well, good evening, i'm laura coates. a week that began with merrick garland being accused of weaponizing the department of justice against republicans ends with one of the most powerful democrats in washington, d.c. now indicted for corruption. the chairman of the foreign relations committee, new jersey senator bob menendez stands accused of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. essentially using his official position to force someone to give him something of value. tonight, we are taking a deep dive into all of it from the investigation to the indictment and, of course, the political fallout and here are the big questions i've been asking all day, after seeing all the reports i've cut through all of it, here are the real questions, number one, did he do it? right did he do it? could a senator who left a hung jury in his last trial for conspiracy, bribery and honest services fraud, sound familiar, led to alleged personal favors have been so brazen a second time around? is this how the political corruption is happening? the senate rules force him to step down from his position as chairman. should he also step down from the senate or maybe the better question is, will he actually do that? and, of course, you have a heard a lot about the two-tiered justice system and witch-hunts and beyond. the very same republicans who have alleged those political witch-hunts and a two-tiered justice system come sprinting to this man's defense, or will this be proof that lady justice might be independent and what will be the people in the court of public opinion let alone the court of law make of yet another allegation of an abuse of power by the very people who we were told to trust? i want to bring in john miller, cnn's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, john, i have been champing at the bit to talk about this all day. this is extraordinary right now. there is an extraordinary level of detail in this indictment, it goes back years all the way to 2018, full stop, there is a presumption of innocence, we know this very, very well, yet, this is damning as it's written so what is standing out to you, most of all? >> what's standing out to me is not just the shocking allegations or, laura, the fact that as you pointed out already, here is a member of congress and now a leader in the senate who has literally been in the shadow of various investigations for more than 20 years, but behind all of that is not just the basics of an allegation of businessmen giving alleged bribes to a significant public official, but the specter of a foreign government being behind that, just imagine the back end of this case and this is not something we see charged, which is that a u.s. ally, a significant player overseas in the middle east, someone who has been a partner with us in the formulation of u.s. and mideast policy going back decades, that that country would be behind recruiting a united states senator, who is the head of the foreign -- who has been the head of the foreign relations committee essentially as an operative through cutouts, businessmen supplying him with cash and other goods. it's on that level more shocking than your average bribery case, it's people allegedly possibly acting as agents of a foreign government and a foreign government trying to recruit a u.s. official is very important. >> you know, i remember when i was a federal employee and just thinking about the cyclical times that you have to have, obviously they're running your credit, right? they're talking to friends and talking to neighbors, they want to know all the things about whether or not you might be vulnerable to somebody looking at you knocking on your door or contacting you and saying, this is someone i can work with here. there's some vulnerability. this is something very, very important for a security clearance and that's somebody who is a federal employee, i was doj. that was a part of it. and you actually were at the fbi during an investigation into the senator when he was actually in the house, so what has been your reaction now given your particularized experience with this person even years ago? >> well, i remember that. that was back in 2006 and when you talk about, you know, how these various ships pass in the night, that was a federal investigation into alleged benefits he was receiving in the form of a house that he was renting from an organization he was also lobbying for at a time when he was in congress. interestingly, laura, back then in 2006, the prosecutor who was bringing that case was chris christie, now a republican candidate for president, and that was a case that was investigated by the fbi, the bureau believed it was ready for prosecution, so did the u.s. attorney in newark, but it was sent across the street and the judgment of the attorney general and the public corruption section was to pass on it. after that, of course, you saw the other case that ended with a partial acquittal and a hung jury and now this case, so he's really been under the spotlight for a long time, but something else you pointed out, he's entitled as the head of the foreign relations committee and the ranking member at various times to extraordinarily classified sensitive information. >> right. >> members of congress don't get a secret clearance. their clearance when they're on one of these committees is by virtue of the fact that they've been elected. so what you were talking about, what you went through as an assistant united states attorney, what i went through as an assistant director of the fbi, that thorough background investigation, that polygraph examination, having your first grade teacher interviewed, none of