Transcripts For MSNBCW The Last Word With Lawrence ODonnell 20170620

Expectations, maybe even be in contention. That i mean in a trump plus 18 district, thats remarkable enough. But to have this race in georgia where trump won by less than two and where jon ossoff has been such a good candidate and karen handel has been such a bad candidate, i wouldnt want to be dealing with the kind of pressure that jon ossoff is dealing with tonight. And theres the trump factor. Tomorrow night were going to be talking about what did trump mean here in this election. We may have a late night of vote counting. I already canceled my plans for tomorrow. Me too. Thanks, lawrence. Thank you, rachel. As i said, we have jon ossoff joining us tonight. He will get his last word as the campaign finally comes to a close in that special election in georgia, the one that everyone has been watching this year. We will also be joined by one of the senators who is participating in the Democrats Holding of the senate floor tonight to talk about the phantom Republican Health care bill that still has not been made public. And why does Jared Kushner have much better lawyers than his fatherinlaw, who has assembled the single worst legal team ever to defend a president under investigation . Mr. President , are you under investigation by the special counsel . And now hes being investigated. So hes being investigated. Youve now said he is being investigated. No. You just said, sir no. You just said that hes being investigated. No. If you believe that lawyer, youre crazy. If you didnt want people to know that hes under investigation, why did he tweet, im under investigation . Clearly the president is being investigated for obstruction of justice. Tonight, the white house says its possible that by the end of this week, we could get some clarity on whether any Oval Office Tapes or recordings exist. This is Technology Week here at the white house. Jared kushner speaks. Kushners team is reaching out to criminal lawyers about possibly representing kushner in the russia investigation. Kushner is both a witness to otr crimes and potentially has his own legal exposures. I think that the virtually unprecedented level of chaos and dysfunction and the atmosphere of scandal in washington right now has raised everyones attention. Donald trump has the worst lawyers than any president under investigation has ever had. That is just fact. The reason he has these lawyers is that he is, indeed, under investigation. Lets make no mistake about that. The new frontrunner for the title of worst lawyer to ever defend a president under investigation is jay sekulow, Whose Mission yesterday was to go on the sunday shows and say the president is not under investigation. Now, this was going to be difficult because the president had already said twice that he is under investigation. And then, of course, sekulow himself says twice to Chris Wallace that the president is under investigation before he changed that to the president is not under investigation. And when Chris Wallace called him on that, jay sekulow got indignant about Chris Wallace putting words in his mouth. Chris, let me be clear. You asked me a question about what the president s tweet was regarding the Deputy Attorney general of the United States. Thats what you asked me, and i responded to what that legal theory would be. So i do not appreciate you putting words in my mouth when ive been Crystal Clear that the president is not and has not been under investigation. Do not appreciate putting words in my mouth. Okay. So here are the words that Chris Wallace did not put in jay sekulows mouth. And now hes being investigated. So hes being investigated. It was going to be very hard for jay sekulow to outdo Donald Trumps new york lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, who got basic facts wrong in his first Public Statement in defense of the president , when he claimed that james comeys testimony was total vindication of President Trump. Marc kasowitz defended donald trump on the losing side of the Trump University fraud case in which donald trump was forced to pay 25 million to the students he defrauded at Trump University, a university whose very name was a fraud because, of course, it is not, was not a university. Marc kasowitz also led donald trump on some of his most ridiculous, most frivolous, most impossible lawsuits, including suing bill maher and suing tim obrien, who wrote a book about donald trump. Marc kasowitz and donald trump not only lost that lawsuit against tim obrien, but in the process, donald trump was forced to give an under oath deposition in which he was caught in lies 30 times. And that deposition now lives after that lawsuit. And who can forget Donald Trumps inhouse lawyer at trump tower, michael cohen, who contributed this moment to the president ial campaign. Hes the one who said, you cant rape your spouse. It is true. You cannot rape your spouse. And theres very clear case law. Michael cohen has now had to hire his own lawyer because of his contacts with russians, if any, during the campaign are also being investigated. The only trump lawyer who has not yet publicly humiliated himself in defense of the president is the only one who has not spoken publicly in defense of the president. That is john dowd. It may be that the only way for a lawyer to avoid public humiliation in defense of President Trump is to simply remain silent. Meanwhile, special prosecutor Robert Mueller, himself a former fbi director with impeccable legal credentials, has hired 13 lawyers all with experience in investigating the mafia, al qaeda, and richard nixon. A spokesman as told politico that Robert