And these primaries, its where were learning the country is going. Its the biggest state, the microcosm of the country. A big microcosm, like jumbo ship, thank you, chuck todd. I have a special show. We will joined by senator Elizabeth Warren discussing her plan to force donald trump and other candidates to release tax returns, her first time on the beat. Also, does Michael Cohens guilty plea mean his story is over or just Getting Started . Donald trumps lawyer before Michael Cohen is here live, that could be interesting. Also, Paul Manaforts lawyers back in court today, their first appearance since news broke they were talking with plea deals with none other than bob mueller. The top story is not about trumps lawyer who keeps tangling with bob mueller, rudy giuliani, it is the news that trusts most pivotal white house lawyer, the man at the white hot center of the russia probe, as well as at the center of the warnings about mike flynn, at the center of the efforts to oust Jeff Sessions and rosenstein and even bob mueller himself, that man, White House Counsel Don Mcgahn is out. That is the news tonight. Axios first reported it today, that he has plans to exit in the fall and then donald trump rushed to get on top of that scoop, tweeting that mcgahn is leaving. We can also report tonight something about that tweet that is somewhat typical of this white house. Sources say mcgahn didnt even know donald trump was announcing his exit that way. Now, mcgahn has a job that is high power, but honestly low visibility. In fact, it was in one of his very rare public interviews at cpac when he explained how he was directly appointed by trump and how much he gets to touch in this post. The counsel to the president is an appointed decision, directly answerable to the president. It is not a career spot. I am appointed by president trump. It is the primary Legal Adviser to the president. And that involves you in just about everything . Unfortunately, yes. Unfortunately, yes, a little candor there about not wanting to do all the legal everything in this white house. And there is something here that actually is a point of rare agreement from trump allies and critics alike. In the crimeriddled trump world, everyone knows mcgahn is critical. In fact, today, the Top Republican on the Judiciary Committee was basically begging for him to stay on. Others have noted how mcgahn could hurt trump because he was so close to so many potentially criminal acts under investigation. To be honest with you, this is something that ive noticed, there have been a lot of stories that have broken over the past week or two that cast White House Counsel Don Mcgahn as the superhero who is saving the republic. This is another one of those stories where don mcgahn, white House Counsel, is the only man standing between america and the abyss. Todays news comes after trumps week from legal hell, which featured not only the convictions of his top lawyer and former campaign chief, but also, remember, after that provocative New York Times report detailing how the white house was blindsided over just how much mcgahn had told muellers investigators and up to 30 hours of certainly interesting interviews. Mueller looking at what mcgahn knew as the first Top White House official briefed on Michael Flynns crime, which he confessed to, of lying to the fbi, as well as trumps pressure over mcgahn on getting Jeff Sessions to take over the russia probe or potentially leave the administration. And there were, of course, the clashes with james comey and other acts that could be obstruction or even ignite a crisis for trumps presidency. When you take it all together, it was mcgahn who trump was to do his dirty work, and try to fire mueller. Mcgahn reportedly refused. Thats the leak rachel was just referring to, an act of alleged bureaucratic heroism that found its way to the newspapers. If the storys good enough for them, you can bet its good enough to tell bob mueller. How does the president feel today about mcgahn telling mueller about the president s private efforts to fire mueller . Quite the question. Today donald trump says hes not concerned about. While another trump lawyer says he doesnt need to face mueller at all. Youre not concerned do you believe the president will eventually sit down with bob mueller based on your experience with him wanting to engage with counsel . Well, its no reason for the president to answer questions for mueller. Mueller has all the answers. We gave him all the answers. Now, we do know bob mueller disagrees with what you just heard there because he is pressing for the interview, the white House Counsel, though, isnt always a job that defines the legitimacy or the future of a presidency, particularly when the presidency is healthy, the white House Counsel doesnt tend to be a household name. But when the counsel is testifying against the president amidst an independent prosecutor probe like john dean there on the left or defending actions that other officials identified as say, illegal surveillance or unconstitutional torture, like alberto gonzales, or spending days with bob mueller to offer the most private details of the president s state of mind amidst potential