Socalled rigged russia probe. But Sarah Sanders offers a different story. Any benefits that senior officials might glean from consultations with mr. Brennan are outweighed by his erratic behavior. And respect. Aretha franklin dies at the age of 76 after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer. The queen of soul a cultural icon around the globe, the undisputed greatest popular singer of her time. Respect is what it means to me you make me feel like a natural woman and good day, im Andrea Mitchell in washington. Well have a lot more on Aretha Franklin, her life, her music, throughout this program. But first, the president is holding a Cabinet Meeting at this hour after a stunning admission to the wall street journal that he revoked John Brennans security clearance and threatened other former officials because of their involvement in the russia probe, telling the journal, i call it a rigged witch hunt, it is a sham, mr. Trump said, and these people led it, i think its something that had to be done. Brennan, now an Nbc News National Security analyst, is fighting back, criticizing mr. President trump in a New York Times opinion piece today. And in his only Public Comments so far to msnbcs nicolle wallace. I do believe that mr. Trump decided to take this action, as hes done with others, to try to intimidate and suppress any criticism of him or his administration. Revoking my security clearances is his way of trying to get back at me. This is not going to deter me at all. Im going to continue to speak out. Joining me now is Nbcs Kelly Odonnell at the white house. Nbc political analyst robert costa, National Political reporter at the washington post. And nbc legal analyst mimi ro h rocah, former assistant District Attorney in the Southern District of new york. And Global Affairs analyst John Mclaughlin. John, let me go to you first because you have lived this life. You come from the agency. You know what it means. And you know why former cia directors have security clearances. Its really to help their successors do their jobs. Its to help successors do their jobs, and we periodically get called in for advice, not just by the president or the white house, but by people at other levels on specific issues where we have expertise. Thats the reason why people keep these clearances. And they are not revoked at whim. There is a process as to when they are to be revoked. There are 13 reasons why you can revoke a clearance and the president has cited none of them in his action on john brennan. Is one of them erratic behavior or political criticism . No. And so this becomes what seems like a preemptory decision. He has the legal right, he has the authority. But he is bypassing the due process that is done by the agency, in this case the cia, that confers the security clearance. Hes bypassing due process. We dont know where this is going to go because its so unprecedented. Normally there is a hearing, a process of appeal if someone wants to invoke it. Mimi will be the expert on this but my understanding is this is often considered in what are called administrative courts because this is not a legislative matter, it is an administrative matter and determined by executive order. And so theres a process here that could unfold. We dont know whether thats going to happen. I suspect the white house has not thought that through. John brennan, who is, as we pointed out, an nbc news analyst, as are you, posted on the New York Times this opinion piece. He wrote, mr. Trumps claims of no collusion are, in a word, hogwash. The only questions that remain are whether the collusion that took place constituted criminally liable conspiracy, whether obstruction of justice occurred to cover up any collusion or conspiracy. He, mimi, is referring in particular to this piece to President Trump after the convention, after the Democratic Convention and the wikileaks dump, the call of, you know, russia, if youre listening, where are those emails, im paraphrasing, that that was prima facie evidence of some act in collusion with our russian adversary, already under investigation, we didnt know it at this time, by the fbi. Thats right, andrea. And i thought that quote this morning from director brennan, from the New York Times, was chilling, because he really so succinctly put it. You know, we have collusion here. We now know, based on facts just in the public record, that the campaign and mr. Trump interacted and tried to interact with the russians in ways to influence the election. The question is does it meet the elements of a criminal conspiracy that can be charged or written up as a charge either in a court of law or for impeachment proceedings, not that thats the only standard for impeachment, of course. Im thinking more and more that those elements are going to be met. But obviously mueller will be the one to decide those. As for obstruction, i just want to say, usually the hardest part of an obstruction charge is not the act but showing someones intent, that theyre trying to influence the outcome of an investigation. And trump wears that intent on his sleeve. I mean, this statement about taking away director brennans security clearance because of his involvement in the russia investigation seems to me to be very clear intent. If i had a drug dealer that i was prosecuting and he said that he was going to retaliate against a witness because that witness was involved in an investigation against him, that