it's been a roller coaster ride. we don't know where it's going the next two days let alone the next two years. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here monday on 6:00 p.m. eastern. go to my facebook page and follow me on twitter. hard ball with chris math starts now. ♪ >> good evening i'm kris machri matthews. today president trump acknowledged he is under investigation for possible obstruction of justice. he said so. in doing so however the president took direct aim at the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein the only person what ultimate authority over the special counsel's probe. trump tweeted i'm being

investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. witch hunt. over the last five weeks that man has risen from obscurity and thrust into a key role in the investigation. it was rosenstein who the president asked to draft that memo that served as the pretense to fire james comey last month. it wasn't long before trump confessed rosenstein's investigation had nothing to do with the firing. >> regardless of recommendation i was going to fire comey knowing there was no good time to do it. in fact when i decided to just do it i said to myself -- i said, you know, this russia thing with russia and trump is a made up story. >> days after that admission rosenstein appointed robert mueller to pick up the trump

investigation. there's talk trump is trying to oust mueller. as rosenstein acknowledged tuesday his fire remains a possibility. >> mr. rosenstein, could you be terminated without cause? >> yes. >> and who would appoint your replacement? >> the president. >> so that's a possibility. >> anything is possibility senator. >> i understand. >> "the new york times" reports to day mr. trump left open the possibility of dismissing mr. mueller. the people briefed on the president's thinking said mr. trump also knows firing mr. rosenstein would be politic cli dangerous. i'm joined by intelligence and national security report. >> let me start with ken.

ken, try to put this together for a person to figure out what the hell trump is up to. why would he put his fire power in the direction of rosenstein? why is he focusing all the anger and attack on him? >> chris i don't know. that tweet seemed like a scream of frustration. it may have the affect of putting pressure on rosenstein to recuse which would put this in the hands of rachel brand. that's not going to change anything. donald trump cannot stop this investigation by firing people. he would have to fire 14,000 fbi agents and he would have congress to deal with. he can't fire them. it's not clear what the strategy is. >> why would it lead to his recusal? why would he feel the need to recuse himself? >> that wouldn't be the direct reason. the real reason he might have to recuse himself he could be a witness in the obstruction of

justice probe because he was involved in the firing of comey and that's the essence of the obstruction. donald trump told lester hot he was fired because of the russia investigation. is that obstruction of justice. that's what robert mueller is looking at. >> the tweet appeared to suggest the role might affect rosenstein's ability to conduct the probe. he was asked if that's a conflict of interest since he could become a witness. here it goes. >> you are -- become a witness in this investigation do you think there's a conflict of interest there. >> i'm not going to answer hypothetical questions. the reason is i'm looking with career professionals that know these rules. i can assure you we're going to do the right thing. >> the news keeps comes. according to abc news rosenstein

discussed recusal with the justice department. he raced it with the associate attorney genre chel brand. the justice department third in command. rosenstein where he to recuse himself she would have to take over. the pattern here is frighteningly clear if trump decides he doesn't want to be prosecuted thinks he's above the law. firing comey, threatening mueller and now he's going to go after rosenstein. >> you work for "the washington post" which has a history. >> really i can't remember that. on the the sat da night massacre richard nixon him fired. the attorney general refused. the person who carried out the order was robert bourque.

>> nixon had a deal with richardson. >> sorry. this would be -- i mean if rosenstein could recuse himself but it would not be exactly a bourque situation he would dump this mess of having to do with an angry president and a complicated investigation into the president into the hands of rachel brand the associate attorney general who might none be too pleased to have that land in her lap. >> in an ideal trump world he would have the guy he made attorney general jeff sessions in charge of the whole game. he would be overseeing whatever was done in prosecution. all that stuff has built up since his firing effort ft in the real world trump would like to go back to i'm the boss.