obstruction, like don mcgahn there on the right, well, then yes, the actions and the departure of that white House Counsel can have a bearing on the making or unmaking of a presidency. With that in mind we turn to an excellent panel tonight, maya wiley, the mayor of new york city, and david frum, a former speech writer for george w. Bush, and also an author, and editor of the atlantic, joyce vance. Quite a panel for quite a day at the white house. Maya, your view of the significance of mr. Mcgahns departure, a man who rachel and i and others have noted seems like quite the hero if you believe his own leaks. So it is news certainly. I dont think that were going to see any major shifts in how this investigation is going to be handled through the white house because, of course, mcgahn has not been the primary lawyer handling the russia investigation for the white house. So that were not going to see a major shift in strategy. In posture. In posture. What we have to understand is mcgahn was actually part of the Mission Critical team. What i mean by that is he made it his job to accomplish trumps mission. Let me push you on the posture. There is a view here that trump wants to get mueller fired, the New York Times reported it, but mcgahn was reported as the obstacle. Donald trump hasnt necessarily changed his mind about that. The interpretation here would be that mcgahn, who was the barrier for that, has been removed. What about that theory . At the look, heres the point. The president is the president , and nobody can stop him from making a decision to remove someone he wants to remove. So just because a counsel says dont do it, doesnt mean he has to listen. He should listen because having a lawyer is like having a doctor. You dont want a doctor telling you, oh, you dont want to know you have brain cancer, okay, ill tell you you dont have brain cancer even though you do. You want a lawyer to say im going to tell you what you dont want to hear. It would be a bad decision. Im going to tell you im going to make a decision to leave if you make that bad decision. Thats basically what we know about the interaction between donald trump and don mcgahn. So i actually think don mcgahn has been on the outs for a long time in the white house. I suspect this is more to the extent the timing its happening now about the fact that obviously donald trump could not have been too happy about mcgahn talking to mueller in the way that and reading the details that he provided. So let me go to david frum, maya refers to a doctor treating a cancer. It was another white House Counsel john dean who talked about a cancer on the presidency. Your view on where don mcgahn fits into these famous counsels . There are two broad types of people who tend to end up in the white House Counsel job, lawyers who have earned enormous reputations before having the white house, brought in by president s knowing this person has the prestige and the strength and the independence to be able to say no to the president. If the president doesnt like what hes hearing, the counsel will go out the door and go back to his job on wall street or k street in washington. The other types are like john dean in the Nixon Administration who come with no Previous National reputation and the president can rely on to count on to say yes as white House Counsel john dean to his later cost did say yes. Don mcgahn is a john dean, entered as a john dean, and hoping to become a lloyd cutler by strategically leaking along the way. The question were going to discover is which of those identities is the more true to what really happened. Its fascinating when you put it like that. I think youre in agreement with Rachel Maddows analysis as well. Lets take a listen to that for joyce. Don mcgahn all of a sudden is the subject of a lot of news stories in terms of him having restrained the president from his worst or potentially most unconstitutional impulses around the russia investigation, and obstruction of justice. Makes don mcgahn, like, the picture of heroic selfsacrifice here, right . Joyce, your take . Its interesting to see the president go through lawyers faster than a chain smoker goes through cigarettes. I mean, mcgahn is just leading the steady drum beat of lawyers departing. This one, ari, youre right because theres been so much publicity surrounding it. Its cut both ways. On the one hand theres this effort to cast mcgahn in a good light, the person whos gone and been the bright line between trump and some serious misdeeds. On the other hand theres been this story that hes parted ways with the president , the story that he spoke with bob mueller for over 30 hours, implying that the president didnt know what he talked about, but that it would have been issues close to the presidency. But one thing that we all know is that mcgahn has been central to the president s success in getting federal judges confirmed. I would not be too quick to take that leap of faith that says that mcgahn is on the outs with the president. We have seen reports, though, that hes been hesitant on the issue of giving Paul Manafort a pardon. Its possible that much of the president was perceived by many to be signaling to