and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow the show online an facebook and on twitter at mitchell reports. chris jansing picks it up right now here on msnbc, chris. >> thank you very much. on what has ab incredibly busy days. just 99 days until election day. and there's this new feud threatening to derail donald trump's campaign. the gop presidential nominee continuing to go after the parents of a fallen u.s. soldier, even as outrage including from republicans is boiling over. this is just the largest of several controversies trump ignited over the weekend. we'll be talking about this all on this hour. let's start with this. it began as a moving speech and two bereaved parents on stage at the democratic convention, but now it's descended into one of the darkest episodes this season. >> there had been some statements coming from the republican leadership, but there is amazing silence. >> he said you have sacrificed

nothing and no one. >> well, that sounds, who wrote that? did hillary's script writers write it? >> this guy is totally incapable of everything. i want his family to council him. >> one sacrifice you've made? >> i think i've made a lot of sacrifices, i work very, very hard. i've created thousands and thousands of jobs. tens of thousands of jobs. built great structures. i've done, i've had, i've had tremendous success. >> the way he showed disrespect towards the gold star mother of this country, that say thes it all. >> if you look at his wife, she was standing there, she had nothing to say. she probably maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. >> it was very nervous because i cannot see my son's picture and i cannot even come in the room where his pictures are. >> today on twitter, donald

trump wrote, this story is not about mr. khan who is all over the place doing interviews. but rather radical islamic terrorism in the u.s. get smart. and just moments ago, the veteran's of foreign wars reads this statement which reads in part, election year or not, the vfw will not tolerate anyone berating a gold star family member to exercise his or her right of speech or expression. there are certain subjects that no amount of word smithing can repair. all this happening minutes away from president obama in atlanta, he's going to be speaking to a group of veterans. so of course we will keep our eye on that. but let's start with msnbc's halle jackson who is in columbus, ohio, ahead of a trump valley that's scheduled to begin in just a few hours. halle, if you look at his feet, if you hear what he said, donald trump seems to think he's not the one in the wrong here, but what's going on inside his campaign? >> reporter: this scramble, chris, and you're seen it from donald trump's tweets and from

what his advisors have been saying over the last 24 hours to try and change the conversation and not talking about the khans, but instead to shift the focus to radical islamic terrorism. that is want point they keep going back to, both trump and his surrogates when asked about this. and it is illuminating in how donald trump is handled these kinds of controversies in the past, not backing away, not apologizing, but instead abling the media and trying to talk about something else. this again, chris, is putting many republicans in the uncomfortable position of supporting their gop nominee, but not supporting some of what he is saying. and we have seen reaction coming out now from a number of top-ranking gop officials, including interestingly senator john mccain. now you know senator mccain is in this tough reelection fight right now. he of course is a veteran himself, he's been through this with donald trump, remember when trump questioned whether mccain was a war hero. and let's put up what mccain had to say, saying that i cannot emphasize enough how deeply i

disagree with mr. trump's statement adding while our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it's not accompanied by unfeddered license to defame those who are the best among us. the khans, chris, have been very public in their campaign against donald trump. nous just since thursday night, you have seen them all over the air waves over the last 48 hours talking about what's happened and the twists and turns that occurred over the last two days. my colleague kristin welker asking should donald trump be apologizing now to the khans, and this gives ewe glimpse into how the campaign and those close to them republic responding. listen to what sam clovis had to say. >> i think mr. trump has clearly had the calculation here that he is fighting back. this is normal for this. i think that a lot of the turmoil that you bring up, and i'm not trying to down play it, i think is what happens. a lot is the dust-up inside the beltway or inside the new york media circles.