Mueller intends to hire several more lawyers. As of tonight, the investigation ofhe president pits Robert Muellers dream team against Donald Trumps Nightmare Team. Robert muellers dream team of prosecutors against Donald Trumps Nightmare Team of lawyers who no other president under investigation would ever consider hiring under any circumstances. The president s soninlaw, Jared Kushner, is not as reckless as the president in his choice of washington criminal defense lawyers. Jared kushner was the first member of the trump team to hire a criminal defense lawyer last year during the transition. Hes now reportedly considering hiring another highpowered washington criminal defense lawyer, abby lowell. Abby lowell has spent decades, representing former senator john edwards, former speaker of the house jim wright, dan ross ten cow ski, and lobbyist jack abramoff. Abby lowell has experience in impeachment proceedings having served as counsel to House Democrats during the impeachment of president bill clinton. Abby lowell is exactly the kind of lawyer that donald trump needs and does not have. We dont know if it was Jared Kushners lawyers who advised him to finally speak today, to finally let his voice be publicly heard by the american people, the people he is supposed to be serving in his White House Position of completely inexperienced jack of all trades to the most inexperienced president in history. Before came to washington, many warned me that the bureaucracy would resist any change that we tried to implement. So far, i have found exactly the opposite. Inspiring. Inspiring just to hear that voice. Jared kushner did not say anything about how cooperative the federal courts have been. That is perhaps because federal judges all over the country have blocked the muslim ban that Jared Kushner and the president have so eagerly tried to impose. And Jared Kushner said nothing about how cooperative the congress has been since it has passed exactly none of the trump kushner legislative agenda including Jared Kushner and his wifes dream of ripping Health Insurance away from 20 Million People who will no longer be able to afford it if the trump kushner Health Care Bill ever becomes law. Joining us now, White House Correspondent for the daily beast, the deputy special counsel in the waco investigation, and also with us, david jolly, former republican congressman from florida. And ed dowd, i want to just get your sense of the legal teams lining up here at the line of scrimmage in this. I think theres no question about the quality that the special prosecutor is assembling and the experience that he has on his side. But ive never seen a legal team like this representing the president. I think theres some good lawyers there. I think john dowd is an excellent lawyer. And as you said, we havent heard from him yet. He has a great reputation. Abby lowell, obviously, was a good choice for Jared Kushner. Marc kasowitz actually has a good reputation in some areas, in some areas of law. Its an interesting, interesting group. And of course the last thing you want is to have your client contradicting what youre saying and to do so publicly is just not good for the investigation, not good for your credibility. David jolly, weve seen the client, as it were, the president contradicting all of his representatives. Of course. Whether it be sean spicer, anybody. What was interesting about this weekends contradiction with his lawyer is that the president had econtradicted him. The president had said, im under investigation a couple of times and then apparently sent him out to the sunday show with the order of, say im not under investigation. Right. And that lawyer took an oath to the bar that he apparently violated this weekend. Listen, why does Jared Kushner have better attorneys than donald trump . Because Jared Kushner is smarter than his fatherinlaw. Thats the bottom line, right . Understand, though, what donald trump is doing politically right now. Hes trying to win the war day to day. Why yesterday, on fathers day, when we lose serve sailors does he tweet about his poll numbers and fake news . It is because hes trying to hold his base desperately day to day. And, yes, maybe mueller has not reached the president. I think he has. But if not, listen, muellers authorization says anything arising out of the russia investigation. So one day it will. And when it does, President Trump will say mueller has too Many Democrats working for him. This is the president s day to day fight. Lachlan, inside the white house, what is their feeling about the president s legal team at this point . Well, theres a lot of frustration about the lack of, you know, at least publicly what appears to be the lack of communication between the president and the folks who are representing him. And the president has just been kind of a Defense Attorneys worst nightmare, flying off at the hilt on twitter and in Public Statements. You know, its gotten so difficult for a lot of these attorneys that you have folks like jay sekulow going out, who are sort of backed into this hypothetical whereby hes forced to concede that the president is under investigation. Obviously a major concession that he then tried to walk back. But, you know, its extremely difficult to manage this president , and i think the reason hes picked the legal team that he has is less it has less to do with, i think, legal competence or him being smart or not as congressman jolly was suggesting, than the fact that the president prizes loyalty above all else. And Marc Kasowitz especially has been very loyal to him over the years. Robert muellers going to meet apparently, according to the reuters report