aides. But hes expected in the rally in brooklyn and to talk more about his personal story to give reporters a peek behind the curtain at what really makes him tick and how his upbringing here in new york as somebody who lived in a rentcontrolled apartment as the son of a unusual immigrant really informs his policies and the populist policies hes brought forward. And now many of the other democrats in the race have embraced. Gabby, wanna is right. His ideas and policies are now kind of at the center for a lot of democrats for 2020. Does that make him the most formidable candidate in this Campaign Field so far . Well, i think that, you know, the early fundraising numbers that we saw certainly suggest that the sort of energy among progressive democrats is behind Bernie Sanders. And that is also how his campaign feels. They think that theyre sort of the people to beat right now among these 11 democrats who have already announced. That being said, wannas reporting suggests that the Sanders Campaign realizes that there are lessons to be learned from 2016, and that just talking about policies alone isnt going to get him very far in a field that is this diverse and has as many ideas that have already been suggested that fit in line with some of those progressive platforms that sanders ran on in 2016. And so i do think there is a challenge here for him to sort of peel back the curtain and let people into his world. Let people know what his background is. What fuels these ideas and these passions. I mean, those are the things that Bernie Sanders is really going to have to focus on doing in order to connect with democratic voters who may not have supported him in 2016 and may be looking elsewhere in this democratic primary at some of the other progressive candidates. Of still hurt feelings from 2016 among some Hillary Clinton supporters. Bernie sanders was asked about whether or not he will seek Hillary Clintons advice on the view. Heres what he said. Decent guy. Our Vice President who stood before this group of allies and leaders and said, im here on behalf of President Trump. And there was dead silence. Dead silence. Can i just interject really quickly, though . Were hearing about a lot of Democratic Candidates who are meeting with Hillary Clinton for advice, though. So people like amy klobuchar. Do you think youll do the same . I suspect not. She has not called me. We have differences. Hillary has played a very Important Role in modern american politics. But youre not interested in any advice from her. I think not. But the joe biden appearance at the top of that the back burner for just a second. Is there a lot of does he need to relitigate the hurt feelings from 2016, or would he be better suited just moving on and ignoring all of that . I think there are a lot of people who are really surprised to hear Bernie Sanders say that particularly as later this weekend, he and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, will be in alabama, at the same event. Share a stage. Shell be honored at that event. So things might get a little awkward. But i think there are a lot of people who want to see this be a primary that is kind of above the belt where democrats are able to have a debate of ideas that many in the party feel like they did not get to have, necessarily, in 2016. And to hear him come out and say that is not interested in the views or the experience of the partys past nominee i think struck a lot of clinton supporters the wrong way and isnt going to go far to bringing some of them into the fold if Bernie Sanders does indeed end up the partys nominee. Gabby, if the thought is we need to move forward, if the democrats thought is we need to move forward, we dont want to do 2016 over again, does that mean its going to be a candidate that is not Bernie Sanders . That was not a part of the 2016 race . Okay. Its so hard to know right now. There are 11 candidates who have already announced and probably more coming. And so many of them have different ideas and different perspectives and i think its really hard to predict at this point whether the Democratic Party wants somebody like Bernie Sanders in there or wants a new, fresh face, possibly somebody younger with less experience on capitol hill. And i will mention just to your question earlier about Hillary Clinton, you know, politico had a story out last week in which there were several clinton aides anonymously criticizing Bernie Sanders for his use of a private jet during the last few weeks of the general election to campaign for Hillary Clinton. And, of course, there was a response from jeff weaver, Bernie Sanders former campaign manager, who said, you know, this is just absolutely ridiculous that clinton less than two years after this clinton ended to come back and sort of relitigate these issues that she had. O some extent, Bernie Sanders needs to put on a good face if he wants to court some of the people who supported clinton in 2016. But also, you know, Hillary Clintons supporters and advisers should lay off of him if they want to see a progressive be formidable against donald trump in the end. Thank you very much. Coming up, first the president said he took kim jongun at his word. Then he says he was misinterpreted. But Otto Warmbiers parents are clear. Their message when the 11th hour continues. Audible members know listening has the power to change us make us better parents, better leaders, better people. And theres no better place to listen than audible. 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After a shameful trial, the dictatorship sentenced otto to 15 years of hard labor before returning him to america last june horribly injured and on the verge of death. He passed away just days after his return. That was President Trump last year, seven months after the return and subsequent death of 22yearold Otto Warmbier. Warmbier, by the way, who you can see here begging for his release, basically begging for his life, was arrested and held as prisoner in north korea in 2016. He returned to the u. S. In a vegetative state, and, again, just died days later. But this week after meeting with kim jongun, trumps stance was considerably softer towards the dictator. I dont believe he knew about it. He felt badly about it. I did speak to him. He felt very badly. He knew the case very well. But he knew it later. Youve got a lot of people, a big country, a lot of people. And in those prisons and those camps, you have a lot of people. And some really bad things happened to otto. Some really, really bad things. But he tells me he tells me he didnt know about it. And i will take him at his word. Today warmbiers parents responded to the president s remarks with this statement. Quote, we have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son, otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that. Trump attempted to clean up his mess on twitter today, writing, quote, i never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family. Remember, i got otto out, along with three others. The Previous Administration did nothing. And he was taken on their watch. Of course, i hold north korea responsible for ottos mistreatment and death. Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain. Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, by will last for many years into the future. I love otto and think of him often. Noticeably absent from those words, an apology for his defense of kim jongun. Coming up, grand juries, indictments and conspiracy charges. A look back at what happened 45 years ago today when the 11th hour comes right back. The last thing before we go tonight. The significance of this date, march 1st, in american president ial history. It was noted on twitter today by hour nbc news president ial historian, michael beshlass. 45 fwreer years ago today president Richard Nixon was named a Co Conspirator by a grand jury that indicted seven of his aides for watergate conspiracy. March 1st, 1974, was also a friday. And michael included a photo of the saturday morning New York Times. Things moved a little slower before the 24hour news cycle. The times headline, federal grand jury indicts seven nixon aides. Heres how the coverage of that news played out in the homes of millions of americans 45 years ago tonight. The indictments were handed up in the washington courtroom of judge john sarika, 20 months after the grand jury began its investigation. Gordon graham of our staff was in the courtroom. Carrying heavy sealed briefcases filled with evidence, the assistant special prosecutors entered the courthouse. That was in support of a sealed grand jury report which may concern others not named in the indictments. The foreman of the grand jury who works for the library of congress arrived. The grand jurors have been hearing evidence about the watergate affair for 20 months. The courtroom was packed with reporters and spectators, many of whom had waited hours to witness this historic event. The grand jury foreman presented the indictment and sealed from the grand jury. The judge accepted the indictment and silently opened and read the sealed report. He then announced that the report and the evidence would special prosecutor Leon Jaworski said it would be a long and protracted affair, lasting three or four months. The judge then set saturday, march 9th, as the date for arraignment. Gordon graham, abc news, washington. Those of you who still have sharp eyes this late in a friday night might have noticed a familiar face. Among the assistant special prosecutors captured by the nbc news camera was our own jill winebanks. Good night from nbc news headquarters in new york