that happened for a member of congress. >> yeah. it's very true, and, you know, i wonder what they would say, probably laura coates, she talks a lot, but she's got good teeth. john miller, thank you so much. nice to see you, of course. i want to turn to gene rossi and a former chair of the d.c. democratic party. gentlemen, here we are on a friday night, we began the week talking about merrick garland and his weaponized system of government and the doj attacking just republicans and what a fair shake they wanted to have for people. we've been combing through this indictment and looking at it in all the different charges and, of course, as something in front of you, talking about it behind the scenes, what are your reactions to this? i know you say this is a problem. >> it's seedy, it's sordid. >> which part, the indictment or the allegations? >> the indictment and the allegations. the allegations, the indictment, i'm not impressed because from a criminal defense standpoint, i want to see where the there there is. for example, it's all conspiracy under 371. okay, this is like the -- governor bob mcconnell indictment, it's shiny, new, it's going to be in the press and what have you but the government still has to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt and one thing about bribery, you have to have an official act, i dare you to find in that indictment what official act menendez did in exchange for gold bars, money, cars. by the way, has a wife too and the wife was friends with these two individuals and all they were doing were talking to their senator about helping them, whether it was unseemly or not and all he did was go to bat for them in each one of these instances. can a legislator have an official act? he can release money for the egyptians, for the military, those funds and what have you but any senator could hold it up. if it made sense, egypt is an ally of our so i don't see any official acts. that's a problem for the government. >> interesting when we talk about official acts. i've interviewed mr. mcconnell formerly as the governor of virginia about instances like this and what this looks like and he believed to this very day, of course, that he got a raw deal, the supreme court said, look, i don't know how to discern between the official acts and what you've done in some respects although it's more nuanced but, look, many have been hearing, gene, that this is how the sausage is made. this is what congressmen do. you can't get to what's right and wrong but the allegations are not i advocated on behalf of a constituent. they're much more serious than that. how do you see it? >> i love my partner here. we are 180 degrees apart. >> you're going to disagree with me. >> yes, even though you're a morehouse man. i worked in edva for 16, 17 years, i was there when they did the bob mcdonnell case and when they did the william jefferson case in 2009, the congressmen, low-level congressmen who had $90,000 in his freezer in packages of cereals and burgers. the official acts that congressman jefferson did as a low-level member of the congress pale in comparison to the official acts of senator menendez allegedly. let me give you one big whopper. i am absolutely offended if this allegation is true, that he used his official position in vetting a u.s. attorney and he has that u.s. attorney come to his house, the nominee or candidate, and that incident involved him talking about a pending federal case. that is disgusting in addition to being illegal and the timing is important. bob mcdonald got -- he had tawdry thing, use of a car and a house but there was no nexus. here the time line is devastating allegedly. he meets with somebody, he gets a gold bar. before he meets with somebody, he gets cash. there's a clear nexus between what he is going to do or what he has done and the official acts are very broad. the definition, it could be i'm trying to arrange a meeting. it could be, i'm taking a position on appropriation. it's very broad and my colleague respectfully disagree. >> that's not true. an official act, that is exactly what the supreme court struck down in the mcdonald case. it said setting up a meeting as you would for any other constituent is not an official act. advocating in mcconnell's case in regard to an state fda approval is not an official act. he would do that for anyone. by the way, before we get caught up on the whole egyptian piece and what he did to help one of our ally, those documents he passed off may not have been public but they were not top secret. they surely would have charged him with that. what did he do? you're upset because he -- 234rs. >> i'm not upset. >> maybe i am. because you don't agree with me. sitting down with a u.s. attorney candidate, right, and asking them if you become u.s. attorney and if i recommend you, it's up to the president by the way, it's not up to bob. that can't be an official act and i want you to look into the case and give it real scrutiny and stuff and if you don't, he didn't say to him, even in the indictment if you don't do it, i'm not going to recommend you. he wound up recommending -- he being menendez wound up recommending somebody else. that's not an official act because ultimately it's the president appointing him. by protocol the two senators make a recommendation, the president doesn't have to listen to that. i think the government has problem rooted in the lack of officials acts they're going to make up. >> can i have rebuttal? >> first, let me bring in senator menendez, his statement into this, first of all. he says, he is accusing the prosecutors of making false claims and, quote, misrepresenting the normal work of a congressional