>> reporter: and chris, i'd be surprised if that is not a line we've heard echoed from donald trump when he takes the stage here. you can hear that familiar pre-rally sound track. . looks he may take questions up until the podium set up, there was a chair and microphone maybe he would take some quares from the audience. but expect donald trump, remember, this is his first rally really since friday night, since all of this developed. i would be surprised if he did not directly address this head on. chris. >> nbc's halle jackson, thank you for that, now during their interview on "morning joe" today, mrs. khan opened up more about the last time the couple spoke with their son, mother's day, 2004. take a listen. >> he said mom, i have a responsibility for my soldiers, for my regiment and my people, i have a responsibility for them.

i won't quit the responsibility. i will love -- i love my soldiers so i will be -- i will take care of them. >> joining me now, former national press secretary for the obama campaign and founding partner with the insight agency, rick tyler is an msnbc political analyst. rick, there is no person who cannot watch that interview and not be moved by what this family is going through. and i'm curious about what you think about the trump campaign's response, which seems to be that this is more of a big deal within the new york media circles and that the beltway, even as you have the vfw putting out a statement and part of a statement from the group of gold star families who goes this goes beyond politics. it's a sense of decency, that kind of decency you mock as

political correctness. what's going on here, rick? >> well, let me be crass for just a moment. when something like this happened in the campaign, you can see the argument. you cannot argue the gold star family. you know, captain khan is buried right across the river here in arlington national cemetery. he's buried with honor and dignity. he was a war hero. and donald trump seems to not understand that. he only sees, sees that he was politically attacked. donald trump in this case needs to grow his heart, engage his brain, and shut his mouth. >> we have spent here at msnbc a good bit of the day, ben, trying to find copies of pocket copies of the constitution, this one happens to belong to thomas roberts and we were able to find one that was put out by the aclu, is this the kind of controversy, unlike other controversies we've seen

involving donald trump, that has a more lasting impact? >> i've never seen anything like it before in politics. the only time i've seen something like it is when donald trump went after a judge for being hispanic during this campaign. i mean, he's attacking a private citizen, instead of getting into a debate with his opponent. and he's exposed his character, and i just don't understand how he could represent all americans, if this is his behavior and his response to a gold star family. he's incredibly thin-skinned and any moment during the campaign has really derailed him from his message. >> and trump's running mate issue z his statement, mike pence writing in part, quote, captain khan gave his life to defend our country in the global war on terror, due to the disastrous decisions of barack obama and hillary clinton a one stable middle east has been overrun by isis. is that the way to respond to

something like this, rick? and many people have pointed out that if you want to the go back, barack obama at the time that mr. khan died in service of his country, barack obama was a state senator. >> i think it'd be better if mike pence would spend his considerable persuasivenes nesp persuading donald trump -- >> his staff. who don't see that going after a gold star family, that saying that i sacrificed and then he says i've had a very successful business career is his answer to sacrifice. is there no one who can talk and explain to him why this is making people feel so strongly? that this is the wrong path? >> well, i think that's the case, and ben alluded to it earlier. the clinton campaign has been very good at keeping their focus on donald trump.

he is the target of their campaign. whereas donald trump, they've been very good at keeping donald trump from focussing on anything but hillary clinton. when you're in a war with a gold star family and you're not engaging with prosecuting the case against hillary clinton, which there's considerable issues to do that, you're wasting precious time. and that's all we have now. we have 99 days until the election. and if every day is consumed by these types of controversies, then he's not getting out his message about why he's a better than hillary clinton. it's the missed opportunities that these cases present me that's really hurting the campaign. and he continued to do so in my opinion. >> i think there was potentially a missed opportunity, ben, when secretary clinton made her own controversy over the weekend, once again saying she did not send classified e-mails when in fact, the fbi director said she did. we'll talk more about this in a few seconds, but why doesn't she admit she's wrong on this point or why did she say what she

said? can you figure that out for us? >> well, she said that she made a mistake over the e-mails, and that if she could do it all over again, she wouldn't have used her personal address, there was some dispute over whether the e-mails were marked appropriately as classified, but i think this does show you the difference between candidates here. where donald trump has actually extended the conversation about the democratic convention, which gave hillary clinton a bounce, and at the same time, hillary clinton's been out on the campaign trail in the battleground states, ohio, and pennsylvania, talking about how she's going to make the economy work better for middle class families. >> ben, rick, gentlemen, good to see you both, thank you. >> thanks, chris. one programming note to tell you about, captain khan's parents will be chris matthews guests tonight. 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. new hillary clinton and her

