A recap of the days news. Mr. Trump, helped along by aras and amon. Its clear from the very beginning the information being offered to the Trump Campaign was coming from russia. And it was clear that the information being offered was dirt on clinton. Its the first thing they said. Despite trump juniors initial claim the meeting was about the adoption of russian children. That claim coming in a statement we later learned was dictated by President Trump himself. After White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders claimed he didnt. How did we learn about the president s statements . Well, his own attorneys acknowledge it in a letter to Robert Mueller in january. Its all right there in front of your face. Its all in writing. This is an administration that has tried to distract and deflect from the facts literally from day one when then Press Secretary sean spicer, remember, tried to claim that president
trumps Inauguration Crowd was the largest ever. And Kellyanne Conway doubled down on this classic alternative facts. Youre saying its a falsehood and theyre giving sean spicer, our Press Secretary gave alternative facts. You cant make this you cant make this stuff up. Almost said it. Then theres this from one of President Trumps attorneys, jay sekulow, claiming that facts develop. So i think its very important to point out that in a situation like this, you have over time facts develop. Excuse me. And President Trump himself trying to tell you not to believe what you see with your own eyes. Just remember what youre seeing and what youre reading is not whats happening. In a matter of day the president s former attorney, socalled fixer, Michael Cohen, could Face Criminal Charges related to possible fraud and Campaign Finance violations. The fact that former Trump Campaign chairman Paul Manafort is on trial on charges that could land him behind bars for the rest of his life if convicted. And the fact that, so far, the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, has brought a total of 191 criminal charges against 35 defendants. There have been five guilty pleas. Those are the facts. That is truth. And the president Cannot Distract and deflect from that. Facts matter. Now i want to bring in a man who knows exactly what can happen when a president doesnt want you to tell the truth. Cnn contributor john dean was Nixon White House counsel. He joins us now. Thank you so much. Good evening to you. Thank you, don. So the president called you a rat in a tweet today. If the president the current president. Yeah, the current president. So, if he is watching right now, and we know he likes to watch, how would you like to respond to him . I tweeted back to him that, first, i didnt think he really understood what mcgahn had done or not done. That became even more evident 48 hours after his initial tweet, that he diplomat have a clue what mcgahn had done and they began worrying about it. Id also tell him that i did not go to the prosecutors and testify without Telling Nixon i was doing so. In fact, i listened to a tape yesterday where im talking john erlichman, my predecessor as white House Counsel, nixons top adviser, told the president that i was visiting with the prosecutors and he was suggesting it was the smartest thing in the world for me to do and give an appearance of cooperation. Well, i didnt just give an
appearance. I cooperated. Just so we get the facts right, he tweeted you yesterday. I think i may have said today, but it was yesterday. He said, the failing New York Times wrote a fake piece saying white House Counsel done mcgahn was giving hours of testimony to a Special Counsel, he must be a john dean type rat. Rat in all taps. But i allowed him and all others to testify. I didnt have to. I have nothing to hide. So, john, the president of the United States is calling you a rat. Youre the guy by the way, on the same day his wife was saying you shouldnt be a bully on social media, on the internet. Youre the guy who told the truth about the tapes, you know, if they ever come out. What does that say about the president s frame of mind . Well, its more like a mob boss talking than a president of the United States. And that seems to be where his head is and the way he thinks and the kind of loyalty he
demands is not what a president typically demands but what a mob boss demands. Hes complained about the way hes being handled with the russian investigation. Well, i think the investigator has figured out, they may be dealing with a mobster type president. Yeah. You know, sources are telling cnn, john, the president is unnerved by mcgahns 30 hours with the Special Counsel and that he didnt realize the full extent of their talks. He should be unsettled, shouldnt he . He should be. And that was one of my lines in my tweets pack to him. But the reason he should be concerned, even though apparently mcgahns lawyer has assured them that they that mcgahn did not incriminate the president , who knows what incriminates him . And im sure they didnt put out a hard line on purpose so the man can keep his job and do the work he wants to do. But, yes, hes a very important witness. His testimony is almost contemporaneous with the events,