tonight, saying special prosecutor Robert Mueller will hold talks this week with Senior Senate Judiciary Committee members to ensure that there is no conflict between his investigation of potential collusion between russia and the Trump Campaign and the panels probe. Two congressional aides saying that. Ed dowd, thats standard procedure at this point, isnt it . I think it is, and i think its really a good procedure, good thing to do. On the waco investigation, the Senate Judiciary committee was about to do an investigation of what happened at waco, and Jack Danforth talked to the head of the Senate Judiciary committee and they agreed to wait until we completed our investigation. We did not want people interviewed before we had a chance to interview them and maybe take them in front of a grand jury and really get to the bottom of it. And we very much appreciated the Senate Judiciary committee cooperating with us in that regard. Ed, take us inside that kind of meeting thats going to happen now with mueller and the heads of the Judiciary Committee. Will they ask him ou timetable and how long will we have to wait . I think they will, and thats a very tough thing to estimate although, as you mention, bob mueller has already hired 15 lawyers and is hiring more. And they will be a tremendous group of lawyers. Bob mueller, of course, you cant have a better person than bob mueller to run this investigation as special counsel with his background and experience. And hell be able to put together the best possible team. They will move fast, im sure. Senator danforth, in our investigation, one week into the investigation came into my office and said, are we done yet . And i said, no, but i get the point. And we finished that in 14 months with 17 lawyers and 34 postal inspectors fulltime. Jack danforth kept saying, im no ken starr. I want to be done. I want to get to the end of this. I want to be 100 right and report it to the american people. And thats what he did and what we did. And im sure bob mueller will do the exact same thing, and hell move promptly. But whether that takes eight months or a year and a half or longer is hard to say. And david jolly, were getting a report tonight indicating that theres a trip that Michael Flynn made to saudi arabia that he did not disclose, yet another item that he did not disclose on the forms for his security clearance. And the media just keeps digging these out about flynn. Right. So there are several lanes of investigation here, right . Did russia try to impact our elections . Were there Trump Campaign associates who actually either benefited from it or colluded with it . Did donald trump try to obstruct justice with comey . This investigation begins and ends now with Robert Mueller, and his integrity is in place. And guys like Newt Gingrich who came out and said Robert Mueller, his integrity is beyond reproach, and now theyve fallen in line because an ambassadorship was given away to their wives or whatever the conflict of interest might be. The reality is mueller is going to get this left. As americans, we will know at the end of the day that bob mueller is somebody that can be trusted to get to the bottom of this. Lachlan, were discovering all these details about the mueller team. And pretty much every prosecutorial skill that you could ask for is on this team, including one who is described as a specialist in flipping people, turning people into the witness who turns against the others within a group, the kind of turning people into the john dean of this case. That has to worry everybody around the president. Yeah. You know, i think thats probably a skill that a lot of prosecutors strive for and have and, you know, learn over the courses of their career. But i mean to your larger point, the wide array of experts in various investigative techniques, in types of crimes that mueller is bringing on to this team suggests that this sort of hydra of an investigation has branched out into a lot of different areas. Of course thats the concern if youre donald trump and you have a lot of people on your team who have, say, been dealing in postsoviet developing countries for the past 20 years, is that youve had a lot of encounters with some very shady figures, some possibly very shady financial flows, and all these sorts of things can start to emerge once people are opening the books and looking back through their records over the last 10, 20 years. Ed, senator Sheldon Whitehouse is a former prosecutor himself has said publicly today that it appears to him, just by looking at the externals that we know publicly, that Michael Flynn is probably already cooperating with the fbi and cooperating with this investigation. When does that kind of information become public . Who is cooperating and who isnt . You never know. A guy like Sheldon Whitehouse has a great background for this. He was the u. S. Attorney in rhode island. I know him very well. We were u. S. Attorneys at the same time. Generally as the prosecutor, as the investigator, you dont want that public until the last possible minute. You dont want the people youre investigating to know what you have or what people are saying to you or whos cooperating. I would be trying to keep that within our investigation. And if somebody is cooperating, make it very clear to them that theyre not helping themselves if they start making it public that theyre cooperating and make it very clear to their lawyers as well. I would definitely insist on that if somebody was cooperating. David jolly, quickly before we go. Were going to have jon ossoff on, special Congressional Election. Theres a little bit of deja vu in this for you because you won