running mates tim kaine wasted no time saying they prove he's unfit or it commander in chief. >> well, he called mexicans rapists and criminals, he said a federal judge was unqualified because he had mexican heritage, someone born in the neighboring state of indiana. he's called wome pigs. he's mocked a reporter with a disability. >> ridiculed a p.o.w. >> that's right, and any one of those things is so offensive. >> nbc's kristin welker has the latest for us. for the most part, i think anybody could agree, we're going to talk more about the things donald trump said over the weekend. she had a better weekend that he did. she's been doing well coming off of what was that bounce out of her convention. having said that, let me ask you about this other controversy that she found herself in the middle of this weekend about the e-mails, walk us through it. >> well look, chris.

this underscores the fact that the el mail controversy isn't going away for secretary clinton. the fbi investigation has concluded, but she continues to get these very tough questions about it and about her judgment. take a look at this exchange on fox news over the weekend and then we'll discuss it on the other side. >> director comey said that my answers were truthful and what i've said is consistent with what i have told the american people. it is certainly not anything that i ever would do again. i take classification seriously, i relied on and had every reason to rely on the judgments of the professionals with whom i worked. >> the washington post gave her four pinoccios saying that director comey never said she was truthful, in fact he said she was careless and the term truthful is really taking words out of his mouth, but the bottom line is, chris, this feeds into the trust worthy figures she has so much trouble with. voters by the margin of more

than 50% saying that they have trouble trusting her. that's something that the clinton campaign is going to have to tackle and they continue to try to tackle today. she is campaigning in omaha, nebraska, with warren buffett. he is one of the several business leaders whose been on the campaign trail with her recently, chris, mark cuban was with her over the weekend. she had the bus tour over ohio, pennsylvania, trying to rally working class voters hoping that that tactic will help her do that in the key battleground states. >> kristin welker, thank you so much. much more ahead on the fallout from donald trump's attacks on captain khan and his family. but first, trump startling gaffe on russia's annexation of ukraine. >> you can mark it down -- >> well, he's already there. >> now those comments under scrutiny as donald trump tries to clarify what he does or does not know about what's going on in that part of the world. but first, we want you to be

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donald trump denying a relationship with russian president vladimir putin despite earlier claims to the contrary. >> what exactly is your relationship with vladimir putin? >> i have no relationship with poout. >> do you have a relationship with vladimir putin, a conversational relationship or anything that you feel you have sway or influence over his government? >> i do have a relationship. and i can tell you that he's very interested in what we're doing here today. he's probably very interested in

what you and ri saying today, and i'm sure he's going to see it in some form. after i relationship with him. >> i have no relationship with him. >> but if you have no relationship with putin, then why did you say in 2013, i do have a relationship in 2014 been i spoke -- >> because he has said nice things about me over the years. i remember years ago he said something, many years ago. we did 60 minutes together, by the way, not together, together, meaning he was probably shot in moscow -- >> you were in new york. >> that's the thing -- >> just so you understand. he said very nice things about me, but i have no relationship with him. >> when i went to russia with the miss universe pageant, he contacted me, and was so nice. >> yet you said for athlete years, '13, '14, '15 you had a relationship. >> what do you call a relationship? >> i'm asking you. >> i have no relationship with putin. i don't think i've ever met him, i never met him -- >> you would know it if you did. >> i think so. >> i was in russia, moscow recently and spoke indirectly

