Good morning. It is monday, august 20. Im Ayman Mohyeldin alongside louis bergdorf. On meet the press Rudy Guilliani pushed false hoods in the new position of the Trump Legal Team about the aides meeting with russians in 2016. The meeting was for the purpose of getting information about clinton. The meeting turned into a meeting which in itself is attempted collusion. No, it is not. You said it, the meeting was intended to get dirt on Hillary Clinton from a criminal lawyer. No, it wasnt. That was the intention of the meeting. You said it. That was the original intention of the meeting. It turned out to be a meeting about another shouldnt and it was not pursued at all. Of course, any meeting with regard to getting information on your opponent is something any candidate staff would take. If someone said, i have information about your opponent, you would take that meeting. From the russian government . She didnt rupt tepresent th russian government. I dont even know if they knew she was russian at the time. Here is the thing. Those claims are blatantly false given the emails donald trump jr. Posted more than a year ago in which he was told the woman offering dirt on Hillary Clinton was the crown prosecutor of rush you ya, the russian attorney, the russian government attorney. Guilliani grappled with the risk of letting President Trump be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller. Im not going to be rushed into having him testify so he gets trapped into perjury. When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because hes going to tell the truth and he shouldnt worry, well, thats so silly because it is somebodys version of the truth, not the truth. He didnt have a conversation truth is truth. I dont mean to go no, it isnt truth. Truth isnt truth. Wow. President trumps inner circle is reportedly in the dark about what White House Counsel Don Mcgahn has said. He shared details investigators would not have learned otherwise according to those briefed on the matter. At least three voluntary interviews with investigators that totaled 30 hours over the past nine months, in mcgahn described the president s fury toward the russia investigation and the ways in which he urged mr. Mcgahn to respond to it. Now, he provided the investigators examining whether mr. Trump obstructed justice a clear view of the president s most interest mat moments with his lawyers. Among the topics he shared insight it into are the firing of james comey, alleged intents to put a loyalist in charge of the russia inquiry, pressure on attorney general jeff sessions. Former outside counsel john dowd who arranged the kpoop ration with mueller called it a complete fiction. Yesterday, Rudy Guilliani addressed what mcgahn might have said. We have a good sense obviously of what mr. Mcgahn testified to. I can figure it out from how do you say that, good sense . Have you debriefed him . No, no, but mr. Dowd has a fwd sen good sense of it. Two people close to the president tell the New York Times mcgahns lawyer only a limited accounting of what the white House Counsel has told special counsel investigators. Joining me onset, dan any is a savalis. Lets talk about the revelation that don mcgahn has been cooperating with the mueller investigation, to the sense at least he has been interviewed by them. What does it tell us and how does it fit into trumps legal strategy . Theres no revelation that don mcgahn is talking to special counsel mueller. He is white House Counsel, not Donald Trumps personal lawyer. There is no way, and this is settled law, a case called lindsey back in the 90s that you cannot prevent the white House Counsel from sitting down or being subpoenaed by a grand jury. You cant do it. So any legal team, including trumps legal team, would have known that in the course of muellers investigation eventually he would have talked to don mcgahn about that list of things that you just pointed out. Those are all critical pieces of the puzzle Robert Mueller needs to assemble, so don mcgahn was always going to talk to Robert Mueller, or at least it should have been anticipated. To be clear, he doesnt get to exercise Attorney Client privilege because at this point he was working for the white house but in a capacity having intimate conversations or aware of the legal strategy of the administration . He does not get to assert Attorney Client privilege or executive privilege. He is white House Counsel, not like Rudy Guilliani or jay sekulow or Michael Cohen, trumps personal attorneys. You have confidence theyre aware of that . Theyre aware of precedence, thats a wellknown case. They would have known that. Does that mean they act differently around don mcgahn . Thats a different question. They just put up the list again. The list of things that he may have been privy to there you go there are a bunch of things he may have seen that maybe the trump team didnt think it was significant at the time, now it has major significance. Lets look at it from the perspective of bob mueller. What is his interest in mcgahn around some of the issues . We have the list of the topics, but what is it specifically mcgahn would be able to provide insight into . All of those things, anything he would have observed. Donald trump comes in, for example, comes in upset about the recusal of his attorney general, he rants about it. Thats something don