obamacare legislation. right now what we know is the court has asked the lower courts to take another look at this issue in search of, perhaps, a compromise. as you well know this has been a major confrontation between the obama administration and the health care law and some religious organizations. we'll continue to follow the developments and find out what this means, this decision as it appears that a compromise may now be the focus and it goes to the lower courts. and to the battle between donald trump and "the new york times" this morning. after the newspaper's front page report on his treatment of women. this morning trump tweeting out just a couple of hours ago "the new york times" is so dishonest. their hit piece cover story on me yesterday was just blown up by rowanne brewer who said it was a lie. rowanne brewer was one of the women featured in the article. it featured several interviews, detailing what many described as unwelcome advances and unsettling workplace conduct

over decades. well, this morning, rowanne brewer indicated in her assessment, the "times" twisted what she told them. >> i was not happy to read it at all. "the new york times" told us several times that they would make sure that my story that i was telling came across. they promised several times that they would do it accurately. they told me several times and my manager several times that it would not be a hit piece and that my story would come across the way that i was telling it and honestly. and it absolutely was not. they did take quotes from what i said and they put a negative connotation on it. they spun it to where it appeared negative. i did not have a negative experience with donald trump. it was very kind, thoughtful, generous. he was a gentleman. >> now, "the new york times" has responded as well in a statement saying ms. brewer lane was quoted fairly, accurately and at

length. also this morning in an interview with british television, trump hitting back at prime minister david cameron who previously mocked trump's suggestion of a ban on muslims. at the time calling it divisive, stupid and wrong. >> honestly, i don't care, it doesn't matter. it's fine. >> if you're president and he's the british prime minister -- >> it looks like we're not going to have a very good relationship. who knows. i hope to have a good relationship with him. it sounds like he's not willing to address the problem either. >> meanwhile without mentioning him by name, president obama took aim at donald trump during his commencement address yesterday at rutgers university. >> the world is more interconnected than ever before, and it's becoming more connected every day. building walls won't change that. let me be as clear as i can be. in politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue. >> all of this obviously big topics this morning. our correspondents and analysts

are on top of it. let's start with katy tur. she has covered donald trump's campaign from the very beginning. katy, we didn't even bring up "the washington post" battle with donald trump. he says something they have written is inaccurate. we'll get to that, but let's talk about this headline with "the new york times." his response and where this goes. >> reporter: so the campaign officially has not responded to "the new york times." i've reached out a number of times to people within the campaign and nobody is speaking on behalf of that right now. but donald trump himself has tweeted, calling "the new york times" dishonest, saying that was a dishonest piece of reporting, saying that it was inaccurate and also point to ms. brewer coming out and saying she believes she was mischaracterized in that piece. the campaign, though, is focusing all of its attention at the moment on hillary clinton. they're not going to comment when it comes to this story. this story they believe is not something that is relevant to their campaign right now.

they're focusing more on a general election picture and trying to figure out how best to go after hillary clinton in order to question her character, tamron. >> well, it's interesting, and maybe you can explain to our audience, katy, when you have the candidate replying on twitter even though the campaign is not officially released a statement, he is the campaign by all of your reports and other indicators. it is the let trump be trump and he essentially rules the roost when it comes to messaging and what he wants to present to his supporters and his foes. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. and when he comes out and he calls something dishonest, that is the campaign responding in effect. what i'm saying, though, is more the campaign itself is not coming out and telling us how they're going to push back on this sort of reporting. now, in the past, though, when i've asked them about maybe a gender gap that they have had or one where they're going up against hillary clinton and hillary clinton could potentially win the women vote boy a wide margin compared to

donald trump, they have disputed that saying that donald trump is somebody who promotes women, somebody who's promoted women when others did not. that's what "the new york times" was trying to get at in a lot of ways and what the reporters were saying, that ultimately they wanted to show him as more of a complicated figure that he was instead of the media narrative as somebody who is either belligerent towards women. so they showed this as an example of sometimes donald trump making outrageous statements towards them and potentially demeaning statements towards them but also at the same time promoting women in the field of construction when they weren't necessarily being promoted in the '80s and '90s. the donald trump campaign is going to be taking that back half of that idea and using that to combat this problem, this perceived problem they might be having with women, saying that he has been a defender of women, a promoter of women for a long time now and he would continue to do that if he were in the