and directly with president putin. >> never spoken to him on the phone? >> i didn't meet him in moscow. >> never spoken to him on the phone. >> never on the phone -- >> you said on three doimpbt kagss you had a ripe, now there is none. >> i don't know what it means by having a relationship. he was saying very good thing bs about me, i don't have a relationship him. i didn't meet him. i haven't spent time with him. i didn't have dinner with him. i didn't go hiking with him. i don't know -- i wouldn't know him from adam except i see his picture. >> joining me now, the new school and granddaughter of nikita. what do you make of these conflicting statements on he knew putin, he didn't, he had a relationship, he didn't. >> we're still in the pre-trump reality tv politics. it would be egregious flip-flopping because that's what he's doing. he is flip-flopped, sometimes he knows with sometimes he doesn't. but obviously trump who wants to

have everything huge and know everybody's who's remotely or not remotely important, he just wanted to claim that he knows putin and good relationship with russia and therefore he's not now. now he's been called out on that and it's clear that he has no relationship with putin whatsoever. he's trying to get rid of it. and i really grateful to all of us who actually keep pressing him and saying what do you mean by relationship? do you really know putin, you're a liar and you know why he was ted cruz is now such a joke. >> what he knows and doesn't know, there seems to be some question about his knowledge about what's happened with crimea and ukraine, let me play a little bit from yesterday. >> he's not going to ukraine, okay, just so you understand, he's not going to go into ukraine. you can mark it down, put it down, take it any way you want -- >> he's already there. >> he's there in a certain way. >> he's there in a certain way then tried to clarify by

tweeting today, not going into ukraine, you can mark it down, i am saying if i am president, already in crimea -- is that concerning to you. >> well, that could be understood this way that when he's saying he will not be there, he's not going to ukraine. on the other hand, any knowledge that we have of trump not knowing things is just blatant and blaring and it doesn't seem that he really was briefed very well on the complexities of relationship between russia and crimea and what the european union and the united states are trying to do in regard to sanctions over the kremlin and how this relationship is very, very difficult and very complex. and trump who is known to just beat it with a bat, any question he has, he seems to be going in with it to the same kind of way. >> he also claims to not have known about the watering down division in the platform that

deals with ukraine and there's evidence of wording that supports sending lethal weapons. i mean, is this -- obviously within the united states it is causing controversy and probably if it wasn't for captain khan in that controversy would be getting a lot more attention. how is this viewed elsewhere in the world? it's a very interesting watering down because it has never been grieved by the experts that are sending efforts to ukraine is a good idea because the way putin's behavior is you give him some, you give him 2500 so it's, it's actually could be a very dangerous thing to arm ukraine, but this is, regardless of whether it was or wasn't, it's an important question to address because now with trump's statements it became an issue. it probably would not have been such an issue because the language of the the republican platform on ukraine is rather

strong. it's not necessarily a very watered down, but this was a question that was never really decided upon and now with trump kissing all parts of putin's body, obviously that became, that became something to consider into question. and the fact that trump doesn't have an answer to those questions saying well i didn't know until the last minute, how could he presidential candidate of the republican party doesn't know the ploorm of his own convention? >> always great to have you hear, professor. thank you so much. good to see you again. we have breaking news out of libya, the u.s. launching a new campaign of air strikes against an isis stronghold there. we'll go to the pentagon for the very latest, coming up next. guess what i just did? built a sandcastle? ha, no, i switched to geico and got more. more? 24/7 access online, on the phone or with the geico app. that is more. go get some mud... all that "more" has to be why they're the

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pentagon gave an update on the campaign's latest efforts to stop the terrorist group from expanding. we are joined now from the pentagon, what do we know so far about these strikes and what prompted this action now? >> well actually the u.s. government and military already months ago to begin these strikes, they had to wait for the libyan government to come up with a legitimate government to make the request. afterall, the u.s. just doesn't want to go willy nilly into libya to launch air strikes because they're afraid of the negative reaction from the libyans themselves. so now with this request, it will be an open-ended campaign by the u.s. it's essentially a new front against isis that the u.s. military will be conducting. in an effort to take out as many isis as they can. and quite frankly, in libya right now, in sert, the specific target, there are only a few hundred of the isis fighters there, maybe several thousand in the entire country, but nevertheless, the u.s. is