mcgahn would have seen. Those are all, again, parts of the overall picture that mueller is trying to put together. It may just be that he establishes a timeline for mueller and helps him create the narrative that they have adopted at this point, and that is why it could be bad for trump because and im going to shock you here and well talk about it. Rudy guilliani, i agree with him when he says truth is not always truth in the context of criminal prosecution. How about that . That might make the headlines. It might. It might. It certainly did. Thanks a lot. We will talk a little bit. Joining me dave lawler for axios. Lets talk a little bit more about what i was discussing with dan a danny here, the significance of mcgahns cooperation with the ongoing russia probe. How do you see snt. We have 30 hours with the guy who was there for crucial moments when trump was contemplating firing comey, firing film and mueller himself. That was under discussion for a while and he was part of the conversations. So if you are trying to figure out if trump obstructed justice, who better to talk to than white House Counsel who was privy to those conversations . Also another fascinating participate of the New York Times reporting is that mcgahn at the time thought he might be in the hot seat. He thought they might be setting him up to take the fall for this obstruction, potential obstruction charge, and so he had no reason not to be transparent. He wasnt necessarily operating on trumps team but trying to help himself out. Thats interesting dynamic there. Lets talk about Rudy Guillianis tv appearances. He seems to be contradicting evidence thats already in the public sphere as we referenced earlier, that email from donald trump jr. Can mueller use his comments against trump as this investigation continues, these interviews that guilliani is doing that is contradicting the Public Record . There have been so many contradictions already around this meeting that he has plenty of ammunition to work with i would think if he was going to use it. An interesting factor of guillianis tv appearances is he is out there to muddy the water, truth isnt truth kind of super it up. He is trying to plant a seed of doubt ahead of the release of any reports saying, you cant trust what these people tell you, you know, this whole investigation has not been on the level, and you have to believe what were saying. And so it might undermine his case when hes saying blatant falsehoods but he is in there to mix the things up. To quote the president when he said, dont believe what you are hearing or saying. We will talk in a bit. After revoking the security clearance of former cia director john brennan last week, President Trump is escalating his threat to strip the clearance of bruce ohr. I think bruce ohr is a disgrace. I suspect i will be taking it away very quickly. I think that bruce ohr is a disgrace, with his wife nellie. For him to be in the Justice Department and to be doing what he did, that is a disgrace. Strong words from the president there. Bruce ohr has come under republican scrutiny for ties to fusion gps, which commissioned the steele dossier and where his wife nelly worked back in 2016. On friday Senior Administration official told the Washington Post that the white house has drafted documents revoking the security clearances of current and former officials whom President Trump has demanded be punished for kricriticizing him playing a role in the russia investigation. One senior white house oy fish said trump wants to sign most if not all of this. They communicated communications aides have discussed when to release them with unfavorable news cycles. John bryn thennan said he is weg legal action over his security clearances. If my clearances and my reputation as im being pulled through the mud, if thats the price we will pay to prevent donald trump to do it to someone else, thats a small price to mean. If it means going to court, i will do that what are you going to doe now if john brennan sues you, sues the president . Thats what he said on meet the press this morning, that hes going to come up with a legal pushback for losing the security clearance and he wants the make sure nobody else loses the security clearance. Then we take his deposition right away. I would love to have brennan under oath two, three zaes. We will find out about him and what he did about being head of mission when the towers were bombed and our marines were killed, what he did about benghazi. Or supporting communism. I dont know if i would go back to that, when you vote for gus how do you become cia director if in the midst of the cold war you voted from a communist . Federal investigators are investigating whether Michael Cohen committed bank and tax fraud. The New York Times reported investigators are looking to determine whether he misrepresented the value of his assets to obtain loans owned by him and his family, this according to people familiar with the matter. Federal investigators are looking into whether he violated finance or other laws by arranging financial deals to secure the silence of women who alleged to have affairs with donald trump. The times reports that the inquiry has not entered final stages and prosecutors are considering filing charges by the end of the month. Andrew cording to two people familiar with the matter, a spokesperson for lanny davis told nbc news davis could not comment on the ongoing investigation. Still ahead, another weekend of violence in chicago unfortunately. We will take a look at those numbers. Later, Robert Mueller recommends jail time for a former Trump Campaign aide. The special counsel thinks George Papadopolous should spend up to six months behind bars. Those stories and a check on the weather when we come right back. 