in a special election in a nearby florida district. Whats your sense of where that race is tonight . I think ossoff wins it. I do. A couple things we know. One, all the commercials end tomorrow in georgia, and every voter is excited about that. One party is going to play down expectations wednesday morning and say this race doesnt matter. But the bottom line is it does. This race matters. Donald trump won this by a point and a half. Are republicans coming home to stay there with him or are democrats with all this energy, does it play out . At the end of the day, though, decrats have to win this race. If they dont, all of this energy the last five months now comes into question. But i think ossoff wins it. Were going to have to leave it there. Ed dowd, Lachlan Markay and david jolly, thank you all. Coming up, we have breaking news from the Washington Post. Why did Paul Manafort meet with a former member of the russian army in the summer of 2016, right in the middle of the Trump Campaign while he was running the campaign and at the point where the russian connections were becoming public . Thats coming up next. And later, democrat jon ossoff will join us on the eve of that special Congressional Election in georgia. My business was built with passion. But i keep it growing by making every dollar count. Thats why i have the spark cash card from capital one. With it, i earn unlimited 2 cash back on all of my purchasing. And that unlimited 2 cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business. Which adds fuel to my bottom line. Whats in your wallet . [ intense music playing ] ] its here, but its going by fast. The opportunity of the year is back the mercedesbenz summer event. Get to your dealer today for incredible onceaseason offers, and start firing up those grilles. Lease the e300 for 569 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. The future isnt silver suits anits right now. S, think about it. We can push buttons and make cars appear out of thin air. Find love anywhere. Hes cute. And buy things from, well, everywhere. How . Because our phones havevolved. So isnt it time our networks did too . Introducing americas largest, most reliable 4g lte combined with the most wifi hotspots. Its a new kind of network. Xfinity mobile. Mr. President , are you under investigation by the special counsel . I would like to thank President Trump for are you under investigation by the special counsel . So how old do you want to be when you retire . Uhh, i was thinking around 70. Alright, and before that . You mean after that . No, im talking before that. Do you have things you want to do before you retire . Oh yeah sure. Ok, like what . But i thought we were supposed to be talking about investing for retirement . Were absolutely doing that. But theres no law you cant make the most of today. What do you want to do . Id really like to run with the bulls. Wow. Yea. Hope youre fast. I am. Get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change. Investment Management Services from td ameritrade. How if guests book direct ater, choicehotels. Com and stay twice theyll get a 50 gift card . Summertime. Badda book. Badda boom. Got you a shirt . I kept the receipt. Book now at choicehotels. Com hes happy. Ts with him . Your familys finally eating vegetables thanks to our birds eye voila skillet meals. And they only take 15 minutes to make. Ahh birds eye voila so veggie good last summer at the height of the controversy involving Trump Campaign chairman Paul Manaforts connections to russia, Paul Manafort had dinner in new york city with constantine ca limb nick who had worked for manafort in Paul Manaforts ukraine office. Two weeks after that meeting with kalimnik, Paul Manafort was forced to resign from the Trump Campaign because of his connections to russia. The Washington Post obtained a Statement Today from mr. Kalimnik in which he insisted that nothing improper was discussed at that meeting with Paul Manafort. Joining us now, rosalind helderman, political investigations and enterprise roerts for the Washington Post, and david cay johnston. Rosalind, it is your story in the Washington Post here that we are basing all of this reporting on. It sounds like you had some interesting communications with mr. Kalimnik. He provided you a written statement and did that through Paul Manaforts lawyer. Yeah, thats right. We became interested in. Kalimnik in part because we obtained a subpoena that was issued out of the Eastern District of virginia this spring that related to Paul Manafort and mentioned mr. Kalimniks name. We tried to get a hold of constantine directly. He as far as we know is currently living in kiev. We did not hear back from him. But when we reached out to mr. Manaforts lawyer and asked a series of questions about their interactions, he offered us a statement from constantine on the grounds and theory they say there was nothing to hide here and no problem with this meeting that happened in august of 2016. And theres some odd things that come out in your piece, including that he wont even say what his citizenship is. Thats right. He was born in ukraine. He grew up in ukraine. He moved to moscow at the age of 17, which was in the late 80s. The soviet union was still in existence. Thats when he attended an elite russian Army Military academy. He was in the russian army at the time of the dissolution of the soviet union, and he declined to tell us whether he is currently a ukrainian citizen though we do know he was born and grew up there. David cay johnston, heres Paul Manafort. While all of this is buzzing around him about his connections to russia, his work involving politics in ukraine and how