manafort last week that a pardon was a possibility when he spoke of manafort favorably. Perhaps hes saying that his leaving is a direction the president may feel pressure with the upcoming september trial for manafort. Well, youre nailing that, as you so often do, that was the other context, david, there were these leaks, as joyce refers to, that basically if this was a we talk about fireable offenses, which may have been a resignable offense that mcgahn has drawn a red line over certain things. Ask Donald Trumps response, reportedly, was great, then you can go and i will get someone who will carry out a pardon order. Through the Trump Administration we are calling what used to be down now up. So obviously its better not to issue brazenly selfserving pardons than to issue brazenly selfserving pardons. Its only in the last administration and all the administrations dating, going back before that, back to watergate, the idea that the president would use pardon power in his own interest at all is from watergate to the obama administration, the pardons were run not by the president , but by the department of jis justice. The president and his staff would make the final decisions, but it was not a personal prerogative of the presidency in the way its become. The fact that don mcgahn has said dont horribly abuse this personal power of the presidency, in such an obvious way, doesnt mean that its still not something you resign over when the president on the very first day says were not doing this through the department of justice, this is my prerogative, im using it my way. Joyce . I think that thats a good analysis of the situation. No president has ever tried to use the pardon for his own benefit. And here trump is perhaps using it defensively, trying to keep damaging information about himself or his family from coming to light. So its unprecedented in many ways. It would make sense that mcgahn, trying to protect the presidency, because he is, after all, his white House Counsel, the presidencys lawyer and not the president s lawyer that he would be trying to preserve those time honored sort of practices in ensuring that the future of the presidency was not led down a different path by the conduct of this president. I would offer one amendment which is, i think, a fair reading of the history is that other president s have certainly been criticized for struggling to use the pardon power in a uniform or nonselfinterested way. Bush, in the administration you served, david, was criticized for using the cometation power. Bill clinton, in pardoning in an unusual way when he was still a fugitive, seen as linked to the clintons, and then obviously bush sr. Pursuant to i ran contra. One difference that reenforces the points you both made, the notion that those were all debatable decisions that people said was too close. But the notion of family or selfpardons have never been on the table before. Its never been on the table before. And im not going to give don mcgahn the credit that he just got. I actually think if youre being the lawyer that mcgahn has already been which is a on Trump Mission and an aggressive lawyer for donald trump, he was his Campaign Lawyer and he was very aggressive with the sec, this is a guy who, if he is doing his job, which i think he did in this instance, is say dont do it because its actually going to beef up the case against you. Not just because im really trying to protect the history of how pardons are used. There is a saying that if don mcgahn were free styling he wouldnt need a hype man because he does so much hyping for himself. Thats something thats been said in legal circles in washington. David and joyce, thank you, maya stays with me for another big thing later in the show. Up ahead, Paul Manaforts lawyers in court today, the mueller team with a surprise announcement. Well tell you what they said, and new numbers, cohens plea deal is calling for more to sit down. Jay goldberg is back. He said this on the beat. He calls himself a fixer. The question is, what did he fix . What needed fixing . What needed fixing was relations with the mob. Relations with the mob. And senator Elizabeth Warren is here with me tonight talking about trumps tax returns and her new bill. Im ari melber. Youre watching the beat on msnbc. Your brain changes as you get older. But prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. If you have moderate to thsevere rheumatoid arthritis, month after month, the clock is ticking on irreversible joint damage. 