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. Mom okay we need to get all your School Supplies today. School. Grade. Done. Done. Hit the Snooze Button and get low prices on School Supplies all summer long. Like these for only 2 or less at office depot officemax. Like these for only 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. Welcome back, everyone. It was another weekend marked by violence in chicago. According to the Chicago Sun Times since friday night five were killed and 52 wounded in a wave of shootings throughout the city, including several teens and one threeyearold boy. Throughout the weekend reports of the shootings came in faster than police could arrive at the scenes. Multiple reports of the incidents are open investigations and very few arrests have been made. President trump is reportedly interested in privatizing the war in afghanistan. Current and former Senior Administration officials tell nbc news trump has been increasingly directing his ire at the National Security team about the u. S. Strategy for americas longest war and has shown a renewed interest in a proposal by erik prince to prif size that war. Prince, whose sister is betsy devos, is founder of blackwater, a security contractors farm who had controversial moments in the war in iraq including the killing of civilians in baghdad in 2007. His plan is to replace troops for a contractor who would work for a special envoy reporting directly to President Trump. My plan would say 2,000 u. S. Special forces remain and around 6,000 contractors. It is not a privatization or private army. It is a clear delineation of who is in charge, okay, the Afghan Government working for a u. S. Government official funded by the United States at a fraction of the cost of what we are spending now. What would it cost . If we leave it to the pentagon we will be at war forever. Would you consider privatizing there, using contractors instead of u. S. Military . There have been reports about that this week . There are always a lot of discussions. I find it helpful. I am always open to new ideas but im not going to comment on what the thinking is. That ultimately will be the president s decision. A spokesperson for the National Security counsel says princes proposal is not under considerations and Officials Say both secretary of state mike pompeo and defense secretary mattis is against it although Jared Kushner is a fan. A lot of interesting, especially for a war that has lasted as long as afghanistan has. A check on the weather with bill karins. Good morning to you. Over the weekend a lot of people cooled temperatures off in the northern half of the country, almost a taste of fall in some areas. We have a big storm in the middle of the country. Overnight thunderstorms probably woke a lot of people up in illinois. It is pouring in the northern half of iowa currently. Later on today, it will trigger additional strong storms. Five Million People at risk for Severe Weather from memphis to outside little rock. So a slight risk of Severe Weather. Not too many tornados, isolated wind damages and chances of flash flooding out of this mess, too. By the time we get to tuesday the storm system will bring strong storms to the east. Enough moisture and humidity will be around looks like the richmond area, washington, d. C. , up through northern maryland, Williams Port possibly, too. 14 million at risk from these storms as they come through tuesday. Here is the timing of the meps. Going through the morning, heavy rain in eye way. Chicago, around 5 00 p. M. You could get some downpours. Going through the evening we will see additional storms racing through tennessee and also western kentucky. Tuesday morning, isolated showers and storms in the great lakes. Tuesday afternoon is when the chance of Severe Weather will be around from richmond to washington, d. C. , hit and might in western new york and central pennsylvania. Theres great weather to be had out there. Beautiful weather in the northeast and a great afternoon, mid 70s. For the middle of august, well take it. Might be a good time to have an outdoor lunch if you can get off. Thanks, bill. Still ahead, Justin Verlander goes for 200th career win as the astros look to regain first place. We will have all of the details next in sports. I landed. I saw my leg did not look right. I was just finishing a ride. I felt this awful pain in my chest. I had a pe blood clot in my lung. I was scared. I had a dvt blood clot. Having one really puts you in danger of having another. My doctor and i chose xarelto®. Xarelto®. To help keep me protected. Xarelto® is a latestgeneration blood thinner thats. Proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt or pe blood clots from happening again. In clinical studies, almost 98 of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your bodys natural bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor. 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