that would benefit the putin view of the politics in ukraine all of this happening, and hes sitting down and having this dinner, this meeting with this guy who used to work for him in ukraine. Well, its not surprising per se that they would meet together because of their business relationship. On the other hand, you know, rosalind and Tom Hamburger and the third reporter at the post did a fabulous job here, spotting this subpoena, understanding its significance and working it out. I think the thing we ought to focus on is why is it that every single one of these roads leads back to the same place . They lead back to the former soviet union. You dont see a single thing going on here around the edges of trump that takes us to chile or some other place. Its russia, russia, former soviet republics. Even if theres nothing per se wrong with their meeting and they assert there is not the fact that they were meeting during the middle of this when manafort knew that people were looking at him over his connections to the promoscow government in ukraine, suggests just a remarkable arrogance. And, rosalind, this is i suppose kind of the stiffest form of communication that you could have had given that its written and its through Paul Manaforts lawyer. So its the safest possible communication that Paul Manafort and his lawyer could have allowed with mr. Kalimnik. Certainly. We definitely asked to speak with mr. Kalimnik. We could have arranged a time to speak with him by phone from ukraine. We spoke with a number of other people from ukraine for this story, and we were not offered that opportunity. What we were offered was written answers to some questions and then sort of a biography that mr. Kalimnik wrote about his life. David, i think we can see in that the manafort side thinking, okay, they know he exists because they found his name on the subpoena how can we handle the public revelation of this in a way that we might be able to get our side of this story out . Right. This also reinforces that manafort is the principal here and kalimnik is his agent. Manafort, in all likelihood, is or will be a key person who is going to turn because theyve got information. And if they dont, you know, theres the Bridget Kelly syndrome, and you certainly dont want to end up in that situation. Rorosalind, theres a lot of report income your article about kalimniks history and is he or he is not a russian spy. Right. Heres what we know about that. First of all, he vigorously denies that he has any connection with russian intelligence. We know he was in the russian army. We know that he attended a particular military academy where he was trained as a translator in english and swedish. That is an academy that he says is not common for spies, but a number of experts told us they believe theyve studied the matter and they think its a common Training Ground for Russian Military intelligence. We know that some people who knew mr. Kalimnik in the 90s say that at time that he was quite open about the fact that his Early Service in the russian army as a young man had been with Russian Military intelligence. That doesnt necessarily mean anything about what he was doing in the year 2016, but they say that he was open about that, about what he did for the russian army in the early 1990s. Rosalind helderman and david cay johnstonthank you both for joining us tonight. Thank you. Coming up next, senator Richard Blumenthal is joining the senators, the Democratic Senators speaking out on the senate floor tonight against what is now the secret Republican Health care plan in the senate. Senator blumenthal will join us next. You dont let anything keep you sidelined. Thats why you drink ensure. With 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. For the strength and energy to get back to doing. What you love. Ensure. Always be you. When heartburn hits fight back fast with new tums chewy bites. Fast relief in every bite. Crunchy outside. Chewy inside. Tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. When this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. Yeah, my dad says our insurance doesnt have that. What . you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. I know you worry i cant keep up with our weekly tee times. Dear son, but ive been taking osteo biflex ease. Its 80 smaller but just as effective. Which means youre in big trouble, son. Improved joint comfort in seven days. Osteo biflex se. Made to move. Finding the best hotel price is now a safe bet. Because tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites so you save up to 30 on the hotel you want. Lock it in. Tripadvisor. Art. It can be sculpted, bringing to life beautiful detail. Or painted in luxurious strokes. And in rare cases. Both. This bill, but i want to get back to the point he was this bill, but i want to get observed that is a live shot of the senate floor in the fifth hour of senate Democrats Holding the senate floor to discuss the invisible Republican Health care bill that the senate will apparently be voting on as soon as Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell decides to put it on paper and make it public. Joining us now, senator Richard Blumenthal, democrat from connecticut, a member of the judiciary and Armed Services committee. Senator blumenthal, we all keep saying weve never seen anything like this in the legislative history of the senate, especially on Something Like health care, especially something this important, this big. What can be the democrats do to force the Republican Leaders simply to reveal what this bill is . Thats really the question of the hour, and what were doing right now is cng the american peoples