white house. >> katy, lastly, we showed a bit of this interview of donald trump with british television basically shruging off david cameron. the larger issue goes to his tone, his temperament, he's in battles across the board with his own party, this issue with women, whether they perceive it to be a problem or not, the polls, which he likes to obsess over, shows that he has a gender gap to deal with and now you have one of our allies, the prime minister of the u.k., exchanging words with donald trump. this is not an unknown new mayor of london, as we talked about last week, this is david cameron. >> reporter: absolutely. and he has had a bit of an international problem since the get-go. german officials have pushed back on him. a number of our allies, diplomatically have come out on sources -- as sources to talk to reporters about what they fear with a donald trump presidency. this unknown, this lack of

foreign policy knowledge, this inability to commit to not using nuclear bombs either in the middle east or europe. it certainly has a lot of folks internationally quite worried about what a presidency with donald trump would look like. and to have david cameron push back against him and this was early on when he was talking about the muslim ban, but to have david cameron come back out and push back against the now presumptive republican nominee for the white house, that is a very big deal. and for donald trump to then go on the attack against david cameron certainly calls into question what it would look like if donald trump was in power, what sort of relationship we would even be having with our allies. i would caution, though, that we are still very early days in this. it hasn't -- we haven't yet reached the republican convention or the democratic convention and there is still time at least in the campaign's eyes and the rnc's eyes to mend whatever gaps there might be

between donald trump and foreign powers. >> thank you very much, katy. let me bring in republican strategist, susan del percio. susan, let's start with how reince priebus this weekend tried to explain his view of "the new york times" story on donald trump and his history, personal history with women. let's play that. >> i think that all these stories that come out and they come out every couple weeks, people just don't care. i think people look at donald trump and hillary clinton and say who's going to bring an earthquake to washington, d.c.? >> your reaction to that. >> well, the party chairman certainly has his work cut out for him because the fact is, is that this was a "new york times" sunday story. >> front page. >> front page. this does have an effect on the trump campaign, whether they want to admit it or not. now, it turns out that having this woman who's widely quoted in the story come out for donald trump -- >> she's the headline. >> right. >> the article opens up with this woman who will be on with

andrea mitchell in the next hour, rowanne brewer lane saying she met donald trump in mar-a-lago. very soon after first meeting, he takes her into a room where he suggests she change into a swimsuit. she does so in a private area. as you're reading it, you're wondering where is this going. she changes in a private room and the assertion is basically he objectified her. it also goes on to say they dated. now today she's on fox news and coming up here on msnbc. unless she retracts or changes her story, she's saying that "the new york times" did a hit job. >> yeah. and there's also in that "times" story no specific allegation of any wrongdoing. that's what i -- when i was reading the story, i was waiting for the where's the charged. >> did "the new york times" help you like donald trump now? >> no. because the story itself, i just question the way it was put together. but i would expect that donald trump's team is going to start putting more people out there. ivanka trump, his daughter, and other women who have worked for him.

those will be rolling out. it may not be a campaign response but i guarantee you'll hear other women who worked for donald trump say positive things. that being said, having this conversation is not good for donald trump. he has such a deficit with women. he has an unapproval of 73% with women. he must start doing things to change this part of the narrative. >> but you've not seen republican leadership in the form of women other than maybe like a marsha blackburn, who have really come out and defended him. on the flip side, very few republican women like yourself have come on national programs and said this is not the candidate i'm willing to support. >> that's basically the problem is that women aren't -- republican women are not fully behind donald trump. for him to win, they have to be. they have to figure out -- he has to start figuring a way to round the corners and talk to republican women as well as independent women and find a way to earn their vote. i think a lot of them believe that right now they may not