committed to attacking isis wherever, whenever they can, and now that they've got the go ahead from the libyan government, it's open season on isis. >> nbc's reporter at the pentagon for us, thanks. >> you bet. hillary clinton meantime enjoying a nice post-convention bounce leepding donald trump in a new cbs poll, 46-39%, that's up four points following last week's convention. nbc's kelly o'donnell joins me now from washington, d.c., robby mook seemed happy with those numbers. probably as good as they might have expected, but we saw that with donald trump as well after his convention, he got a bounce, then it came down again. so sort of what's the sense out there as you talk to these campaigns? what does all of this get baked in and these polls start to really be something that they look at more seriously? >> well august can be a difficult month for the campaigns, especially with the summer olympics which will take a lot of voters attention away, it'll shrink the news hole for people to learn more about what

the campaigns are doing day-to-day. to chae any momentum. that is a truism in this highly unusual year. we'll have to see if that pans out. now of course hillary clinton was ahead in june and then july saw her numbers kind of come back, trump got a bit of a bounce as well. and now when you look at sort of the net gain for hillary clinton, trump lost a little something, she gained something. that is the advantage of going second in the sort of line-up of the calendar of the conventions. so the next really big thing that can move the needle are the debates. and that is critical, especially because trump's been talking about the scheduling of those debates where there's some nfl football kind of up against the timing and so will some voters be looking to football instead of sort of diving in on the campaigns? and at the same time, there could be news events between now and then that could shape

things. now we have seen that trump tends to have a fast news psych federal one controversy to the next or bringing in a new issue and hillary clinton i's going t take time in the battleground states. we see the candidates traveling separately over the next step, that's the plan for the next days for the vp candidates to be out there. then hillary clinton and donald trump who have been at this for a while. >> thank you so much. donald trump is not backing down, he is one being viciously attacked by the father of the slain muslim-american soldier. we'll have the latest on that ongoing controversy. and record flooding in maryland already claiming the lives of two people and more severe weather is under way. that is straight ahead. for lower back pain sufferers, the search for relief often leads... here... here... or here. today, there's a new option. introducing drug-free aleve direct therapy. a tens device with high intensity power that uses technology once only available in doctors' offices. its wireless remote lets you control the intensity.

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senator john mccain subpoisg what no other republican leader is doing, condemn donald trump. in a strongly worded statement,

mccain writes cannot emphasize enough how deeply i disagree with mr. trump's statement. i hope americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our republican party, officers, or candidates. it follows comments today from the father of a muslim-american army captain killed in iraq. slamming the republican leadership. >> there have been some statements coming from the republican leadership, but there's amazing silence, silence of rebuke, silence of asking no more. >> and after questions raised by donald trump, mrs. khan said her muslim faith does not prevent her from speaking. >> all muslim women have very strong opinions if they have to talk to their husband, they can say anything like to. we don't -- we are not that type of -- from that type of country that we will just have to follow the husband.

>> joining me now is the executive director of the arab american association of new york, thanks so much for coming in. we have heard some pretty strongly worded statements from gold star families, from the vfw just within the last hour, condemning what donald trump has had to say. i wonder what kind of reaction you're getting in the muslim community. >> i mean, you know, you know this, chris, much like his inflated ego, donald trump is running on and empty campaign. he doesn't have the decency, human decency that he's attacking a gold star family. he has no idea, he's been using muslims, islam as a distraction from what he stands for which is hate. and the muslim community is outraged and in particular, muslim women in particular. we have social media campaign today can you hear us now? this idea that donald trump must never met me. i've called him an american fascist on national television, at the forefront of social justice movement, running organizations, serving the