office and this is part of what we've been talking about today, the official act capacity, i have to say, though, it's not as if the prosecutors in this jurisdiction have never heard of the governor of virginia and a case in the supreme court and one would have to assume although there is a presumption still and i only give credit when it's due that given their knowledge of what it takes to prove an official act, givage the level of scrutiny on a case like this i hope they droted their is and crossed their ts. they said the investigation is ongoing. the two of you have got to go ahead and arm wrestle. >> we'll fight it out. >> maybe cooperate to to connect the dots. there's no one linking these gold bars and money to these, quote, alleged official acts that don't exist. >> we'll have to see if that's the case but there's two defense attorneys who may be interested in the job. gene rossi and a. scott bolden, thank you very much. there are growing concerns for the senator to resign, but i mean what if he decides to ride it out? 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>> well, yes, this is a position of trust. a very important position of trust and that's why the founders put the emoluments clause in prohibiting any position of trust from soing any profits or benefits from a foreign government. i was on cnn and other networks timeless -- over and over again talking about donald trump and his receipt of foreign government payments, his disregard of the emoluments clause and, unfortunately, republicans rallied behind him and it would be tragic to see democrats play politics with our national security here. this is not a partisan political issue. second, we cannot have a major political party running for the united states senate or for any other position, someone who is under criminal indictment, and i know that's an issue for the republican party if they do not find a candidate other than donald trump and i believe they will go down and lose in 2024 if they run donald trump, but for the democrats to have senator menendez under criminal indictment for taking bribes from foreign governments in the united states senate, the democrats will have absolutely no credibility if he is not out of the senate very, very soon. >> richard painter, thank you so much. so good to see you. i want to bring if former national republican candidate liam and maria cardona. what richard and i were conversing about sounds like the moral high ground conversation that politicians like to have to say, hold on a second. if we do this we'll lose the ability to play this card down the line and talking to fellow minnesotaens, this happened around senator al franken as one example in a different context obviously but this notion of a moral high ground and whether a politician ought to resign right now, you actually know the senator. what is your stance on the fact that he is vehemently pushing back on calls for him to resign? >> look, this is tragic. let's just keep that in mind, right? this is something that the senator is going through, his family is going through this too. his voters are going through this. senator menendez has been a loyal servant to the people of new jersey. he has been a tireless advocate and champion for the latino community. nothing will change that, but it could taint his legacy if he stays there and, look, it doesn't mean that -- >> in some ways his legacy has been compromised by the hung jury. >> that's correct. that's right, but i think if he stays here now under all of this shadow of the charges it's going to make it worse and, look, that doesn't mean that he doesn't have the right with every fiber of his being to go out and fight this in the courts. absolutely, senator, go do it. clear your name, if you're innocent by all means go do it and show us, right? show the public, show his voters that these charges are absolutely wrong. and he should absolutely be age to do it with 100% of his energy and his focus. he won't be able to do that if he continues to want to keep his senate seat just for the sake of saying, look, they're wrong, i'm going to be right. that's not serving the voters that he so lifts up and is so proud of the service that he has given them, that's not -- that's doing them a disservice if he stays. >> if he does stay and, again, we have seen politicians saying, i'll ride it out, i'm not going anywhere. he's actually said he's not going anywhere on this issue, also that can often change when certain pressure gets exacted on somebody and they can't talk in absolutes but what happens to his senate seat if he does? it's not a huge majority that makes chuck schumer, it's a slim one and people know it. >> it is not a huge majority and will determine control through the decade. three opportunities for republicans to pick up seats. this adds a fourth where a dinged up senator menendez tries to ride it out about the only way you can imagine the seat in new jersey coming into play in this coming cycle but another headache that chuck schumer doesn't need. i think if you listen to maria's advice, the biden administration would appreciate. they do not want cartoonish images of officials and fair families engaging in corruption. i think it plays into images that the public already has of a cynicism that the public has and that, you know, about half the country has suspicions about more broadly. >> i do wonder about the cynicism. a lot is tied towards the idea that it's weaponized. that this is attacking republicans exclusively. i'm not saying this is going to counter every single talking point that's ever been raised on behalf of donald trump but i mean, this is the last two weeks, you got