and 30 hours is a lot of time to spend with prosecutors. Just to be clear about what you said, and just then, john, sources telling cnn that mcgahn didnt provide any incriminating evidence to the Special Counsel. Again, thats according to the washington post. Its only this past weekend that mcgahns attorneys told the president s attorneys that he doesnt think he implicated the president. But isnt it a major failure on the part of the president s attorneys that they werent fully debriefed about the extent of these interviewed . Well, its kind of typical of the Trump White House operation, where they seem to botch and mess up everything. Normally that would have been the case. They would have said, what do you have to say, before he went over and heard his story, and then they would have debriefed him when he came back. That didnt happen. Up, we said since this has been going since he took office,
that this president thinks the white House Counsel works for him personally, and thats not so, right . Do you think its finally clicking to the president that don mcgahn doesnt represent donald trump, the individual, but instead represents the Office Of The President . It might be starting to click, if thats the case. This is one of the positive postwatergate developments where the American Bar Association looked at all these situations, particularly those that arose during watergate, and sorted it out and came up with rules on representation of organizations. Its rule 1. 13, and that makes it very clear that mcgahns client is not donald trump. Its the Office Of The President. You know, ive asked you about this before, is history repeating itself. You said History Didnt Repeat itself but it often rhymes. I want you to stick around. When we come back, i want to
talk about why john dean says unlike nixon, President Trump wont leave willingly or graciously. Be right back. With moderate to severe Crohns Disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. Is she alright . I hope so. So i talked to my doctor about humira. I learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of Crohns Disease after trying other medications. And the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. 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. Be there for you, and them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. Pah thano, no, no, nah. K. A bulb of light . . Aha ha ha a Flying Machine . Impossible a personal computer . ha smart neighborhoods running on a microgrid. A stadium powered with solar. A hospital that doesnt lose power. Amazing. I like it. Never gonna happen. So you have, your headphones, chair, new laptop, 24 7 tech support. Yep, thanks guys. I think he might need some support. Yes. Start them off right, with the School Supplies they need at low prices all summer long. Like these for only 2 or less at office depot officemax. And if you get lost, just hit me on the old horn. Man toms my best friend, but ever since he bought a new house. Tom its a 10 cover . Oh, okay. Didnt see that on the website. Hes been acting more and more like his dad. Come on, guys jump in the waters fine tom pritchard. How we doin . Hi, there. Tom pritchard. Can we get a round of jalapeno poppers for me and the boys, please . Ive been saving a lot of money with progressive lately, so. Progressive cant protect you from becoming your parents. But we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. And im the founder of ugmonk. Before shipstation it was crazy. Its great when you see a hundred orders come in, a hundred orders come in, but then you realize ive got a hundred orders i have to ship out. Shipstation streamlined that wh the order data, the weights of , everything is seamlessly put into shipstation, so when we print the shipping ll everythings pretty much done. Its so much easier so now, were ready, bring on t. Shipstation. The number one ch of online sellers. Go to shipstation. Com tv and get two months free. John dean is back with me. He knows about these. He has a little experience, a little experience with these kinds of issues. So, john, theres also this eyecatching headline coming out of President Trumps interview with reuters. He says speaking with muellers team could be a perjury trap. Whats your take . Well, they are redefining a perjury trap by just being two differing witnesses and who are you going to believe . Really a perjury trap is a situation where a prosecutor has no other charge to make against the person and brings them in and just keeps drilling them until they can find an error in their testimony and then use that. This is not that situation at all. I want to play something. This is from your senate testimony, 1973. Watch. What i had hoped to do in this conversation was to have the president tell me we had to end the matter now. Accordingly i gave considerable thought to how i would present this situation to the president and try to make as dramatic a presentation as i could to tell him how serious i thought the situation was that the coverup continue. I began by telling the president that there was a cancer growing