attention to the fact thathis bill is invisible. Its nonexistent because the republicans very simply are ashamed of what they do have, which is the house bill. The president , who initially exulted in it, now calls it mean. And what we have here is no hearings, no draft, no bill. And where they go from here remains very much in question. But speed and secrecy are a very toxic recipe for democracy. In fact, disaster. Senator, tomorrow you have an announcement youre going to be making about the emoluments case that you are bringing against the president. Could you tell us about that . Very much like the democratic process that is at risk in the way the republicans are proceeding here, what were doing is 200 of us, the largest number of senators and members of congress whoever brought this kind of action, making sure that the president obeys the constitution. The emoluments clause says he cannot accept any payments or benefits from a Foreign Government of any kind whatever. Those are the constitutions words. Without the consent of congress, also the constitution of the United States. And we have a unique right and responsibility because the constitution in this anticorruption provision puts on us the right and responsibility to prevent public corruption, the president compromising the National Interest for his own personal interest. And he is taking these payments and benefits repeatedly and relentlessly from saudi arabia in the form of payments for commercial and residential space, from china in the form of trademarks, from india in permits, and even possibly from russia. Hes already received trademarks and possibly money pouring in. Thats the way one of his sons described it. So there is a real risk to democracy but also to the rule of law. Some of these trademarks were actually granted the day after the election. Senator, is Mitch Mcconnell using all of the investigation stories, these emoluments stories, all of these other stories about the president in order to run this secret legislative agenda on health care through the senate . Is the scandal coverage helping Mitch Mcconnell get that through . Whether its helping or hurting, the scandals are certainly damaging democracy. The emoluments clause, for example, is the constitution. What were doing is seeking to compel the president to obey the constitution, and theres a real question whether the president is putting his personal interest or the National Interest first when he does arms deals with saudi arabia, and they pay for residential or commercial space, when he praises the dictators of turkey or the philippines in cracking down on human rights. And he has deals ongoing there. The credibility of our democracy is very much at stake, and the rule of law, and the majority leader may be capitalizing on all of the attention going to the russian controversy and the investigation ongoing there by the special prosecutor and elsewhere. Senator, i want to go back a couple weeks to a hearing in which you asked a question to dan coats. The question that changed our understanding out here anyway of what we were dealing with. Lets watch that. Im not asking about your conversation with the president. I dont mean to be misunderstood. Have you talked about this issue with admiral rogers . That is that is something that i, um, um, would like to withhold that question at this particular point in time. Im going to assume that in withholding the question, the implicit answer is that, yes, you have. And, senator, of course you were asking about reports that the president had asked dan coats and admiral rogers to intervene in the fbi investigation. What were you thinking in that incredibly long silence before you got an answer there . I was thinking, i know the answer to this question. He knows the answer. And i wonder whether hes going to be truthful. And as it turned out, he dodged. And i believe that there is a real question here, and its a word that has really not been used much. But the question of conspiracy. Who is involved in Donald Trumps possible obstruction of justice . Maybe initially inadvertently, simply because he went to them and asked for their assistance, maybe now purposefully. But if he indeed is involved in an obstruction of justice, he may be involving others. And i think that long pause is sort of emblematic of a pause that a lot of people perhaps in the white house and elsewhere in the government are feeling right now because they know that they are dealing with someone who is not only impulsive and reckless, but also is contemptuous of the law. Thats what we see in his acceptance of these foreign payments and benefits. He could avoid the question simply by divesting himself, selling his ownership interest. Instead he is blatantly and flagrantly violating the law, and that contempt for the law, i think, comes across in the hesitancy expressed by dan coats, who i know from his days in the senate does have respect for the law. Senator Richard Blumenthal, there are so many of you former prosecutors that are in these hearings, kamala harris, you, Sheldon Whitehouse, others. When i watch the former prosecutors ask the questions, i always find that its the most revealing moments in these hearings. Sheldon whitehouse, senator whitehouse tonight has said that just from his external observations of what we publicly know, it seems to him that Michael Flynn has already started cooperating with the fbi and with prosecutors. Is that your impression from where you sit . We have been talking for some time among ourselves about that likelihood because very frankly and bluntly, Michael Flynn faces a ton of legal culpability here. He has pretty clearly lied to the