support him, but if they could be courted a little bit more, that can change. >> but you're a strategist, how do you design that courtship? >> one of the things that you do is you do exactly what he's doing with hillary clinton. he has to keep hammering her, keep her unfavorables very high, so hopefully from his point of view there's a low turnout among women because that's what he wants to see is very low turnout among women. >> so the strategy is not to make yourself appear to be a better candidate, it's all to make hillary clinton somehow look worse. >> yes. in addition to you do have to make yourself a better candidate and that's what's we're going to see, whether you call it evolution on issues or a flip-flop. campaigns will define it differently. i think we'll see donald trump modify a lot of his positions to give women especially a sense of he's not a throw of the dice. you can count on him. he can deliver. >> but when you hear an ally like david cameron refer to his ban on muslims and other ideas as divisive, stupid and wrong,

again, when these suburban white female republican voters hear this, how do you get them back into the tent? >> well, that goes both ways because donald trump's america first argument that he puts out there, that he did a -- if you believe that donald trump is going to put america first, if you buy into that rhetoric and that he can do a few things to make you feel safe, especially when it comes to homeland security, that will help with women. >> all right, susan, thank you very much. as mentioned, donald trump is also firing back in a war of words with "the washington post" tweeting its report on potential vp candidates is wrong. marco rubio and most others mentioned are not under consideration. that's what he tweeted. well, former gop rival and now trump advisor dr. ben carson seemingly revealed several names on the list along with himself. it included john kasich, marco rubio, ted cruz, sarah palin and chris christie.

"the washington post" reported many prominent republicans remain so repulsed that they're recruiting third-party options. nbc news has confirmed that mitt romney recently contacted john kasich and nebraska senator ben sasse, but both men through aides declined. nbc's hallie jackson is following this part of the story for us. we know that trump said last week the big announcement will bow at the convention but it sounds as if we're hearing more rejection than acceptance. >> listen, the key point to that graphic you just showed, tamron, was the words per ben carson up in the corner there because there are questions about how involved carson is in this vp selection process with indications from the trump's camp that while carson put forward a list of names, he is sort of being taken out of that selection process. corey lewandowski, the campaign manager, getting more involved in that. trump wants to wait until the convention to choose or at least announce who he has chosen as his vice president. we've talked about this. he wants to make the convention feel more showbizy and thinks

that's a way to do it. when you look at the names on this list and the names speculated about, this happens every four years. it's like the veepstakes olympics. i would add one name, newt gingrich is somebody who has been talked about and potentially being vetted. you have people on capitol hill like, for example, senator bob corker who has said he has not personally been contacted by the trump campaign as far as he's aware but somebody whose name has come up when you look at who a vp might be. at this point you also talk about the idea of an independent or third-party run. i just got off the phone with a top gop strategist and the viability of any kind of an independent bid, where we are right now, the balloting process is so far along that in places like texas you just can't get on the ballot. you could mount a legal challenge and have a federal judge or a judge allow somebody on a ballot, but it would be a difficult task moving forward. the other part of it is is if there were to be a conservative or republican independent effort to try and take down donald

trump, there's a question of how that might affect the party long term. it would give trump and his supporters a reason to turn around and say this is why we lost and could end up plunging the party into more disarray than it already is if trump were to lose to hillary clinton in the fall if this third-party person were to come out and run. the bottom line is, tamron, you can talk about the movement, you can talk about a plan. there's nobody to run it yet. there's nobody to be the face of any kind of independent effort. right now trump is the presumptive nominee and the bigger question in the party is how do you or do you coalesce around him. you're seeing people like prominent republicans, speaker paul ryan, grapple with that in kind of a public way. >> in a very public way. thank you very much. let's get to the breaking news that we word. big decision from the supreme court. nbc justice correspondent pete williams is live with more. pete, what can you tell us? >> reporter: it's a big decision, it's a big nondecision. it's two mints in one, tamron. here's the background of this case.