we both pick the fbi director. we have don't like him we get rid of him. i get to pick the next one. i decide whether there's a special counsel. there won't be a special counsel. i'm the boss and the a.g. is in charge. all this has gone haywire and trump's craziness. it's still not clear what he's afraid of but it's something. >> he can't make the investigation go away. what's he going to do fire thousands and thousands of fbi agents. he can make life really miserable for rod rosenstein he loves to torture people he feels who have wronged him. as comey pointed out rosenstein is a survivor. he's done things to insure late himself from being fired before with trump specifically. number two trump is ginning up his base. let's not underestimate the way he is playing this as a rigged

system. rule number one of politics donald trump style if donald trump is losing someone else must be cheating. he is therefore casting this as an unfair system a rigged system and the forces who were out to undermine him are at it once again. >> there's certain grown ups in the city. they remain grown ups. one is diane feinstein. she said the message the president is sending through his tweets is he believes the rule of law dpuz nt apply to him. anyone that thinks otherwise will be fired. if the president thinks he can fire rosenstein and replace him with someone who will shut down the investigation he's in for a rude awakening. she remind me of a nun. she is so clean and clear an grown up. she doesn't like grown ups miss behaving. that's her classic feinstein. >> we can see the president is trying to reinforce this narrative that this is a witch

hunt. he was not being targeted comey told him assured him three times he wasn't the focus of the investigation. in the process of basically trying to enlist other officials to come to his defense to publicly go out and say this narrative is false they're going after him. in the process of doing so he put himself in the cross hairs of fbi. he's frustrated by this and trying to change the narrative. >> has he been intimidated. rosenstein issued a warning that cites anonymous sources. americans should exercise caution any stories attributed to anonymous officials particularly when they don't identify the country or branch or agency of government. americans should be skeptical about anonymous allegations. let me go back to ken. this looks lieg an at at the present time to show even handedness to show i'm on your

side against leaks mr. president. a lot of people will read this as a sign of weakness by rosenstein. >> i agree with you, chris. our reporting at nbc news he did this on his own. this was his initiative and he's been frustrated with some stories about him he thought were wrong. one early in the administration that said he threatened to resign. he claims that's not true. another where comey went to him asking for more resources. rosenstein claims that's not true. you have the two post stories very damaging leaks that put people inside the investigation. he wanted to send an employees to cut it out. statement you're right. it's also sending a message to donald trump who is probably wondering what are you guys doing about the leaks. this is is his way of saying here's what we're doing. >> adam. >> it's very strange the way he worded that especially the first

sentence where he says especially officials who may not be identified as americans. >> who is he talking about? >> he was trying to muddy everything up. >> you guys are breaking a story and says sources close to the white house it's not moscow or london or mexico city. we know it's from around here. >> we didn't think we needed to clarify in our stories. >> he's mocking news stories. he's mocking the press saying they could be sources from -- >> the tone is set from the top. this is what trump has done all along. the statement issued late last night was reminiscent of the pledges of loyalty aaron the cabinet table in the white house when they had to say what an honor and privilege it was to work for donald trump. the people around him feel this need. it's not a misplaced need. if they want to in gray seat

themselves with the boss -- >> it's so third world. you have to show your love of the leader all the time. north korea is like that too i'm sure. everything that's still murky about what may have gone on with the trump people and moscow, whether business, political, sanctions or all mixed together. we don't know. it's still murky. the clarity emerged when he fired comey. he tried to get comey to do a pledge of allegiance clearly. he asked him to get rid of the flynn case clearly. all of a sudden he's given clarity to the prosecution here. all since firing comey. >> that's the astonishing thing the degree this is a self in flighted wound in flekted by donald trump on himself. we don't know what the facts are

of collusion or not collusion, made up story according to trump. we don't know what the facts are about financial dealing and other dealings in the campaign and transition. maybe some will pan out. maybe it won't. all of a sudden we have this very live case which has caused the president to kind of flip out over this last week which is a case of his own creation. his pressure on jim comey demanding loyalty, pressing him to drop the case against flynn, enlisting others to drop the case against flynn and firing comey. it's not a lay down obstruction of justice case. most prosecutors would be pursuing that. >> we're all becoming walking filing cabinets. let's take a look at what we know about the investigation based on the reporting to date. when it comes to potential campaign collusion with russia seven of trump's associates are under scrutiny. the presidents conversations

with three top intelligence officials under scrutiny. trump asked former fbi director comey to drop investigation of flynn. he asked dan coats to intervene to get the fbi to back off flynn. now the difference between this and nixon the broadest possible brush nixon knew he had done a lot of things wrong. lots of things are on the record. i did a lot of digging myself. nixon told his people to go in and steal everything from brookings. he said make it look like a democrat job. all this is on the tapes. nixon knew this could come out. it was all there. so he had reason to play defense. we have yet to find the clarity of what trump is hiding. >> that's exactly right. that's looking increasingly as if there are not tapes. we won't see those.