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Because national lets me lose the wait at the counter. And choose any car in the aisle. And i dont wait when i return, thanks to drop go. At national, i can lose the wait. And keep it off. Looking good, patrick. I know. vo go national. Go like a pro. This is moving day with the best inhome wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. Paul manaforts conviction left a big choice for bob mueller, try the remaining counts there in virginia, or drop them and focus on the next trial in washington. The deadline for that whole choice is today. But we cant tell you what mueller decided because hes now asking a judge to delay the deadline. Manaforts team will oppose this request. Theyre not. Theres no debate between these prosecutors trying to jail manafort and his own lawyers because they have no objection to mueller taking more time. This rare agreement may mean manaforts team wants to avoid anything to risk an additional trial or it could relate to this new report this week that the two sides had begun plea talks which ultimately broke down. Im joined by former federal prosecutor Glen Kirshner who has worked with bob mueller. There may be some room for negotiation to resolve not only the remaining counts on which the virginia jury hung but the upcoming trial. I dont know that thats a likely scenario, but i will say that anytime we have defendants with multiple criminal cases, and we get them convicted in one, i can tell you as a career prosecutor we move heaven and earth to try to resolve the outstanding cases. Now, i would say the normal rules of prosecutorial conviction are out the window. They dont apply. But it could be that both sides will looking for a little bit of daylight to try to resolve the cases. The d. C. Trial that a manafort plea could still happen, youre saying is on the table . It could be, but i would suspect well see the d. C. Trial move forward. You mentioned unique circumstances. Ive got another one for you. We reported last night on an unusual burglary of a banker linked to Paul Manafort. Today nypd is releasing the video. Update on the story, you can see this person whos wanted for questioning, this is brand new video of the banker of Paul Manaforts apartment, and you see him, he has a key, what were seeing here is he enters, and theres more video of him Walking Around this area. The authorities released it late today. Its fascinating, gives you a view of the person whos wanted for questioning. And glen, we had a federal prosecutor on last night who said even as a precaution you would expect muellers team and the fbi to already contact the nypd in the situation and say give us everything you have. The other reporting, i want to update this, Police Telling the New York Daily News late today that, quote, they do not believe the burglar knows who the banker is or that he picked the apartment to find out more about manafort, in other words proceeding here on day two on the investigative theory theyre not linked. How do you think the fbi and muellers folks would look at this information . Do you think they have it . Well, you know, theyre going to definitely want to look at it because he was a banker connected to Paul Manafort. The reporting is that the intruder took, among other things, a briefcase and an ipad. So certainly the fbi and the mueller team is going to be interested. But, you know, ari, the flipside of the down is, when i read the reporting on this, this same intruder apparently broke into an apartment two blocks away and stole, among other things, a skate board. So i dont know that this is its, in your view, more random . Ive seen so many knuckle heads watching surveillance tape when they will kind of grab what they can. It makes it seem like this was more random than targeted. Its fascinating. Its something the fbi will be looking at even if the authorities indicate it is looking more, as you say, random. We wanted to update on that story. We have a lot ahead in our show. Including my interview with senator Elizabeth Warren, but first, the lawyer who had Michael Cohens job working for donald trump before Michael Cohen is sitting right next to me when were back in 30 seconds. Now to an exclusive on the beat tonight, a man who some say was trumps Michael Cohen before Michael Cohen is here to talk to us. Jay goldberg predicted on the beat that cohen was likely to flip over the pressures he faced. He says Michael Cohen was always talking about links to the mob. Trump world is turning all the investigators into trump world. Allen weisselberg has cut a deal of sorts for the cohen case. David pecker has left the Canadian Media company all over the scrutiny on him for what he did with cohen to pay off multiple women. Three trump World Associates apparently turning on their boss and their once loyal friend. Joining me now is jay goldberg, Donald Trumps exclusive litigator for 15 years, a new book coming out this winter the courtroom is my theater, men of honor, and more, and another seasoned attorney, maya wiley also at the table. Jay, lets take a look at your prediction, which has proven correct, in part, that cohen would buckle under the pressure. You also talked about other crimes he might be affiliated with. Take a look. We hear a lot now about potential Money Laundering and the maffia. Why do you think that comes up with Michael Cohen . People involved in the Building Trades are at the mercy of the mob. Do you think Michael Cohens job at times was to keep the mob away from donald trump . The question is what did he fix and what needed fixing . What needed fixing was relations with the mob. How did you get it right that he would plea . And if you were right about relations with the mob, why was that not charged . Well, i said on another program that i couldnt see him after he got his ma clothing and was told to walk down