would be really good evidence of obstruction. And thats exactly what mr. Trump is doing here. And it is reminiscent of an earlier admission back, you know, with i guess it was march of 2017, to lester holt. Lets play a little bit of that, which has been noted as an acknowledgement that russia was in his mind when he fired james comey. Play it. Regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey, knowing there was no good time to do it. And in fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a madeup story, its an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election, that they should have won. Robert costa, so you had the lester holt interview, the president of course has after the fact disputed that thats what he meant, as has rudy giuliani. But then he sits down with the wall street journal to talk about tariffs and defend his economic policy, and goes off message again, not citing the reasons that Sarah Sanders cited, as spurious as they may have been, because as John Mclaughlin pointed out, they are not onthebook reasons to revoke a security clearance, he goes off and says its because of the russia probe. Its off message but in a way its on message, because this is a white house in bunker mode right now. The president is fighting multiple battles, lashing out at his critics, whether its Omarosa Manigault newman or john brennan or members of media. On twitter, in these interviews with the journal and others, he says hes under fire, hes being defiant, hes trying to protect his Political Capital and protect his presidency. This is a white house thats weary about all of this, in this hot summer of 2018. Im not really sure how it will play out. Will mueller see obstruction in some of these comments . Robert, as you and kelly know, and kelly, youre at the white house there, right now theres Cabinet Meeting. The president is talking about the economy, bringing in larry kudlow for comments, trying to pivot back to what they would prefer to talk about, clearly. Our own Kristen Welker is representing all of the media as the pool correspondent for television in there. Well have reports when she comes out, when that tape is played back. But kelly, the bunker mode that has been described just now by robert, is pretty apparent. And all their efforts to try to get people to stop talking about omarosa, who will be on msnbc with craig melvin in the next hour, backfire when they come out with this brennan diversion, and then as the president did with the wall street journal, gets right back into the mueller probe. And they express frustration that some of the positive Economic News or other apologies dont get attention. Thats something we hear from lots of white houses, never feeling they get enough attention for the things they feel are going well. The president , by holding another Cabinet Meeting, this has been going on for a half hour, hes been going around the room from larry kudlow to zinc zinke, talking about priorities and policies of the administration, but youre right, it can be quickly overtaken by the president s unwillingness to back away from what seems to be a core belief that if he gets hit, he will hit back and often hit back repeatedly, not always in his own best interests. When it comes to Something Like going after the security clearances, it reignites all of the concerns that people have about the level of respect he has or does not have for the work of the Intelligence Community. And so much of that, again, veers into the lane of his lack of belief in the russia investigation and his efforts to undercut it at every turn, andrea. And to John Mclaughlin, what signal does it send to the men and women of cia, around the world, often putting their lives on the line for all the rest of us, that their former bosses are being targeted this way by the white house . Is there a message, explicit message, to not tell the white house what it doesnt want to hear . Well, i hope not. It certainly sends a chill through that population in terms of what they might say in their social media, what they might say publicly. In terms of what they say professionally to the president , that scenario cant happen. If that happens, we have slipped into full authoritarian mode. Ive seen that movie before. Thats what happens in countries where Intelligence Services become afraid to talk to their ruler with bad news. Thats not going to happen here. I do not think my colleagues, my former colleagues would allow that to happen. And the fact that they were not even informed before this was decided and announced. Well, thats surprising, because in fact whether the white house has thought this through or not, these clearances, mysterious as they are, are actually held, that is, possessed by these agencies. Its the agencies themselves that typically administratively have to remove them. So he may have put these agencies in a difficult spot, including their general counsels, who i think, if involved, will ask the logical questions, which is what are the reasons for removing them, because we have a list here that we are by law required to conform to. That hasnt unfolded yet. Thats a potential train wreck down the road here. And theres no evidence that john brennan ever divulged classified secrets. Well have to live it there for now. Coming up, the country mourning the loss of the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin. Well talk to a friend who knew her well. Stay with