>> or even a content that might be on the tapes. >> that's right. then what happens it goes on the way it will with trump claiming every statement that comes out of comey or these hearings is an exxon ration and his enemies saying no. it's an indictment. >> clark clifford would tell somebody doend do anything and send them a bill for $5,000. you're laughing ken. this guy -- what's his name kasowitz never tells donald trump don't do anything. keep it coming and be yourself. why doesn't he tell the president stop doing anything. you'll be clear of this crap if you don't do anything more. >> maybe that is his advice and trump is not heeding it. >> why is he paying the guy to give advice he's not going to listen to. >> the graphic you showed i find that so remarkable.

i was texting michael cohen the other day trump's personal lawyer. any future inquiries will have to go through my counsel. if trump es lawyer needs a lawyer this is getting serious. >> you have to go to the flank of the lawyer that doesn't work in washington. this will end up in pittsburgh. nothing wrong with pittsburgh. thank you all. >> next robert mueller is looking at jared kushner's finances. mike pence is lawyering up. plus the hard ball round table and the question tonight what if president trump would fire robert mueller or rod rosenstein. also a preview of a documentary all the president's men. what's happening now with this president. finally finish with trump watch.

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>>. an op-ed comment in the "washington post" ken star the former independent counsel who investigated bill clinton argues firing robert mueller would be an insult to the founding father. absent the most extreme circumstances the president would be ill advised to order mueller's firing. we'll be right back after this.

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be related in any way to the pending investigation. vice president mike pence was in charge of president-elect trump's transition team. we now learned pents hired richard kul len to help him hire the russian probe related questions. the vice president has found himself among many individuals including jared kushner in the russian problem. let's watch. >> any comment for the counsel? >> very routine. >> 147 days by the way the past 147 days have been anything but routine. administration officials are trying to subdue an enraged leader the president. look at the pictures of guy. time magazine is reporting trump

advisors feel the self in flighted wounds are out of their hands and forced upon them by a i am pull sif president. that's a fair question. i'm joined by michael shearer. you've been interviewing the people in the white house. they're all told not to talk about russia. >> they don't talk much about russia. they talk about what they're trying to do to get the president in line. what we came away with is that it's sort of like the certainty prayer. they have try and control to deal with what they can control. they try and accept what they can't control and to know the difference between the two things. >> what can they control? do they think they can control anything? >> the white house chief of staff a number of aides have built this structure in the white house that no one really

sees. there's planning weeks ahead. we have infrastructure weeks. the theme of next month is made in america. there will be a whole bunch of roll outs. >> somebody came out with the cuban thing. >> what do you think about this? i hear they're all scared and gagged? >> i think it's like he was saying people are trying to keep their heads down and get their work done. the president keeps getting in the way by constantly teething about russia. it seems the idea is that they're going to try to power through. focus on the accomplishments that they say no one is paying attention to and kind of try to ignore the elephant in the room. >> you guys and everybody knows how transparent our country is. you can look at the president's

face that tough guy thing he puts on his face. i have to look tough like a street corner guy. i have to look tough. everyone knows that means he's scared and pence gets drawn into this like a mob thing. trump gets involved in getting rid of comey. all of a sudden he's a possible victim. perhaps suspect. perhaps person of interest in an obstruction clean. pence is clean. >> it's right to say pence hiring outside counsel doesn't mean he's guilty of anything or suspected. if you're a possible witness to something that will be investigated like what the president said about -- >> he was sitting in the room. he might have said good move get rid of the bum. don't know what happened. >> just the fact of hiring outside counsel doesn't mean anything. he's not the last person in the white house that's going to have to have an outside counsel to deal with mueller. you've don't want to interact with the fbi unless you have

your own lawyer. >> what's it like in the white house? i used to have one of those great jobs. i loved working at the white house. i worked for a president that wasn't a political genius but he was clean. this is weird. >> i don't know what it's like in the mess. >> it is a mess. >> it seems like -- i mean they're still very defensive of the president. i think you kind of when you're on the team i think that a lot of them look at this like this is their team. >> let's get back to what you said. you said they have a structure like a normal white house. first of all reince pree bus doesn't look like a chief of staff. trump would never let reince fire anybody. >> reince has a structure but he's not playing the role of the traditional chief of staff. >> he can't hire or fire.