remember that when obamacare came along, it exempted houses of worship, churches, mosques, temples, and said they don't have to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees. this was about the next level down, religiously affiliated organizations, charities, seminaries, colleges and universities that are affiliated with churches. they said they should be exempt too. they said doing what the federal government wanted them to do, filling out a form saying they didn't want to provide that contraceptive coverage, made them complicit nonetheless in providing it because they believe contraception is a sin. well, today the supreme court said we're not going to decide who's right about this case. we're going to send it back to the lower courts. but it very strongly endorsed a compromise that had been bubbling up here over the last couple of months in which the religious affiliated institutions would not do anything positive to say they don't want to have contraceptive coverage, they simply in negotiating their insurance coverage plan would not include contraceptive coverage in it.

then it would be the insurance company's responsibility to come up with a different plan for those employees that would give them contraceptive care. now the supreme court said all sorts of good, positive things about that compromise and strongly suggested to the appeals court that that's how it should come out but it didn't bind the appeals court to it. really this is an invitation to the parties to come up with a compromise. one other thing about this, tamron, there's a reason that the court was in this position here. it only has eight justices and it was quite clear during the argument that the court is tied 4-4 on the fundamental issues. is this a burden of their religious freedom to have to do this. does the government nonetheless have a compelling need and is the plan the government came up with the narrowest possible way to accomplish that. the supreme court expresses no opinion on any of those big questions. it's a three-page, unsigned order from the supreme court today sending the case back to the lower courts. but with a very heavy thumb, i think, on how the supreme court thinks this should come out. nonetheless, it's going to be up

to the people involved here to see whether they in essence accept this compromise or whether they'll continue to fight to the death on the fundamental legal issues. >> that's the interesting part of this, pete, when you talk about this and you've covered it obviously more extensively than anyone, there seems to be -- the idea of a compromise seemed to be impossible. so the notion that we could see something now is even more intriguing when the lines have been so clearly drawn for many in this. >> reporter: but the pathway was originally marked by the supreme court shortly after they heard the oral argument in this case. they said, look, in essence, we're tied on this. what if we did this. it was a very unusual order. after the case was ordered, t y they -- was over, they sent something to the parties and said what about if we do this and that's essentially what came out today. coming up, our first read team says president obama made

his most forceful case yet against donald trump. it happened at the commencement ceremony for rutgers university. >> you might wonder where this strain of anti-intellectualism came from. it's not cool to not know what you're talking about. >> the first read team says president obama appears to be dpe gearing up for the general election and the role he will play. plus a new report says several of hillary clinton supporters are identifying her so-called weaknesses, highlighting her likability or lack thereof, according to the report, and this as donald trump encourages bernie sanders this morning in yet another tweet to run as the independent. we'll have more on that. and a travel nightmare playing out in chicago courtesy of the tsa. hundreds of people stuck in gridlock at the airport. some flyers actually missing their flights. when will this problem be

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welcome back. a super pac supporting hillary clinton says it will begin airing $6 million worth of ads targeting donald trump starting this week. now, the ads reportedly will air in battleground states florida, nevada, ohio and virginia and will mark the first big ad blitz of the general election. the super pac had previously said it would wait until the end of the democratic primary to start running those ads, but while the super pac turns its attention to trump, candidate clinton is still fighting off, of course, senator bernie sanders. today clinton is campaigning in kentucky, fighting for a victory there tomorrow that would put an end to sanders winning streak. at a rally in louisville just

yesterday, clinton took the horse race theme jab at her opponent. >> there's a saying in the senate, there are two kinds of senators. there are show horses and work horses. i have to say it really lifted my spirits to see exaggerator beaten in the derby. >> msnbc's kasie hunt was at the clinton rally in bowling green, kentucky. so let's talk about this strategy regarding -- i guess the article in "the washington post" said her supporters have noticed a weakness on her likability and they want to focus in on that. >> reporter: well, that certainly has been a broad theme here, of course, for hillary clinton over the past many months. questions about whether or not she's trustworthy, whether or not people do like her. that of course has been part of the primary campaign against bernie sanders and has been a