hunter biden charged. you've got senator menendez charged. certainly trump has four indictments and he's been waving a flag of political witch-hunts. does this balance in a talking point way as a strategist. >> it absolutely does which i why i think it's morn for democrats to make that point and convince senator menendez to go and do this now and leave the seat for somebody who can completely compete for it, right? clear of any of the shadow. it's important to note that what just happened does prove that there is no two-tiered justice system. that no one is above the law, not the chairman of the senate finance committee, not the president's son and certainly not the former president of the united states. >> how do you see it? >> what's funny, the difference between 2015, the first time these came around and didn't have the same calls is because there was a republican governor of new jersey named chris christie who would have been in a position to make that appointment so i think we can talk about two-tiered justice. it is tougher but the president -- the former president is not one that is bound by consistency or coherence, it's very easy just to muddy the waters and say it's all a rigged game. >> really quick, maria, what did you make of the senator referencing that he feels that it's targeting particularly as a latino in office? >> i talked to a lot of my latino friend, and, frankly, a lot were offended that he mentioned that. i think it was, frankly, a cheap shot and again, it takes away from the massive legacy that he does have in being a huge champion for the latino community. >> both of you, thank you so much. liam donovan and maria cardona. look at the sleeves. the gold bars and the cash are certainly drawing a lot of attention but maybe the most worrying aspect if we had to break it down is that senator menendez allegedly gave sensitive government information to help egypt. there are national security implications after a long line for months now about conversations about sensitive documents and data. we're going to break that down next. my most important kitchen tool? 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i want to dive into this with susan glasser, staff writer at "the new yorker". i've been wanting to pick your brain about this matter in particular because the prosecutors are alleging here that menendez misused his power as the senate foreign relations chair giving sensitive information to the government of egypt. what is your reaction to that allegation? >> yeah, i mean, this indictment contains some pretty eye-popping details and i noticed that, you know, among the calls for senator menendez to step aside tonight, there was, you know, even the governor of new jersey phil murphy specifically referencing the national security nature of this case. it's not just, you know, you're in washington long enough, you've seen a lot of corruption cases involving democrats and republicans, you know, that has been a fact in our politics, but it's rare, very rare to have someone in a position of this level of seniority being the chairman of the storied senate foreign relations committee and really what he was doing according to the government's allegations was to misuse his official position in a very specific way. i mean, this harkens back to some of the legendary, you know, corruption cases of the past. i'm thinking of the abscam case in 1980, which, again, involved in nexus between foreign money and taking actions on the part of members of congress. there's some specifics that are contained in that indictment. they, for example, say chairman menendez passed nonpublic information through this intermediary who's also charged to the government of egypt, things like involving military weapon sales to egypt that they wanted to get restarted and, of course, this is not a free country right now. so we're talking about a military dictatorship where human rights abuses have frequently caused the u.s. to put a hold on in effect some of our dealings. >> that was a really important point especially because a lot may be wondering if trying to understand the gravitas of it being egypt in particular. why is this the particular country? we don't know all the machinations of the conversations, it's still an ongoing investigation but the fact it was involving that particular country, should that give people additional pause into understanding the context here? >> absolutely. i mean, first of all, there have been enormous amount of backstage lobbying involving egypt because its human rights abuses are such that there are various laws that are in place that congress has passed that the senate foreign relations committee has passed in order to make sure that the u.s. is not doing business with human rights abusers and the like and so often it requires the state department to certify that egypt and other countries are meeting certain criteria, there's a big dispute about that because really it's not, and yet nonetheless it's a very important strategic partner of the united states and israel in the middle east and so we have a long history of giving aid, military assistance, weapon sales to egypt to the tune of billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars since egypt and israel first made peace with each other decades ago, and so at times we've had to calibrate that partnership when you're balancing human rights versus its strategic needs, so somebody like menendez, if he was really in egypt's corner pushing things along behind the scenes, that's a very significant matter because this is the subject of real dispute here in washington. >> that is such a fine point. i'm so glad you illuminated that. i've been wondering about this and say since you did mention the fact he was allowed to remain a chairman, he is not right now obviously under the democratic conference rules a member in a leadership position or with a chair must resign if charged with a felony, but they can be reinstated if the charges are cleared or dropped to a lesser charge. susan, this is going to continue. thank you for joining us this evening. i appreciate it so much. >> thank you. well, senator menendez is set to appear in court on wednesday. that's the same day as the next republican national committee primary debate, of course, i'm sure it'll be in the actual discussion. how should we expect the prosecution and defense to present their case? 