broadway, that there would be inmates hanging their cuffs against the bars saying to him, youre going to be my wife. And i didnt think he would have the stomach to risk what really goes on in a prison setting. Do you think he wont get a real sentence . He will get a real sentence only after he provides substantial assistance. Why no mob charges . Why what was that . Why no charges related to the mob . Well, that could be a long standing investigation conducted by the southern district. They have in the past looked into the Building Trades and seen that builders in new york are at the mercy of mobsters who threaten labor strikes in order to unduly burden a builder. And a payoff is the order of the day. Now, you like donald trump . I liked him, and i still like him a great deal. Let me read to you some of his language. You talk about the mob. Yes. He said don mcgahn, quote, isnt a john dean style rat, don mcgahn. He said he knows all about, quote, flippers, he praised manafort because he wouldnt, quote, break. And he talks a lot about loyalty. Does that remind you of some of the accused mafiosos youve ever represented. Yes, thats typical language. Is that the right language for the president . Theres no precedent that i can turn to to say whether its right or wrong. Its correct as far as i can tell. And hinge an interview on a word that he used as opposed to another word is a waste of time. You think thats not the focus. Im going to come back to you. Let me bring in maya for any response. Well, first i would say we actually dont know whether Michael Cohen is getting any kind of a break. What he has done is shifted his plea. And whether theres a Cooperation Agreement and what hes getting in exchange for it, we dont know. I absolutely agree with mr. Goldberg the question is whether he has something to offer. And the question about what he has to offer related to business dealings that interact with russians is something that theres been a lot of news reporting about a long history of Michael Cohen having relationships with people who appear to be mob connected. So that is something we dont know, but its something that i would expect prosecutors to be interested in. Could still be looking at. Could still be looking at and not necessarily there yet. Now, jay, as you know this story has captivated the entire nation. Im sure you hear from people, as you have taken a public role. I dont know if youre familiar with curtis jackson, the musician 50 cent, you heard of him . Hes a pretty prominent musician, when we were covering this, he spoke about this and he agreed with you that the nature of Michael Cohen, that who he is, would lead to him cutting a deal. Take a look. Yes. Youre going to tell all of it. Michael lied to him. He aint from the neighborhood. I wonder if you could contrast that analysis with overlaps with yours about the kind of person mr. Cohen is and the reports that mr. Manafort also entered some discussions of a plea, whether or not it involved cooperating information. I think anybody facing a long prison term caves in. Anybody . I can only think of two people, who stood up and said 80 years, ill do it. And other than that, people, mafioso or others, faced with a long prison term cooperate. The fact that theyre cooperating doesnt ensure that theyre telling the truth. Their role is to win the cooperation of the government so that the government tells the judge that they have provided substantial assistance and the judge can go outside the guidelines and give them a more lenient sentence. What do you think of mr. Stone, roger stone, who has sworn up and down he would never cooperate, do you think of him as a, as you put it, a snake level resister . Well, i know him because he you know everybody. So thats true. And david pecker as well. But the point is roger stone is a well heeled creative guy. If theres a way to put something favoring your client, he thinks of it. Hes a very crafty individual. So hes unique, and i cant say where he would come out. But as i said before nobody looks at the prison walls and says he can do the time except for the two people ive mentioned. Its fascinating to have you here, as well as maya wiley. You know the ins and outs of the new york legal scene. We appreciate you coming on the beat to share your perspective. Jay goldberg and maya wiley. Up next, Elizabeth Warren going after trumps tax returns next. Mom okay we need to get all your School Supplies today. School. Grade. Done. Done. Hit the Snooze Button and get low prices on School Supplies all summer long. Like this case of paper for only 29. 