>> not without consulting with other people. he can't be in a room with the president and say this is what you're going to do because this is the best thing and have the president listen to him. he's one of several aides who can try that. history has shown -- >> i saw this coming the nep tichl thing. you shouldn't hire your son-in-law. you've got the prince sitting there. nobody messes with the prince. therefore the prince gets away with everything even his ba foonry. i think the president knows jared is not up for the job. i have get that sense. yet he's the boss' sun in law. >> i don't know if it's not jared isn't up for the job. it is ironic when you see them talk about ivanka. all the aides are very careful to say when they're talking in

public thank you to ivanka she did a great job. >> i know. it's so obvious. they're afraid that all it takes -- remember if you show up at a restaurant you get eye contact with them you're dead. >> remember about jared he's not in the chain of command. he has a lot of pet projects. he does saudi arabia and this or that. >> you know what we call those guys. floaters. there's good floaters. every administration has a floater with unlimited power and everyone else has to crumble. >> that protects jared in the end. >> he's married to ivanka. >> thank you to you all. go out and buy a copy of time magazine. it's in your news stands. up next the round table. what would happen if trump fired

mueller or rosenstein or both if he goes nixon on us. this is "hardball" where the action is.

s. >> a u.s. navy vessel koe lied with a merchant ship south of japan. one soldier has been medevaced after that collision. japan's coast guard say several others unaccounted for. the jury remains dead locked in

bill cosby's trial. earlier today the jury asked for more testimony and more detailed description of the term reasonable doubt. now back to "hardball." >> if president trump ordered you to fire the special counsel, what would you do? >> senator i'm not going to follow any orders unless i believe they're lawful. >> that was deputy attorney general rod rosenstein asserting his independent into russian meddling. roz repeatedly assured senators he had no intention of taking action against mueller without cause. >> do you know of any reason for cause to fire mr. mueller as of this date? >> no, i do not senator.

>> that would be your decision? >> that's correct. >> you'll make it and nobody else. >> as long as i'm in that position senator. >> you said you've would not ascent under the present situation? >> correct. >> because there's no cause. >> that's correct. >> is it fair to put that to rest? >> as far as i'm concerned yes, senator. i appointed him. i stand by that decision. i think it was the right thing to under those circumstances. >> let's bring in the "hardball" round table. clarence page, annie lynn ski jason johnson. here's as i see it. we're seeing a city that's like before a war, eery calm, like a monster movie. everyone out there is too quiet.

everybody is thinking what's the next think. everyone is thinking he's not going to let it continue? is there any chance he's going to let mueller do his job? >> i think there is a chance. it's hard for him. the fact he's been feeding the rumors is he's restless. he's done a good job of talking himself into a bigger controversy. he could only make that worse by firing the prosecutor. he's heard of the saturday night massacre. >> the news keeps coming. i think he's got his eye on rosenstein. by the way rosenstein looks like he's buckling a little the evils of leak. >> i was so surprised. >> this is what comey did in the private conversations. they all try to finesse with

this giant guy they're afraid of. >> absolutely. >> it looks like they're trimming. >> you saw with rosenstein when he wrote that memo in the first place about comey which was very surprising to me to read that because i've known rosenstein for quite a long time. i don't see him as a political actor in that way. to have him come out with that statement last night an then get undercut by trump again with this tweet today where he was saying he is under investigation after all. >> jason the troops of the american regular order, the washington establishment are behaving themselves. they're looking very serious. feinstein is reliable. dur ban looks good. even the guy i have mixed feelings about lindsey graham begin to look like senators. trump is making them want to be unlike him. >> right. you would think everybody at the white house is updating their

linked in page. >> what does that mean? >> it's your on-line resume. >> people ask me and i've been told by my people don't link in to anybody. >> let me explain to you they don't want me to do it. >> people are getting nervous. >> at this point if you go after rosenstein if you keep firing people eventually the january or is going to have to fire mueller. >> robert bourque. >> you're going to have these situations where historically or legally you're going to run into someone that wants to fight back. >> do you guys know this is the penetrating question who has the president's ear? >> oh gosh. >> who can say it's friday night i got to talk to you. >> the same person who had his ear since he was leading the trump organization. that is the last person who talked to him. that is who has his ear.