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it's actually a google search. and there's evidence of text messages, emails between menendez's wife and the co-defendants. that's just to name a few of the things so i want to take a second and draw on both of your legal expertise. i'm going to ask be the prosecutor and, joey, you be defense counsel. what is your position here. renato, given the evidence we're seeing this could all play out this court based on what we currently know, what is the strongest way to present this case? >> well, look, i have an easier job than joey because the evidence as you laid it out is pretty strong. ultimately, corruption here, bribery is where you're trading something that's official, an official action in exchange for a thing of value. obviously he receives a lot of value. you just laid it out, laura. gold bars, cash that was in, you know, jackets bearing his name, he was literally -- there's a connection between him and the gold bars because, of course, he was conducting a search to see how much it was. his wife was getting basically a job where she didn't have to show up and she was getting that money so what are the official acts? there's some really key thing, he was telling, for example, a secret to the egyptian, letting them know about the person neal that were at the embassy. he was assisting them in trying to move along payments for military equipment and trying to get them, you know, the foreign aid that they would need, for example. he actually wrote a letter, he ghostwrote a letter that was arguing their cause, why didn't he put his name on it? he didn't, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, because he knew that if he did, it would have laid bare his corruption. >> yeah. well, joey, i mean, you might not have the easier job but, joey jackson will make it look easy. what would you argue as the defense? >> ladies and gentlemen of the jury, a lot of smoke, very little fire, okay? here is the reality, you advocate their interests, look at fund-raisers that congressmen and senators have all the time. what are they for? so that people can pay money you not do anything for them and don't represent the interests. the extent to which there were dinners offer lunches or text messages is not the issue but how that influenced his official action? would he not have engaged in the behavior of doing the best job he could for the interests he thought were important and to the extent it intervened in criminal investigation, it was his role as a senator to do so, to advocate and to use all of his abilities on behalf of the people of the state of new jersey to be the best senator he could be. unless you connect the dot and establish it was a this for that, you can talk about all the gold bar, you can talk about all the mercedes and all the hundreds of thousands of dollars you want. where is the nexus or connection that motivated him to engage in the behavior he did? i would suggest it does not exist. >> bravo, gentlemen. i'm telling you, i know you'll hear both of these arguments in any upcoming trial or conversation, i will pretend i'm the judge here and take it under advisement but the bigger issue here, of course, is there's a lot to consider. the government has to prove their case. the defense will make the arguments you rightly raised, joey. the question will be, to what extent has the supreme court's short on what it means to be an official act, how will that weigh in? renato, joey, we'll have to continue on another day. it's friday night after all. thanks, gentlemen. >> thank you. >> see you in court, renato. well, chef, author and humanitarian jose andres is a culinary master who has fed millions of people from clients at his fine dining restaurants to victims in disaster zones all around the world. well, now he's taking a very special trip back to his home country of spain to share the food, to share the culture, and the people with his american-born daughters. the journey was documented on our sister platform discovery plus in the series "jose andres and family in spain," which is now coming to cnn. here's a preview. >> hello, people. i am jose andres. a chef who loves to feed the world. spain is the land where my passion for cooking began. happiness of all the ingredients, i moved to america three decades ago and now i'm taking my daughters -- >> this is so good. >> hmm. >> beautiful. >> all around my beloved home country. i want them to see it all, learn it all, and taste it all from the simple iconic foods to the more sophisticated and awe sneak food of my homeland. ♪ >> this is the most amazing meal. >> this is a trip filled with adventures. >> whoo. >> traditions. celebrations, and, of course, lots of delicious food. >> jose andres and family y in spain premiering sunday at 9:00 p.m. it's a mess out there. that's why there's 85% more tide in every power pod. -see? 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