99 at office depot officemax. You shouldnt be rushed into booking a hotel. With expedias addon advantage, booking a flight unlocks discounts on select hotels until the day you leave for your trip. Addon advantage. Only when you book with expedia. Discover. O. On advantage. I like your card, but im absolutely not paying an annual fee. Discover has no annual fees. Really . Yeah. We just dont believe in them. Oh nice. You would not believe how long ive been rehearsing that. No annual fee on any card. Only from discover. Lets fly, lets fly away just say the words and well beat the birds down to acapulco bay its perfect for a flying honeymoon they say come fly with me lets fly, lets fly away come fly with me lets fly, lets fly away one of the most prominent democrats in the u. S. Senate has a plan to take on corruption and Donald Trumps secrecy about his taxes and money, senator Elizabeth Warren joins me live in a moment to discuss her new legislation. She says it would combat the corruption that undermines public trust in government. People dont trust their government to do right because they think government works, but the rich, the powerful and the well connected, and not for the American People. Warren argues her new legislation would fix that in three ways. Sunlight, forcing president ial candidates to release years of tax returns, banning profiteering off the governments, and declaring the presidency a fulltime job so you cant be president while also actively running an International Marketing and real estate company, for example. Reformers say this effort is nonpartisan and it even echoes the leadership of a major republican whos being memorialized this week, Campaign Finance reformer john mccain. I want to talk to you just for a second, why else i want to reform the government, because the government, my friends, has been taken over by the big money and the special interest, and im out to break the Iron Triangle in washington of big money lobbyists in legislation so you can get your government back, and ill go fight for that until the last breathe i draw. The warren plan is a far cry from trump who ran against the lobbying swamp and then jumped right in it. Were going to win today, and were going to washington, d. C. To drain the swamp. But you cannot have a totally blind trust with operating businesses. President trump cant unknow he owns trump tower. Reports say that aides to pruitt were made to bring him yogurt protein bars, pick up lotion, go mattress shopping. Paul manafort convicted of tax fraud. Michael cohen in a courthouse in Lower Manhattan pleading guilty to eight charges. Senator Elizabeth Warren joins me now. Thank you very much for coming on the beat. Oh, thanks for having me. You see it there, the contrast between what the president as a candidate ran on and the swamp that exists today. What does your bill do . Well, lets start with the fact that the Trump Administration is the most corrupt president ial administration in living memory. But the problem is not just with trump. Weve had a problem going on for a long time about the influence of money in washington. You know, weve talked about Campaign Finance reform. Ask b and boy, this is a big part of it. But there is so much more. Theres so many other ways that money makes its way felt. You picked up some of them. The fact that people in Congress Actually own individual stocks and trade on those stocks on the one hand while theyre doing policy on the other hand that influences the value of those stocks its just not right because the American People say, wait a minute, who were you working for . Were you working in the public interest, or were you just working to line your own pocket . My bill puts an absolute stop to that. My bill requires that people release their taxes. Anybody wants to run for federal office, then their taxes will be released by the irs. And every year that youre in federal office your taxes will be released. The American People have a right to know where youre getting your money from. These are just basic things. I have to tell you, when i was putting this bill together, this is a big bill. Its a sweeping bill. And yet there are whole parts of this that i think there are people around the country who say, wait, what, you mean thats not already the law . Right. You mean those guys can spin through the revolving door and while they are elected officials, while they are cabinet officials, while they are president of the United States, they can be dealing for their own deck instead of for the public interest. So thats what this bills about. Its big, its got a lot of pieces to it, it is the biggest bill that anyone has done since watergate. And i think its needed, and its needed right now. Well, and you mentioned the stock trading. Congressman collins here has been indicted on insider trading. As you say, a lot of people look at that and go, wait, you mean the people writing these laws can sit around and trade in individual stocks. Exactly. Would you argue if your bill was law that would actually help him because he wouldnt have been allowed to hold those stocks . In that sense it would. But what it would also do is weed out people who kind of want to work in the public interest, but kind of want to work if their own selfinterest. This is like a big net that says, you know, if thats your plan, you just dont get to come into government at all. Thats my view about every part of this. One of the things this bill does is it changes lobbying as we know it. Its a much bigger definition of lobbying than the current swiss cheese, maybe youre a lobbyist, maybe youre not depending on how the pieces fit together. It says you hold one of these government jobs like being a senator, being a congressman, being the head of a government agency, a cabinet official, a