american people including my organization which serves refugees and immigrants of all backgrounds. we're just outraged that he has gotten to this level. and for the republican party and their statement against him, that's great and we welcome that. but the condemnation have went short of, of really not endorsing some of them condemned, but they're still endorsing or still supporting the republican ticket. and donald trump even need their support. he says he's won this nomination without the support of the republican party. including mike pence who didn't endorse him in the state. i'm afraid and i almost the republicans, but they just need to do so much more. >> mrs. khan wrote an op-ed in response to donald trump suggesting that she wasn't allowed to speak when she stood next to her husband. i want to read a little part of that. donald trump said maybe i wasn't allowed to say anything, that is not true. my husband asked me if i wanted to speak, but i told him i could not. my religion teaches me that all human beings are equal in god's eyes. husband and wife are part of each other. you should love and respect each

other so you can take care of the family. and i wonder if this strong response to donald trump in some way could actually turn into a positive. and i was saying to you earlier that i spoke to a young muslim before the convention in philadelphia who said that recently, he sees fear in people's eyes when they see him. and i wonder if this is sparking a conversation that will lead to change. >> absolutely. i was a new york state delegate for bernie sanders, i watched the pain in that mother's eyes. i'm a mother myself, i couldn't fathom what a mother is feeling in any way. for me she represents the dignity, standing there in that room. we saw the search register to vote skyrocket after the khans. the selling of the constitution, i read article that amazon saying that they've had like an increase in the sale of the constitution. >> you cannot find this. we called so many bookstores in new york city, and i mean,

this -- i don't know who this belongs to, i'm sure they want it back, but we were able to get our hands on one, my producer and this one is thomas roberts, but you can't find one in a bookstore. >> and we need everyone to read the constitution. what we've heard from donald trump over the course of his campaign is he's proposing things against the constitution. registering the muslims, banning the muslims. he has used our community as a scapegoat, we're telling him we're tired of it and they're not going to allow the demagogue to the the next president of the united states. >> thank you so much. i want to go to atlanta, president obama has taken the stage before a disabled veteran's group. let's listen for a bit. >> what an honor to be with you today. thank you. and thanks to bobby, you know, i'll never forget the time bobby came to the oval office carrying a baseball bat. secret service got a little nervous. but it was, it was a genuine,

louisville slugger. a thank you for going to bat for our veterans, and i want to thank bobby for your devotion to our veterans, especially your fellow vietnam vets. thank you. give bobby a big round of applause. [ applause ] i love you back. [ applause ] i do. i want to thank our outstanding leadership team for welcoming me today, including national commander moses mcintosh. senior vice command eer dave riley. [ applause ] mark burgess. executive director, barry genskanotski. your voice in washington, gary augustine. and, don't forget pat kemper and

all the spouses and families of the vav auxiliary. thank you. i also want to acknowledge mayor kasim reid and john eves for welcoming us to the great state of georgia and the beautiful city of atlanta. [ applause ] i am pleased to be joined by our tireless secretary of the va, bob mcdonald, i know he spoke to you yesterday. he is working hard, hard, every single day to transform the va to serve our veteran's better. he still gives out his cell phone number and his e-mail. not many people know this, but so far he's received 45,000 calls, e-mails, and texts. and you know, i don't know what his phone bill's looking like. i hope he has a good plan. but bob and his team worked to deal with each one of those

texts or e-mails or phone calls he receives because every single veteran matters. and he knows that. so thank you, bob, for the great work you're doing. so it's good to be back with the disabled american veterans. and what a journey that we have had together. it is great to be here. we work together back when i was a senator, you were one of the first veterans organizations i called when i ran for president. i welcomed you to the white house as a partner, i came to your convention in my first term and my second and along with michelle. and so it is fitting that my final major address to our nations veterans as president is here at the dav. [ applause ] and as i reflect on these past