persistent issue for them. the challenge here is that trump is, frankly, unpredictable. there's a lot of confidence among her allies and supporters that they do have the demographic advantage and that trump isn't going to be able to put some of these rust belt states, pennsylvania, wisconsin, et cetera, into play. but there is genuine nervousness about whether or not trump is going to have a similar effect in a general election as he did in the republican primary, which is to say everyone went in assuming voters were going to come around when it came time to vote and that they would ultimately reject trump. that obviously didn't happen on the republican side. so that's part of why you're seeing priorities usa decide to come out early. now, remember, this is the super pac that in 2012 went out and really defined mitt romney as this out of touch rich guy over the summer before he had a chance to get out there and define himself. and they're trying to execute a similar strategy this time around, have decided they don't want to waste that extra couple

of weeks between wednesday and june 7th when california votes and get out there on the air waves earlier in some of these key swing states. virginia, for example, among them. that tells you that's also where they're concerned. they're concerned about the traditional swing state battleground more than the rust belt areas, but the reality is donald trump is already very well defined for most americans because he's been out there so much. we know him as a celebrity. it's unclear how this strategy is going to work this time around, tamron. >> well, it is interesting also that you have this report that's leaked that there's this great concern over her likability and trustworthiness when he still -- donald trump still has a higher disapproval. you have, as we talked about at the beginning of the show, republican suburban white female voters greatly concerned about these very same issues with donald trump. that supporters of hillary clinton would vocalize this weakness but when compared to him seems to be a nonissue.

>> reporter: well, i think, tamron, you're seeing this play out on a number of fronts, right? hillary clinton has always had an issue with suburban white women breaking late for her. they saw this when she ran for senate in 2000 against rick lazio in new york, that a lot of these white suburban women that they were counting on to help put her over the finish line, they didn't decide until the very end that they were going to be okay voting for hillary clinton. if you talk to people who worked on those races, they'll explain that. to a certain extent there's a concern about that this time around. her poll numbers showed when she was secretary of state she was overwhelmingly popular. as soon as she tense back into the electoral arena, her numbers take a hit. so the question is, of course, do voters start to come around to understanding new information about trump that they didn't have before in a way that makes them think about voting for her over donald trump or are they not convinced? and we saw trump was essentially

teflon in the primary and you heard even reince priebus over the weekend in that somewhat difficult interview with chris wallace about that "new york times" story over trump and women essentially saying, oh, no one is going to care about that because no one cares about anything that goes on with donald trump. i don't think we've gotten the answer to that yet in the context of a general election. and that's what a lot of, frankly, moderate republicans are sitting back to kind of wait and see. do they need to run away from him because voters pick up on that or is he going to do the same thing and steam roll right through it. >> that's exactly what mark halperin said this morning on "morning joe" indicating that "new york times" piece could either be the beginning of the end for a donald trump campaign or more fuel for his supporters and others. so we'll see. but mark had some interesting analysis on that as well. thank you, kasie. let's get to the breaking news happening at the white house right now. a very important ceremony. the president awarding the medal of valor to some 13 law

enforcement individuals around this country. you see there loretta lynch, the attorney general, speaking right now. let's listen in. >> we all know it's not the hour on the clock or the color of the shirt that determines a hero, but the heart of the guardian. and like the guardians that they all are, all of our medal recipients today acted without hesitation, placing others before self time and time again. and one of them, of course, made the ultimate sacrifice, giving his life in an effort to save others. now, i know that no words or medals can begin to repay the debt that we owe to these exceptional officers and to all of the policemen, the firefighters, federal agents, sheriff's and emts who go to incredible lengths to fulfill their oaths to protect and to serve the american people. it has often been said that the price of freedom is constant vigilance. know this, they pay that price on our behalf. their vigilance keeps our

communities safe. their devotion keeps our nation secure. and their patriotism makes our country strong. and on behalf of my colleagues at every level of the department of justice, i want to thank each and every one of you for all that you've done and for all that you will continue to do. i am so proud to count you as partners in the law and guardians of justice. and i congratulate you on this well deserved honor. and now i have the other single honor of the morning. it's my distinct privilege to introduce to you someone who truly needs no introduction, but who is deeply devoted to our nation's law enforcement and public safety officers, someone who works tirelessly for their well-being all day and well into the night and whom i know is profoundly grateful for your service. ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, please welcome the president of the united states.