fbi, lied to intelligence agencies on his disclosure form, the Defense Intelligence agency perhaps, and committed other serious falsehoods that put him in serious legal jeopardy. And as you may know, the penalty for violating the law prohibiting these false statements, which is 18 United States code, 1001, is five years in prison for each violation. So the likelihood of his cooperation is very high. And whether he will be truthful in cooperating, whether in fact he knows enough to justify some kind of agreement with the prosecutors, i think will be told by time. But i agree the likelihood of his cooperation is very high, if not right now, at some point very soon in the future because of the very, very heavy legal culpability and potential penalty that he faces. Senator Richard Blumenthal of connecticut, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up, jon ossoff, the democratic candidate in that special election in georgia, where the votes will be counted tomorrow night. We, the tv loving people, roooooaaar want our whole house to be filled with entertainment. Easy boy but we dont want annual contracts and hardware. You scoundrel we just want to stream live tv. And we want it for 10 dollars a month. batman raspy wow. Id like that in my house. Its a very big house. Yeah, mine too. Look at us. Just two bros with sick houses. High five. Directv now. A big streaming deal for 10 a month. Its entertainment your way. I feel it every day. But at night, its the last thing on my mind. For 10 years my tempurpedic has adapted to my weight and shape, relieving pressure points from head to toe. So i sleep deeply but feel light. And wake up ready to perform. Even with the weight of history on my shoulders. Find your exclusive retailr at tempurpedic. Com lwhos the lucky lady . Im going to the bank, to discuss a mortgage. Ugh, see, you need a loan, you put on a suit, you go crawling to the bank. This is how i dress to get a mortgage. I just go to lendingtree. I calculate how much home i can afford. I get multiple offers to compare side by side. And the best part is. The banks come crawling tme. Everytng you need get a better mortgage. Clothing optional. Lendingtree, when banks compete, you win. Okay . Awkward. [ intense music playing ] ] its here, but its going by fast. The opportunity of the year is back the mercedesbenz summer event. Get to your dealer today for incredible onceaseason offers, and start firing up those grilles. Lease the gle350 for 579 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. I know some of you out there, some republicans may even be turned off by our president. And i dont think you are. Im not because let me tell you let me tell you. I know his heart. Might even be turned off by our president. That was former Georgia Republican governor sonny perdue trying to get republican voters, who are turned off by donald trump, to vote in the special election tomorrow in georgias sixth district for the republican candidate. The latest poll from wsbt tv in atlanta shows democrat jon ossoff at exactly 49 and Republican Karen Handel at 49 . That is a tie. Tom price won that seat by 24 points, 6238. This years race has been the most expensive house race in history with more than 56 million spent so far by both sides combined. Tonight President Trump tweeted this about the georgia race. Big day tomorrow in georgia and south carolina. Obamacare is dead. Dems want to raise taxes big. They can only obstruct, no ideas. Vote r. President trump also attacked jon ossoff earlier today, tweeting Karen Handels opponent in georgia sixth cant even vote in the district he wants to represent because he doesnt even live there. He wants to raise taxes and kill health care on tuesday. Vote karen handel. Jon ossoff will get his last word on this program next. Having moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis is not always easy. Its a longdistance run. And you have the determination to keep going. Humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for nearly 10 years. Humira works inside the body to target and help block a specific sourcef inflmation that contributes to sympto. In clinical trials, most adults taking humira were clear or almost clear and many saw 75 and even 90 clearance in just four months. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal, infections and cancers, including lymphoma have happened as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms, or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Join over 250,000 people who have chosen humira. Ask about the 1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists. Humira go. Were joined now by john off on the democratic candidate for congress in georgias sixth Congressional District where the voting starts tomorrow morning. Votes counted here tomorrow night. John ossoff thank you for very much for joining us on this your last night of campaigning. I want to go to something that the president tweeted today when he tweeted directly at you as it were. The first thing he said, the first point, you do not live in the district youre running in why dont you live in that district . And how far from that district do you live . And what will you do if you win . Good evening, lawrence, thank you for having me. I grew up in the sixth Congressional District. I live two miles south of the line while moua my fiance finishes medical school at Emery University she walks to work in the morning were down there so she can walk to work for Early Morning shifts at the hospital. Has this been an issue as you talked to voters in the district the fact that you are living two miles over the line. Actually think folks are pleased to