that has been a pattern with donald trump for his entire life. the theory that i like to think about is how does he get out of this bind he's in, this investigation. he has the power to pardon. so could he not pardon himself? >> he could have done that for flynn in the first place. >> would he really go to the supreme court with his assertion of the right to pardon himself of all crimes. >> he love toss go to court. >> any president that has served so far -- >> did you hear that from the white house. >> it came up with sessions. >> i don't think it's come up. >> no it has not been. >> i guess you could do it any time you want. >> gerry ford did it. a source close to the president's counsel confirms john doud added to his legal team. he investigated pete rose for baseball. he recommended john keen.

pete rose runs a restaurant in vegas of all places. the round table is staying with us. up next these three will tell me something i don't know. you're watching "hardball" where the action is. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

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don't stop now, it's easy to add to the routine. join energy upgrade california and do your thing. >> back with the "hardball" round table. clarence tell pe something i don't know. >> everyone talks about how the trump base has held firm. over 538 they're finding his percentage of strong supporters has declined from 30% in january to slightly over 20% now. base is eroding at the edges. it's starting to happen. >> they still give the right answers. it's always 30%. >> you don't believe poles anymore. >> i don't. >> i was left hanging last november. >> i'm in a similar spot. i saw a poll done by a client. it was looking at what would

that -- what would it take for that base to start eroding. which trump scandal impacts them. it was not the russian investigation. it was not tax returns. it was that he keeps going to mar a lago on tax payer dollars. he's not going this weekend. >> so what you don't know next week we have the most expensive election in ga 6. georgia is only one of the states in the union that has no paper trail. there is no paper trail for the special election. you've had commuter science professors from georgia tech write the government this is a problem. there's no way we can do a proper recount. ever is lawyering up. >> i think allstates should go paper. i think the federal record

should step in. i think trump won the electoral college but there's so many questions it's not good for the country. >> voters want it doo. >> i like paper. >> tomorrow don't miss msnbc's spoeshl all the president's men revisited. it offers a look at the water gate scandal. this is "hardball" where the action is. e do, we see wonder waiting. every step you take, narrows the influence of narrow minds. bridges continents and brings this world one step closer. so, the question you asked me. what is the key? it's you. everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. but when we brought our daughter home,

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take aim at barack obama's achievements. under trump's order individual trips to cuba will once again be banned. embassies in ha va in a and washington will stay open. we'll be right back.

will you be ready when the moment turns romantic? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain,

or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. >> the system had worked in this amazing way that a criminal president had been forced to leave office. the principal that no one in this country is above the law including the president of the united states. >> welcome back. that was carl bernstein detailing the nigs about the white house investigation in the documentary called the all the president's men revisited.

msnbc documentary will air tomorrow. it's narrated by robert red ford and looks at water gate from the lens of firsthand accounts and scenes from the movie. let's look at the films depiction of the nixon tape that ended up being the smoking gun. >> what finally catches him is when the tapes are released, the smoking gun tape, puts the lie to the statement he had no advanced knowledge. >> on the tape you here nixon telling holeman to direct the cia to stop an investigation. >> those words clearly led to an obstruction of justice. >> i'm joined by former u.s. congresswoman elizabeth holtsman who was on the house you addition yar committee during

the water gate hearing. congresswoman i remember you there. the great thing about it it was very solemn. you had a number of republicans joining you. you voted on the articles of impeachment. we would be watching from home an every bar in the states. everyone watched that hearing. >> it was a freshman senator from congress that forced the committee to have the hearings in public. he said if it's behind closed doors or secret you'll never have any credibility or belief in what we're doing. ultimately the committee was persuaded. the people may not have understood everything we were saying but they saw people were serious. it was professional. it was fair and that made a huge impression on the american people and bipartisan. >> one of the things i think

people keep getting wrong it's not the crime it's the cover up. there's the reason for the cover up. there's a crime. in the case of nixon i did a lot of digging of the tapes and i discovered the knicks son stuff of saying let's break into the republican headquarters and pretend the democrats did it. it's all on tape. trump today it's hard to figure what is he hiding that's so devastating to him and his presidency that he is playing this game of trying to intimidate all the prosecutors. >> i don't know but it must be something really serious. he's jeopardizes his presidency over something we don't know. you can't fire comey head of the fbi. you can't threaten to fire people around you threatening to fire mueller. you've can't threaten to fire the deputy attorney general without bringing the whole house