[ applause ] >> thank you. thank you, and good morning. welcome to the white house. thank you, attorney general lynch, for your words and your leadership. we've got a couple of members of congress here. frederica wilson and chris collins we want to acknowledge. i also want to recognize director comey, members of the fraternal order of police and all the outstanding law enforcement officials who are here from around the country. i'm proud to stand with you as we celebrate police week. most of all, i'm proud to be with the heroes on the front row. and with the families who have supported them. and the family of one who made the ultimate sacrifice. it's been said that perfect valor is doing without witnesses what you would do if the whole world were watching. the public safety officers we recognize today with the medal

of valor found courage not in search of recognition, they did it instinctively. this is an award that none of them sought, and if they could go back in time, i suspect they'd prefer none of this had happened. as one of today's honorees said about his actions, i could have very well gone my whole career and not dealt with this situation and been very happy with that. if they had their way, none of them would have to be here, and so we're grateful that they are, and our entire nation expresses its profound gratitude. more important, we're so grateful that they were there, some on duty, others off duty, all rising above and beyond the call of duty. all saving the lives of people they didn't know.

that distinction that these 13 officers of valor saved the lives of strangers is the first of several qualities that they share. but their bravery, if it had not been for their bravery, we likely would have lost a lot of people. mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends and loved ones. thankfully they are still with their families today because these officers were where they needed to be most. at a critical time. at a gas station during a routine patrol, in the middle of a busy hospital, in a grocery store on the campus of a community college, near an elementary school where a sheriff's deputies own children were students and his wife taught. in all of these places in each of these moments, these officers were true to their oaths.

to a person, each of these honorees acted without regard for their own safety. they stood up to dangerous individuals brandishing assault rifles, handguns and knives. one officer sustained multiple stab wounds while fighting off an assailant. another endured first-degree burns to his arms and face while pulling an unconscious driver from a burning car on a freeway. each of them will tell you very humbly the same thing, they were just doing their jobs. they were doing what they had to do, what they were trained to do, like on any other day. the officer who suffered those terrible burns, he left urgent care and went straight to work. he had to finish his shift. that sense of duty and purpose is what these americans embody. the truth is, it's because of your courage, sometimes seen but sometimes unseen, that the rest of us can go about living our lives like it's any other day.

going to work, going to school, spending time with our families, getting home safely. we so appreciate our public safety officers around the country, from our rookie cadets to our role model of an attorney general. not everyone will wear the medal that we give today, but every day so many of our public safety officers wear a badge of honor. the men and women who run toward danger remind us with your courage and humility what the highest form of citizenship looks like. when you see students and commuters and shoppers at risk, you don't see these civilians as strangers, you see them as part of your own family, your own community. as scripture teaches us, you love your neighbor as yourself. you put other's safety before your own. in your proud example of public

service, you remind us that loving our country means loving one another. today we also want to acknowledge the profound sacrifices made by your families, and i had the chance to meet some of them. they were all clearly so proud of you, but we're very proud of them. we know that you wait up late and you're worried and you're counting down the minutes until your loved one walks through the door safe after a long shift. we know it never gets easier. we thank you for that. and of course we honor those who didn't come home, including one hero we honor posthumously today, sergeant robert wilson iii. he gave his life when two men opened fire at a video store where sergeant wilson was buying his son a birthday present. to his family, who's here, his grandmother, constance, his

brother and sister, please know how deeply sorry we are for your loss, how grateful we are for sergeant wilson's service. we also honor the more than 35 who have given their lives in the line of duty so far this year. one of them, an officer in virginia named ashley marie gwendon was taken from us on her very first shift. i've seen this sacrifice when i joined some of you at the national law enforcement officers memorial, not far from here. we read the names carved on these walls and we grieve with the families who carry the fallen in their hearts forever. we have been moved deeply by their anguish. but also by their pride in the lives their loved ones lived. and in those moments, we're reminded of our enduring obligation as citizens that they sacrifice so much for that we do