understand im supporting my feen say imed supporting her kreern even if taking some political heat for it. Lets go to the second thing in the tweet. He said that john ossoff wants to raise taxes. Yeah, well im im honored the president is so interested in the race but deeply misinformed about my priorities. I would invite him again as ive invited him to check out the website elect john. Com if he wants on the issues what i support is Economic Policy that help motor atlanta become an economic powerhouse that will help it become the envy of the country. Grow the medical and tech secretance become the Silicon Valley of the south. Lets deal with the president s tweet in the entirety. His final item he says john ossoff wants to kill health care. In fact what i want is some bipartisan action to make health care and Health Insurance more affordable and improve access. Unfortunately what is congress has seen fit to do that will throw 20 million americans off Health Insurance. Will gut it for preexisting conditions possible bad por older merns its a example of what happens in washington when theyre more concerned with bartzin object he was 37 the bill which karen hand el sports is it deeply unpopular. And folks wants to see the parties Work Together on solutions making health care for accessibleable and affordable. Whats more important in this race . The Health Care Bill the Health Care Bill as an issue or President Trump . Well i think what voters are hungry for is fresh leadership not get in meyered in the grid lock in the partisan circumstance us in washington with the atmosphere of grid lock and scandal in d. C. , with faith in the administration continuing to decline voters are hungry for representation focused on improving their quality of life focusing on local economic development, focusing on access to health care particularly for women and those with preexisting conditions. So little is happening in washington right now that serves the needs of people. And they want representation that will work across the aisle to do that. Theres been a lot of talk about karen handles association with President Trump. She is saying you hand picked by nancy pelosi. Well i started this campaign in my living room. And i think that if thats the best that my opponent can trot out then im feeling pretty good about the outcome tomorrow. John ossoff, what do you think do you think this is going to be an early call tomorrow night . Those polls are basically show ago tie. This can very late. It could very late. It is true a neck and neck race lawrence. Nile biter its coming down to turn out i left with a rally with 300 volunteers that are working so hard to get out the vote for the next 24 hours. Its important if youre in georgia and watching to make your voice heard. You can find out where and how to vote at elect john. Com vote its a critical that everyones voice be heard. Thank you for joining us on your last night of campaigning really appreciate it. The polls close at 7 00 tomorrow in georgia. We will have live coverage of those Voting Results as they could in tomorrow night. Well be right back. Whats with him . Hes happy. Your familys finally eating vegetables thanks to our birds eye voila skillet meals. And they only take 15 minutes to make. Ahh birds eye voila so veggie good working on my feet all day gave me pain here. In my knees. So i stepped on this machine and got my number, which matched my dr. Scholls custom fit orthotic inserts. So i get immediate relief from my foot pain. My knee pain. Find a machine at drscholls. Com. Hey youve gotta see this. Cno. N. Alright, see you down there. Mmm, fine. Okay, what do we got . Okay, watch this. Do the thing we talked about. What do we say . Its going to be great. Watch. Rember what we were just saying . Go irish see that . Yes im gonna just go back to doing what i was doing. Find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurhuh. With geico. I should take a closer look at geico. Geico can help with way more than car insurance. Boats, homes, motorcycles. Even umbrella coverage. This guys gonna wish he brought his umbrella. Fire at will howd you know the guys name is will . Yeah . Its an expression, ya know . Fire at will . You never heard of that . Oh, there goes will bye, will thats not his name take a closer look at geico. Great savings. And a whole lot more. [ light music playing ] youve wished upon it all year, and now its finally here. The mercedesbenz summer event is back, with incredible offers on the mercedesbenz youve always longed for. But hurry, these shooting stars fly by fast. Lease the c300 for 399 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Fars the general theme of russias interference, look the president said he doesnt believe it i believe it not only do i believe it. I know it almost everybody else does. Thats the new macrorubio after last week when donald trump partially delivered on some of his promises to reverse his promises to reverse a little bit of President Trumps advances in our relationship with cuba. Marco rubio got everything he could get from the president out of that, and now marco rubio is free to speak his mind about the president , which is not good news for President Trump. The 11th hour with Brian Williams starts right now. Tonight, donald trump and his team ready for a fight over the special counsel. But can they all get on the same page on the investigation . Plus Senate Democrats staging a protest at this hour, pledging to go all night to fight republicans on their repeal and replacement of obamacare. Well talk live tonight with one of those Democratic Senators. And finding his voice. Today we got a rare opportunity