president or Vice President of the United States, youre banned from lobbying for a lifetime after that. In other words, theres no doing your current job and just kind of looking over the edge to see what may be the lucrative next job. Focus now on what youre doing. Heres the deal. If you dont want to do that, if lobbying is so deep in your heart, then dont become a congressman, a senator, head of an agency or president of the United States. When you say that it goes to the way this bill would rewire washington, you also would ban all americans from foreign lobbying, an issue thats been bleeding in the russia probe. No kidding. Walk us through why thats currently allowed and why do you think that should be stopped . Look, the whole notion that its currently allowed, that a Foreign Government or Russian Oligarch can, on the qt, hire americans to go lobby congress, to go lobby the white house and the administration to advance their interests, why should we permit that . My view on this is if Foreign Governments and foreign officials want to be able to influence washington, use your diplomats. Thats what its there for, put your diplomatic corps out there. But that way Everybody Knows which team theyre playing for when they come to make calls on the administration or on congress. I dont know how good your timing is, but you are introducing this legislation during a period where americans are blown away by what happened last week. I want to read from the president s former lawyer Michael Cohens own words under oath confessing to campaign crimes. He said in coordination with and the direction of the candidate for federal office, donald trump, i and the ceo say request of the candidate, thats donald trump, worked together to keep an individual with information that would be harmful to the candidate and to the campaign from publicly disclosing this information. Do you think the crime that he confessed to, then, involves the guilt of donald trump . Well, you know, hes certainly implicating donald trump. Hes making clear the connections here. And im sure that everybody is listening whos involved in the deeper investigation about the relationship between russia, the trump campaign, donald trump himself, and now whatever is happening in the connections with the Justice Department and trying to shut down the investigation. But i want to make a bigger point about this because when you listen to words like this from cohen, its a reminder, corruption is like a cancer. On our democracy. Think about how the American People, think about how all of us hear that, that wait a minute, whats going on in washington every day up and down the line . Its that the well connected, the wealthy, they get heard, they get what it is they want, they are in the know. But everybody else, working people, just families who are just trying to make a go of it, they dont have that kind of representation in washington. And that means we have a problem. Thats not only a problem within our government, its a problem within our democracy. Corruption eats away at the heart of democracy, the notion that this government is not here to represent only the wealthy and the wellconnected, but that this government is here to represent all the people. I think thats whats at stake in this bill. You talk about that, democracy and that kind of relates to policy issue that youve been leading on, which is puerto rico. I want to play for you and viewers the president s initial assessment of the damage there compared to what weve learned just today in some of the new reporting. Take a look. Nobodys ever seen anything like this. 16 versus literally thousands of people. Merely a year after Hurricane Maria ravaged puerto rico the death toll has risen again, 2,975 deaths. So literally thousands according to the new facts, not the 16 that the president said. Your view of the Trump Administrations response to this, and what should be done now . So, look, the Trump Administrations response to the catastrophe in puerto rico was too little too late. But back up just a little bit. Puerto rico has a serious problem even before Hurricane Maria hit, and that problem was a huge debt burden, a debt burden that was dragging down the economy, that was forcing the government to pay money to wall street vulture investors instead of putting that money into schools and hospitals and infrastructure, a debt burden that was truly choking off the economy of puerto rico. I would down in puerto rico. Ive been engaged on this issue and tried to get debt relief that Puerto Rico Needs before Hurricane Maria hit. Once Hurricane Maria hit everything that was bad just got a whole lot worse. So the federal government under trump did too late, too little, but all of the debt problems get worse. Now puerto rico has even greater need to make the investments in rebuilding, in infrastructure, in schools and in hospitals. And yet, the wall street vulture investors are continuing to try to suck money out of that island. So for me what we need now is we need both a commitment to help puerto rico rebuild, but we also need to give puerto rico the same kind of opportunities that a city in america, that gets into too much debt would have, and