of cards down. >> the documentary also depicts the saturday night massacre when president nixon fired multiple attorneys general before he could find the one who would fire his special prosecutor. >> let's watch that. >> in october of 1973 he ordered his attorney general to fire the special prosecutor. the attorney general was appauled. he said no and resigned. then the president told one of his assistants to call the deputy attorney general. >> i picked the phone up. it was al hag and he wanted me to fire cox. he said your commander and chief is ordering you to do this. i don't know what that added to the discussion. he said who else is around. i said bob bourque is here. >> the commander and chief finally found someone willing to carry out his orders. bourque fired cox and so ended

what would be the saturday night massacre. >> that was the signal to the people the president was putting himself above the rule of law. they have demanded action. >> it's a hell of a history lesson. maybe the president should watch. >> definitely should. >> the closest thing to tweeting is doing something on a saturday night. what is the president doing that he's so excited that he's going to fire everybody on a saturday night. >> i think that was a signal to the american people something was really wrong. the attorney general of the united states resign rather than carry out the presidential order. these are republicans working for republican presidents. the american people said wait a minute. that's what triggered the impeachment proceedings. >> tell me about that. i worked for tip o'neal. that's when he began to push and they began to have hearings.

>> there was a lot of talk before the saturday night massacre. you had john dean before the senate water gate committee. it was a cancer on the presidency. people were paying bribes to the burglars. president said i know where the money can be pound to pay them. it hadn't triggered the impeachment. the firing of cox and the resignation of two republicans at the top of the justice department the american people said we're not a banana republic. congress you have to act. that's what triggered it. it was anti-a reference from a special prosecutor. it was the american people and that's when congress started to act. >> i don't think anything mri roors happens anything that happened before. we have don't know what's at the heart of it. the one thing i like about washington it's a pretty clean capital compared to most.

it's clean. people like judge sereka a republican judge he comes on and hangs him high. he takes these water gate burglars and says you're not getting out until you tell me who paid you. the system does come to play. it works. >> that's what happened in water gate. you had a president who was carl bernstein said criminal. the president abused the powers of his office. that's the bad news. the good news is the rest of the constitutional system jumped and put the breaakes on him. it was the conservative judge who started the process but you had the u.s. supreme court and the unanimous decision. >> peter row di no an et nick italian guy from jersey does it.

an old seggy sam urban comes in and does a good thing. >> howard baker. >> a low key guy comes through magnificently. they performed so well. i see some of that happening with dur ban and feinstein. thank you elizabeth. tune in 9 eastern for our special presentation of all the president's men revisited. when we return let me finish with trump watch. no he won't like it. you're watching "hardball." you love them together, but you've never had 'em quite like this. at red lobster's lobster & shrimp summerfest, the lobster and shrimp you love are teaming up in so many new ways. like new coastal lobster and shrimp, with a lobster tail with butter and herbs, sweet, smoky bbq red shrimp,

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>> trump watch friday june 16, 2017. donald trump has at long last

become predictable. the moept a washington figure pops up to challenge him trump tries to knock him over. first james comey the man trump inherited as fbi director. trump wanted comey to bow to him or bow out. when he refused trump knocked him over. he didn't even bother calling the man to tell him he was fired. then robert mueller. soon the word began oozing the president didn't like him. he was too close to comey. trump soon made it clear he wanted mueller gone. now trump is beating the drum or tweeting at dawn for the head of rod rosenstein the deputy attorney general who he used to fire comey or at least used as an excuse to fire comey. we have see the pattern. you've get a job investigating donald trump you find your job in jeopardy. there's an investigation an arrow pointing in an historic direction. it's called the saturday night

massacre. as long as trump longs to fire the guy coming at him it's only a matter of time the fuse reaches the bomb and we learned that donald trump has a very short fuse. that's "hardball." thanks for being with us. >> tonight on all in -- the president attacks his own justice department. >> i am being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. witch hunt. >> tonight top democrats amplify fears of another saturday night massacre. >> the the president would fire mueller or rosenstein that would be a d.c. >> first vice president mike pence and now the rest of trump world lawyers up. exclusive new reporting. >> then the latest attempt from