rudy giuliani says the president s attorney and white house press secretary did not lie when they publicly said the president did not dictate a misleading statement about his son s trump tower meeting with russians. but we now know that the president did dictate that statement. giuliani made his case on the world premiere of cnn s cuomo primetime last night. why do you think they chose to lie about his role in drafting this statement about trump jr. s meeting with the russians? chris, you think maybe somebody could have made a mistake? that s a lot of mistakes. a lot of mistakes. why is it always that somebody you think jay sec cue low lied? maybe he just got it wrong, like i got a few things wrong in the beginning of the investigation. meaning my knowledge this is a complex investigation. first week or so i got a few things wrong. and then it was clarified in a letter and that s the final
sec low and area sarah sanders or they lied to us. it is not a crime to lie to the american press or the american people. but it is a crime to lie under oath. the statement that the president dictateed wildly misleading in itself saying the trump tower meeting was largely about adoption when the reason it was set up in the first place was to get dirt on hillary clinton from the russians. but what is is stoupbding today is rudy guiliani s explanation for all of this. our recollection keeps changing. our recollection keeps change something are you suggesting someone forgot something? what did they forth when sec low said the president wasn t involved, he forgot what he actually was? when sarah sanders said he certainly didn t dictate the letter, she didn t recollect that he certainly did? it seems the biggest failure in recollection was the recollection to actually tell
sec low. there s chaos inside the president s legal counsel. they think the president doesn t always take their advice. so that s a frustrating experience. what does it mean the fact that it is down to jay sec low. he is a smart lawyer, specializing in the first amendment rights of religious organizations which is important, having almost nothing to do with with criminal law. what he needs is a lawyer with is experience in criminal law. he still doesn t have is one. it is an extraordinary spectacle to see the president reduced to legal zoom on who is going to represent him. i don t think that s going to be the case. but he has to resolve this question of whether or when do you really think that s because impressive lawyers are turning it down or he hasn t cast a gig enough net?
legal team. the president currently has ty cobb, john dowd, jay sec ewe low, joseph digenova advising in the russia case. robert costa reported they d reached out to high-powered defense lawyer ted olson to join them but olsen declined. i am joined by the aforementioned robert costa, washington post. moderator of washington week on pbs. and jeremy peters is back with us, political reporter for the new york times. both msnbc analysts. robert, we ll start with you. mr. olsen is a fairly well-known attorney in this country, he was part of the legal dream team along with david boies that argued the landmark gay marriage case. he lost his wife barbara olsen, a frequent guest on this network work, during the 9/11 attacks. he is a man of repute in the legal community. why ted olson, then why did ted olson say no? such a revealing moment for this president, brian.
respect to trying to restrain the media from publishing this because 60 minutes is not even a party to this contract. so, they could then perhaps sue in damages if there is such a damage claim but i think the gambit of suing in court from restrain her from speaking is silly. she ll then to get put on her case which says, essentially, it s true what i m having to say and that overcomes their efforts to get a prior restraint. it s a losing proposition for them where they proceed this way. michael, other legal news over the weekend. kaitlan collins telling us the story where the president meeting with the yich peachment expert adding perhaps, thinking of adding to his legal team, what does that tell you? first of all, we ve understood for a long time that this is a very except tal team. you ve got ty cobb, john dowd and jay sec alou and that s it.