that is to be able, under limited circumstances, to declare bankruptcy and deal with that outstanding debt. If puerto rico were a country, puerto rico would be able to change its currency, it could default on its debt if it wanted to, and it could reorganize itself financially. Weve seen countries do this. But because of puerto ricos commonwealth status, right now they legally are not able to deal with the debt in the way that they need to. So ive introduced a bill that says puerto rico should have the option, if it wants to, to be able to write down that debt and what it owes to wall street. That way puerto rico would have a chance, a fighting chance, to be able to rebuild its economy. Right. To be able to be all that puerto rico could be. Which is a very important point. I also want to ask about new reports that trump would oust Jeff Sessions when we come back. Copd makes it hard to breathe. So to breathe better, i go with anoro. Go your own way copd tries to say, go this way. I say, ill go my own way, with anoro. Go your own way oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Anoro is not for asthma. It contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. The risk is unknown in copd. Anoro wont replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder, or urinary problems. These may worsen with anoro. 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Thats what i think the United States congress should do right now, and i push on this in the senate. I ask my friends in the house to push on this. We need to pass a bill that says the special prosecutor cannot be fired. He has a right, he will be protected, so he can finish his investigation without interference from democrats, republicans, independents, anybody, and not interference from the president of the United States. You know, hes already this investigation has produced more than two dozen indictments or guilty pleas. This is a serious investigation. Our job in the senate and the house should be to protect that special prosecutor so he can finish his work and make a full and fair report to the people of the United States. Now, i have to press you a little bit, because it may surprise people, people who really look up to you or look up to donald trump, that there is an overlap here, apparently, because in march, you did say, quote, we need attorney general Jeff Sessions, who should have never been confirmed in the first place, to resign. We need it now. And so i wonder, is there an overlap between you and donald trump who now allegedly is trying to get rid of Jeff Sessions, or is it more complicated . Look, im not a fan of Jeff Sessions. Ive watched what hes done on everything from his on criminal justice, on his refusal to enforce civil rights acts, all that he is doing. What i care about is the protection of the special prosecutor, and that is a narrow thing that the congress could take care of. We could pass a bill if republicans and democrats, i think, all the democrats are on board for this. Republicans and democrats could come together, we could do it with a vetoproof majority, and make sure that the special prosecutor is protected. Thats the part i care about. Understood. And senator Elizabeth Warren, i really appreciate you coming on the beat and taking questions. We hope youll come back. You bet. Thanks for having me. Thank you, senator. Thanks for having me thank you, senator. Not so cute when theyre angry. And we covered it. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum need a change of scenery . The kayak price forecast tool tells you whether to wait or book your flight now. So you can be confident youre getting the best price. Giddyup kayak. Search one and done. Their medicare options. E people go to learn about before theyre on medicare. Come on in. Youre turning 65 soon . Yep. And youre retiring at 67 . Thats the plan well, youve come to the right place. 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[laughter] vo go national. Go like a pro. See what i did there . We just spoke to Elizabeth Warren about her plan to make donald trump and other candidates release their tax returns. Theres another question there that is raised, which is what about Campaign Chairs like Paul Manafort. He was convicted last week of tax evasion. Wouldnt that have been nice to know during the campaign . Well, one thing i also asked senator warren that we didnt have time to air is what the rules should be for that under her new proposed legislation. And if youre interested, were going to post the entire interview, what we aired tonight and the rest of it that we didnt air on our Facebook Page tonight. The whole thing, there will be a link. Facebook. Com thebeat with ari and you can always find me at facebook. Com arimelber. Thats our show. Hardball starts right now. A stunner in the sunshine state. Lets play hardball. Good evening, im steve in for chris matthews. The battle lines are set for november, and maybe much more beyond that. A major upset in florida last night. It is now set the stage for a fall race for governor that just might be a preview of the 2020 president ial race. Democrats defying the pollsters and picking tallahassee mayor andrew