eight years, some of the most unforgettable experiences that i've had have been moments i've spent with you. americans, veterans, and your families. we stood together at arlington to honor corporal frank buckles, 110 years old, our last veteran from the first world war as he was laid to rest. i ordered our flags or it flown at half staff because even after 100 years, we will never stop saluting those who served in our name. [ applause ] we stood together at normandy to thank an entire generation among them my grandfather who was in patton's army. a generation that literally saved the world. there was harriet kokowitz who returned to the beaches he

helped liberate and he could have anything, said with the humility of a soldier. a hamburger will do just fine. i think of mcgraph, this past veteran's day, just before her 108th birthday, then the oldest known female veteran of world war ii, which was a reminder that women have always served to keep america strong and free. [ applause ] we stood together to the korean war veterans and recalled how a soldier marching through the snow had a tiny bare pair of baby booties hanging from his rifle. reminder of his unborn child, a story that had been lost to history, but we tracked him down, we found him, and we shared the story of korean war veteran dick shane who made it home to that baby boy and lived

out his life at 84 years old, he was still roller skating, because no war should ever be forgotten and no veteran should ever be overlooked. we stood together -- [ applause ] -- we stood together at the wall and remembered the lessons of vietnam. that even when americans mate disagree about a war, we have to stand united in support of our troops. [ applause ] and that for mothers like sarah shay, who honored her missing son for more than four years, we will never stop working to bring home our prisoners of war and our missing in action. we leave nobody behind. no one. [ applause ]

afghanistan and iraq, our proud 9/11 generation, this is a time of transition. when i came into office, we had nearly 180,000 american troops in afghanistan and iraq. today that number is less than 15,000. most of our troops have come home. to all of you who servinged in afghanistan, you can take enormous pride in the progress you helped achieve, driving al qaeda out of it's camps. toppling the taliban, delivering justice to osama bin laden, helping afghans improve their lives. there are millions of boys and girls in school, and democratic elections and a democratic government. training afghan forces to take responsibility for their own security so that we are no longer engaged in a major ground war in afghanistan. that is your legacy. and today we salute our forces

serving there on a more limited mission. supporting afghan forces, going after terrorists. because we must never allow afghanistan to be used as a safe haven for a terrorist to attack our nation again. to all of you who served in iraq, we saw your heroism in pushing out a dictator whose brutality must be condemned. never praised. and defeating an insurgency and giving the iraqi people a chance. and no matter what has happened since, your valor in the deserts, in fierce urban combat will be honored in the an nils of military history. let me say something else about this generation. as commander in chief, i'm pretty tired of some folks trash talking america's military and troops. [ applause ]

our military is somewhat smaller after two major ground wars come to a close, that's natural. we're going to keep from doing everything we need to do improve readiness and modernize our forces. let's get some fact straight, america army is the best equ equipped land force on the planet. [ applause ] our navy is the largest and most lethal in the world. the precision of and reach of our air force is unmatched. [ applause ] our marines are the world's only truly expedition their force. we have the world's finest coast guard, we have the most capable fighting force in history, and we're going to keep it that way.

and no ally or adversary should ever doubt our strength and our resolve. and we will keep pounding isil and taking out their leaders and pushing them back on the ground and united with a global coaliti coalition, we will destroy this barbaric terrorist group. they will be destroyed. in the face of russian aggression, we're not going to turn our back -- >> president obama in front of the veterans group and you heard him say, i'm pretty tired of some people, not a very thinly vailed reference to donald trump, trash talking our troops. joining me now retired a miller james barnett, former deputy commander of expeditious area command who is a clinton campaign supporter. it is good to see you, admiral. donald trump is pivoting now. he said it's not about the khans, it's about radical islam. something he says the candidate you support is not willing to

confront. is that what this is about? >> well, we certainly have to confront radical islam and hillary clinton has a detailed plan for feeding isis and also interrupting and interrupts and disrupting the global terrorist network. we heard nothing about that from donald trump except the pivot. he owes an apology to all gold star families, all our service families out there. >> when this morning on "morning joe," mr. khan suggested that not only about the apology, but he's really pushing for republicans to come out more strongly -- hold on. let's go back to the president. >> our families have made a sacrifice that most of us cannot even begin to imagine. they represent the very best of our country. they continue to inspire us every day, every moment, they serve as a powerful reminder of