us on msnbc. A hotel can make or break a trip. And at expedia, we dont think you should be rushed into booking one. Thats why we created expedias addon advantage. Now after booking your flight, you unlock discounts on select hotels right until the day you leave. Addon advantage. Discounted hotel rates when you add on to your trip. Only when you book with expedia. Alicewhich is breast canceratic that has spread to other parts of her body. Shes also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptorpositive her2 Metastatic Breast Cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. Alice calls it her new normal because a lot has changed, but a lot hasnt. Ask your doctor about ibrance. The 1 prescribed fdaapproved oral Combination Treatment for hr her2 mbc. This wifi is fast. I know i know i know i know when did brian move back in . Brians back . He doesnt get my room. Hes only going to be here for like a week. Like a month, tops. Oh boy. Wifi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. In many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40s. She was a great pianist and of course the greatest singer of her time. Aretha franklin, known as the queen of soul, dead at the age of 76 from pancreatic cancer. She was a singer, songwriter, a piano prodigy. She was a civil rights activist who broke down barriers. Nbcs lester holt takes a look back at the life and legacy. Respect reporter there has never been a voice like hers. And there may never again be anyone like her. Aretha franklin, the queen of soul. An icon of american music. No other female singer was as celebrated or as honored as Aretha Franklin. 18 grammys, 20 number one billboard singles, 45 songs in the top 40. Our nation honors miss Aretha Franklin. [ applause ] reporter in 2005, she received a president ial medal of freedom, a deeply emotional moment for the singer who had been honored previously by president clinton with a National Medal of arts and by the kennedy center. Franklin was a diva, and she made no bones about it. But she was also a trailblazer for women and an africanamerican artist who achieved success against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement. Ill fly away reporter her list of firsts goes on forever, like being the first woman to be inducted into the rock roll hall of fame. She used her voice to crash through barriers. My country tis of thee reporter Rolling Stone once ranked Aretha Franklin the number one greatest syrininger all time. She had an almost maternal attitude toward her own songs. Theyre like my children, i love them all. But there are some that i liked a little more than others. Respect, certainly. The freeway. Jump to it. Natural woman. Reporter millions of americans know her music by heart. All we need to hear is the first few notes. We know the rest. All because she showed the way and set the standard. Joining me now is nbcs ron mott at the New Bethel Baptist Church in detroit, which was Aretha Franklins church and where her father preached. You have the reverend jesse jackson, ron. Reporter hey there, andrea, good day to you. This is a sad day around the world and especially for folks in detroit. We have the reverend bob smith, who replaced c. L. Franklin, Aretha Franklins dad. The reverend jesse jackson. I wanted to feel the warmth of her hands one more time. New bethel, she should never have left. You most know her father, a renowned preacher. She sang never grow old, ave maria. Aretha never left her roots. Reporter reverend, you and i were talking about how she put out a couple of gospel albums early in her career and then moved into what people consider more secular music. All over the world shes an international star. But you say she never left. She never left the church. All of her songs are good songs about emotions, the hardships and the feelings of people. Everything was from the soul. Everybody wants respect. And i guess most women say i dont want nobody hanging around me and my man. The big march in detroit led by her father, the chairman of the human rights commission, the Labor Movement in detroit has roots in the civil right struggle. When dr. King was having a hard time in 66, 67, she helped him raise money, for free. She was singing the next night. She was a freedom fighter. She had the softness. Reporter she was a force, obviously. Andrea, well send it back to you. Thanks to much, ron mott, and thanks to the reverend. Joining me now, another reverend, al sharpton, a dear friend of Aretha Franklins. And roland martin, the host of tv one, also a dear friend of Aretha Franklins. The importance of her influence on music is unquestionable. Lets talk also about civil rights and the role she played there. I think that she was certainly one that brought the gospel flavor many stream. People all over the world would feel this kind of passion and grounding of gospel music that she got out of her Fathers Church. And it would move them. You never saw her do a concert that she didnt also do a gospel song and sometimes break out into what we call a holy dance or shout. But she was also committed to the movement. As was just stated, she did concerts that helped dr. King in the 60s make payroll. But she went to her dying day supporting causes. She would call me on my radio show, call me privately and talk about the issues of the day. I remember during the errol Garner Police case in new york, she came to my Birthday Party to make a statem