connections and importance of people like manafort, gates, and papadopoulos. "washington post" opinion author michael gerson, famously the former speechwriter for bush 43, wrote today, "to what circle of hell are republican officials about to consign themselves? it would be useful for members of congress to declare that they will never enter the fourth circle, the demolition of the integrity and independence of the fbi, if only to deter trump from forcing a constitutional crisis." to speak to that very point i am joined tonight by our friend steve schmidt, a veteran of the bush white house and the mccain campaign, also an nbc political analyst. steve, what changed today in your mind? >> well, the investigation has borne fruit. we have a conviction with a guilty plea. we have two indictments. and the two indictments and the