right by them and their families. medals and ceremonies like today are important, but these aren't enough to convey the true depth of our gratitude. our worlds will be hollow if they're not matched by deeds. so our nation has the responsibility to support those who serve and protect us and keep our streets safe. we can show our respect by listening to you, learning from you, giving you the resources that you need to do the jobs. that's the mission of our police task force, which brought together local law enforcement and civil rights and faith leaders and community members to open dialogue and build trust and find concrete solutions that make your job safer. our country needs that right now. we're going to keep pushing congress to move forward a bipartisan way to make our criminal justice system fairer and smarter and more cost effective and enhance public

safety and ensure the men and women in this room have the ability to enforce the law and keep their communities safe. a few minutes ago i signed into law a package of bills to protect and honor our law enforcement officers, including one that will help state and local departments buy more bulletproof vests. emerson once said there is always safety in valor. the public safety officers we honor today give those words new meaning, for it's your courage and quick thinking that gave us our safety, so we want to thank you for your service. we want to thank your families for your sacrifice. i had a chance before i came out here to meet with the recipients, and i told them that although this particular moment for which you are being honored is remarkable, we also know that every day you go out there, you've got a tough job.

and we could not be prouder of not only moments like the ones we recognize here today but just the day-to-day grind. you doing your jobs professionally, you doing your jobs with character. we want you to know we could not be prouder of you and we couldn't be prouder of your families for all the contributions that you make. so may god bless you and your families. may god bless our fallen heroes. my god bless the united states of america. it's now my honor to award these medals as the citations are read. >> officer mario gutierrez. medal of valor presented to

officer mario gutierrez, miami-dade police department, florida. for bravery and composure while enduring a violent attack. officer gutierrez sustained multiple stab wounds from an assailant who attempted to set off a massive gas explosion that could have resulted in multiple fatalities. [ applause ] patrolman lewis chochi. medal of valor presented to patrolman lewis chochi, johnson city police department, new york. for courageously resolving a

volatile encounter with a gunman. after witnessing the murder of his fellow officer, patrolman chochi pursued and apprehended the gunman at a crowded hospital, there by saving the lives of employees, patients and visitors. [ applause ] officer jason solis, officer robert sparks and captain raymond bottenfield. medal of valor presented to officer jason solis, officer robert sparks and captain raymond bottenfield, santa monica police department, california. for courage and come pours in ending a deadly rampage.

officer solis, officer sparks and captain bottenfield placed themselves in mortal danger to save the lives of student and staff during a school shooting on the busy campus of santa monica college. [ applause ] major david huff.

medal of valor presented to major david huff, midwest city police department, oklahoma, for uncommon poise in resolving a dangerous hostage situation. major huff saved the life of a 2-year-old girl after negotiations deteriorated with a man holding the child captive at knife point. [ applause ] officer donald thompson. medal of valor presented to

officer donald thompson, los angeles police department, california. for courageous action to save an accident victim. while off duty, officer thompson traversed two freeway dividers and endured second and third-degree burns for pulling an unconscious man to safety from a car moments before it became engulfed in flames. [ applause ] officer coral walker. medal of valor presented to officer coral walker, omaha police department, nebraska. for taking brave and decisive

action to subdue an active shooter. after exchanging gunfire, officer walker single handedly incapacitated a man who had killed and injured multiple victims on a shooting spree. [ applause ] officer gregory stevens. medal of valor presented to officer gregory stevens, garland police department, texas, for demonstrating extraordinary courage to save lives. officer stevens exchanged gunfire at close rake and subdued two heavily armed assailants preventing a deadly act of terrorism.

[ applause ] mrs. constance wilson accepting on behalf of sergeant wilson iii. medal of valor presented to fallen sergeant robert wilson iii, philadelphia police department, pennsylvania. for giving his life to protect innocent civilians. sergeant wilson put himself in harm's way during an armed robbery drawing fire from the assailants and suffering a mortal wound as he kept store employees and customers safe. [ applause ]

officer nile johnson. medal of valor presented to officer nile johnson, north miami police department, florida. for swift and valorous action to end a cviolent crime spree. he subdued an assailant and apprehended him.