on the presidency, and if the cancer was not removed the president himself would be killed by it. A lot of people, john, are looking back on your role in history. What parallels do you see now . Well, we certainly have many echoes. We have parallels in the russia investigation starts with a breakin or a hack at the Democratic National committee. Watergate got its name from a breakin at the Democratic National committee when it was located in the Watergate Office complex. And if we go through what happened in the aftermath and what watergate uncovered, the abuses of power, and were seeing similar kinds of abuses of power. Trump has only been there a short while and is not as experienced as nixon. I fear when he gets more experience it may get worse. When you look at the tape, do you remember it vividly . Don, i remember the testimony, i remember the conversation. I didnt start meeting with the president until eight months after the arrest. And after hes been reelected. Before that, i had one meeting with halderman on this subject with the president in september. But then he starts calling on me in late February Of 73 and we have a number of meetings. And when i think i have his confidence, i try to convince him that weve got to end the coverup. Thats the day i really met richard nixon. He didnt want the coverup to end because he knew it implicated not only his top aides, but implicated him as well. Lanny davis, attorney for President Trumps longtime attorney Michael Cohen, hes been telling politico youre reaching out to him regularly. Can you tell us anything about those conversations . Yes, i can. I met lanny during the
clinton lewinsky proceedings. We worked for another network. We spent a lot of time on the set or green room and got to know each other pretty well. He has a son out here. When he took on as a client Michael Cohen, he had a number of questions to refresh his recollection he wanted to ask me about and i was willing to share that with him. He didnt indicate to me any of the testimony of his client or where he was going or what his plans were, but i was more than willing to share that history. Im hopeful somebody like Michael Cohen can do what i did and explain not only any wrongdoing that was done by trump, but the atmosphere in which it happened. And nixon later said that was my most damning testimony, is when i put it in context. Huh, interesting. Do you see Michael Cohen as a 2018 version of john dean . Because, you know, ill put it up. This is what he told politico,
basically saying he doesnt want to implicate that Michael Cohen is involved in the level, as deeply as you are. And he goes on to say that there are similarities. But do you see him as a 2018 version of john dean . I dont know. Or don mcgahn maybe . For either one. Anyone thats going to follow what i did has to decide in their own mind that theyre not going to try to hide their guilt and theyre going to explain what they did and why they did it and testify honestly and be prepared to take the punishment. That was the frame of mind i was in when i broke rank. And i also told my bosses exactly what i was going to do and that i would lie for no one. Lanny davis, cohens attorney is speaking to you. Has don mcgahn ever reached out to you or anyone affiliated with him . No, he hasnt. Hes the only white House Counsel whos followed me, i believe, i have not met. Ive never had a conversation with him. But as reported by the New York Times in the original piece, he didnt want to have the same fate as my tenure as white House Counsel resulted in. And he must he must think you know, he said he didnt any way implicate or cause any problems for the president in his testimony. That raised a real question in my mind, why was he worried he was going to be charged or scapegoated as the cause of obstruction of justice if he wasnt worried that there was some criminal activity . That he would end up being a figure like yourself. Anybody else involved in this reach out to you that i failed to mention . No, they havent. And lannys the only person i really know representing any of these people at all. I have not talked to anybody other than lanny. John, were going to keep you around because of your expertise and your experience with these situations. When we come back, president
trump without irony says he could run Robert Muellers investigation, an investigation of his own campaign. What that says about the president s views of his powers, next. Hotels. Com. You do you and get rewarded. Youre wearing a hat. Thats funny. Im a small business, but i have. Big dreams. And big plans. So how do i make the efforts of 8 employees. Feel like 50 . How can i share new plans virtually . How can i download an efile . Virtual tours . Zipfile . Really big files . In seconds, not minutes. Just like that. Like everything. The answer is simple. Ill do what ive always done. Dream more, dream faster, and above all. Now, ill dream gig. Now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. We have some Breaking News now. A stunning statement from President Trump on Special CounselRobert Muellers investigation. Trump telling reuters tonight i decided to stay out of the Mueller Investigation. I dont have to stay out. I could go in. I could do whatever. I could run it if i want. John dean is back with me. Good evening to all of you. So, frank, the president of the United States suggesting he could run an inves