Accuses of trying to blackmail hmm into shutting down an investigation of the tabloids political motivations. Good morning and welcome to morning joe ou, it is friday, february 8th. We have mike barnicle, donny deuts deutsch, susan del percio and Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and associate editor of the Washington Post and msnbc political analyst Eugene Robinson. We have a lot to get to this morning, including the Mueller Probe. New Court Transcripts suggests Paul Manafort had a pardon on his mind. Plus the acting a. G. , Matthew Whitaker, will testify today after a public showdown with democrats, the newly empowered house majority. And the latest from virginia as a Top Republican official is now also involved in the controversy involving blackface. And the Supreme Court has ruled that louisiana cannot enforce a lot that womens groups say would leave the state with only one doctor allowed to perform aworses. Chief Justice John Roberts broke with the courts conservatives to place the