[ applause ] . special agent tyler call. medal of valor presented to special agent tyler call, federal bureau of investigation, for his heroic actions to save a hostage. special agent call, who was off duty with his family, helped rescue a woman from her ex-husband who had violated a restraining order and held the victim at gunpoint. [ applause ]

deputy joey deputy joey, medal of valor presented to deputy joey for placing himself in great danger to protect this community. he confronted and subdue the violent gunman. by doing so, he prevented the gunman from attacking students from a near by melementary school. [ applause ]

>> let's give one last big round of applause to the recipients medal of valor. [ applause ] >> thank you all, thank you for your dedication and service. you are continuously in our thoughts and prayers and we are continuously giving thanks for all that you and your families do. thank you everybody. [ applause ] >> a very special ceremony at the white house, president obama awarded 13 public safety officers, the medal of valor. one awarded to sergeant wilson

out of philadelphia and an extraordinary event that bring the focus of men and women who put their lives on the line. their duty of purpose is what they do as an empowerment and protection of all of us. democratic lobbyist and advisor during the obama 2008 and 2009 campaign. brad, we want to talk to you about other speeches. sm >> sure. and here is something we can all agree on when you see those 13 names read out loud and what they have done >> absolutely, tremendous. this president always rise to the occasion and if it was not genuine, i don't think people would see his response there. i mean, it is genuine, he really feels this way. i thought that was a tremendous

event and i think the commencement address yesterday whatever the event is or whatever it calls for, he rises to the occasion. >> to the commencement address, i will get my team to cue up to what the president said. much of the headlines focused on his reference to donald trump. he does not mention the presumptive nominee by name but here is a bit of what president obama said. >> the world is more interconnected than ever before. it is becoming more connected everyday. building walls won't change that. let me be as clear as i can be. in politics and life, ignorant is not a virtue, it is not cool to not know what you are talking about. [ applause ] >> lets not keeping it real or telling it like it is.

>> lets not challenging political correctness. that's just not knowing what you are talking about. the laundry list that the president commenting on making america's great against slogan of the walls we heard and trump's ignorance on the political facts. what do you see his role? >> his role is very similar as you saw bill clinton over the years. it is to remind people as he did there. now, look obviously, some of those were shocking to donald trump. it is to remind people if you follow the facts and evidence and you use reasons and science, then you can make good political judgment and you know this whole issue of not following the facts. i was looking, tamron, remember if you go back to 2012, mit romney was criticizing president obama for spending too much time

at harvard. romney spent more time in school at harvard than barack obama did. it is unfortunate that we disagree so much politically that people would deny the importance of an intellectual approach of science or reading or evidence. also, it kind of reflects where the divide between the two parties on a lot of these issues. >> i know you remember when the nickname explainer chief was given to bill clinton when he stepped in with the obama campaign. fast forward to now, the nominee is hillary clinton. will you see the person seeing as kind of savior if you will to be president as her husband. >> bill clinton is the explainer chief of the democratic convention of 2012 of what a tremendous speech he gave

explaining where the economy is and what the role the president plays. you will see president obama in a strong place politically and his approval ratings are as high as they have been. he will be able to explain where we are and where we need to go. i think it will be helpful for the president in the fall. >> thank you very much brad, that ceremony was absolutely beautiful and it is a reminder of all of those men and women who fight for us everyday. thank you very much for your time. thank you for watching this hour, i am tamron hall, back here tomorrow. meanwhile, "andrea mitchell reports" is up next. our cosmetics line was a hit.

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advances and unending commentary on the female form. and, in some cases of allegations of physical aggression. >> we'll talk to one of the women at the center of that times article. graduation day now trump is the presumptive nominee, the president made his force full case against him yet. >> if you were listening to today's political debate, you might wonder where this strange of anti-intellectual came from. [ cheers ] >> so class of 2016, let me be as clear as i can be. in politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue. [ cheers ]