the true strength of america. we have to do everything we can for those families and honor them and be humbled by them. i know that your service has also been defined by another battle. this is a group that understands sa sacrifice. you have been defined by the battle here at home. you have been defined by the battle to persevere through wounds and disabilities. i think of a veteran from iraq who lost her arm but who said she decided to focus not on what i had lost, but what i still had. i see that same spirit in you. maybe it was there in the hospital bed fighting for your life. you learned what it really means

to have faith. maybe it was during rehab learning how to live without a leg or both. you learned what it really means to persevere. about a month ago i went to walter reid. i do this periodically and was in the rehab unit and i u decided you might have seen this. i was doing some pushups with them and trying to keep up with them and i was sweating and getting all tired. they took it sieasy on me. it gave me a sense of a small sense of what perseverance really means. maybe it was during the night when the memories came rushing back. you summoned the courage to reach out and get help and stay strong. i was proud to recognize your patriotism and the heart of our nation's capital when e we dedicated the veterans disabled

for life memorial. >> so the president referencing gold star families and how they inspire us. certainly a lot of people have been inspired by the khans. let me read what joni ernst, released this statement. we as a nation are grateful to captain khan's service and sacrifice as well as the sacrifices of his parents to keep us safe and free. we must honor veterans and families. many have endured far more than we can imagine and must always remember to express our gratitude. mr. khan took it one step further. he is suggesting that leaders of the republican party disavow these statements and come down even harder on donald trump saying they separate themselves from him. what do you think needs to happen here? >> i think it's absolutely necessary that the republican

party, in mr. khan's word, faces a moral imperative to say this is not who we are. this is not who america is. and i do appreciate comments like senator mccain's that indicate that that's not part of a proud republican tradition. the fact of the matter is that we have to honor them. the military leaders also are concerned that someone not in the white house and create more gold star families. we have to have someone who is competent who has the judgment knowing when to commit american troops, american blood and treasure and when not to. >> there's also a statement by a member of congress who has served his country admirably in the air force both in iraq and afghanistan. he call nid comments against people who have serve d and certainly the families deeply disturbing. we also have seen house speaker paul ryan, who put out a picture

of himself holding a copy of the the constitution, a pocket constitution, which would seem to be in solidarity with the khans. but do you think donald trump owes that family an apology and do you think that the republican leadership by extension owes a stronger statement? >> so i think that mr. trump owes the khans personally an apology. it would have been easy enough to say thank you for the service of your son and your sacrifice, but he didn't. the real thing i'm concerned about, though, is the republican party saying this is not who we are going to be. to pull back from that and they don't have to apologize for something that donald trump. but khan brought up something that's crucially important. if the republican party can't control their nominee, what happens when he has nuclear codes and the most powerful m l

military in the world? are they going to be able to control him better then than now? we really have to hear them say we will not stand for this at the top of our ticket. it's not who the republican party is. >> retired admiral james barnett, thank you so much. an update on today's pulse question. should donald trump apologize for the comments? here are the results so far. 93% of you say yes, he should apologize. the pulse is live. make your opinions known. continue to weigh in at pulse.msnbc.com.

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that's going to do it for me and this hoir of msnbc. i turn over the news and the u.s. copy of the constitution. thank you for the loan. >> any time.

>> it's a nice little thing to have handy. thank you so much. good to have you with me. up first this hour, president obama moments ago in atlanta paying tribute to gold star families, slamming donald trump without even mentioning his n e name. >> no one has given more for our freedom and our security than our gold star families. michelle and i have spent countless hours with them. we have grieved with them. there's a a reason why last week in philadelphia i was humbled to be introduced by sharon from ohio a gold star mom whose son tom, a lieutenant colonel gave his life in afghanistan. i requested her to introduce me because ind