hthis bad boy is a mobile trading desk so that i can take my trading platform wherever i go. you know that thinkorswim seamlessly syncs across all your devices, right? oh, so my custom studies will go with me? anywhere you want to go! the market's hot! sync your platform on any device with thinkorswim. only at td ameritrade.

dearthere's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia ♪ hello, everyone. i'm alex witt here at msnbc world headquarters in new york city. it's just 1:01. here is what's happening right now. this breaking news to share. the president has just landed back at the white house after delivering the commencement address at liberty university earlier today. but before he even arrived at that college the president made

headlines on the push to replace ousted fbi chief james comey. details of the president's speech. we welcome ali but first to kelly o'donnello'donnell. what did he reveal onboard air force one? >> reporter: the president came back to speak with reporters and was willing to talk about the search for a new fbi director. he talked about the time frame for when he might make his decision and some of the qualities he's looking for in someone who will succeed james comey after he was fired. here is what the president had to say. do you think you might make a decision or announcement before you leave for saudi? >> outstanding people who are very well known. he highest level, so we could make a fast decision. >> reporter: before the trip next week do you think possibly? >> even that is possible. almost all of them are very well known.

very well known. highly respected. talented people. and that's what we want for the fbi. >> reporter: there were interviews. the list the president is considering probably millenniums up to a dozen names. the interviews today being conducted by jeff sessions, the attorney general and his deputy, and i also had a chance among the group of reporters who were on the south lawn for the president's return, marine one lands, he walked into the residence and i shout add couple of times a question to the president asking him, mr. president, are you recording any of your meetings? and it's hard to say if he could hear me or not. he gestured to us but did not respond. obviously everyone is interested to know after his tweet saying there could be tapes and that james comey should tell the truth. we have been trying to figure out if the president uses any kind of recording to chronicle meetings he's having or things

happening inside the white house and we've had no answer from the president directly. in an interview from my question and from sean spicer, the president's press secretary. no answer ton that. alex? >> that has been the question to ask. joining me now former acting director of the cia. john, with a welcome to you we have the president saying that he can make a quick decision on the next fbi director. we want to reiterate what we did last hour. if the president were making recordings, it's legal, correct? you can do that in the district of columbia with just one person aware of those on going? >> i'm not a lawyer but my understanding is it is legal, yes, within his rights. >> so getting to the appointment of a new fbi director, the speed that the president has alloweded

to, how practical is that? do you think a decision can be made properly in a few days? >> i think a decision can be made quickly on this. the important thing is that he pick someone who is without question independent and full of integrity. one of the noteworthy things whatever one agrees with or disagrees with when it comes to jim comey, within the intelligence world he was viewed as a person of integrity and absolute independence. you always knew he would say what he thought. if you're a worker bee or within the fbi you knew if you were engaged in a sensitive investigation or intelligence issue that he would provide you top cover, that he would be someone who wouldn't throw you under the bus. those are the qualities the president has to look for in a new fbi director. >> sir, attorney general jeff

sessions seems to be the one leading the interview process in washington today. what do you think of that, the optics of that, considering his own meetings with the russian envoy that he failed to disclose during the confirmation hearings led to a problem and ultimately had his recusing himself and the involvement in the comey firing. is he the guy to be doing had? >> the optics are not good when it comes to any aspect of this drama we've seen in the last week. i'm not surprised they're not sensitive to the optics. he may not be the right guy to do it but probably in terms of official position ought to do it. the more important aspect is the new director will have to be confirmed by the senate. frankly, i think, that's where the searching investigation will occur. >> and, i mean, talk about seasoning, you spent 32 years at the cia. what do you think of the way comey was fired and all these conflicting explanations that

come from the white house and the president himself. >> well, you know, if you're in the intelligence world as i was for that period of time, you would react to this with a mixture of, i think, it's complicated, of anxiety and determination. you would resent a leader was fired so summarily particularly the fbi given that he has a fixed term of ten years. the president can fire him, of course, but it's extremely unusual. you would probably decide to do your job even more fiercely, if you will. when i was there the attitude would have been if you stick us in the eye we're going to look even closer and even harder at what we're required to examine. >> and what do you make of the account of the dinner he had with james comey and that he asked for comey's loyalty? >> when i heard that i was

speaking at the time with andrea mitchell. i said and i would say again, i want to hear comey's side of that question. i can't imagine -- we now know comey was uncomfortable even going to a dinner like that. i know him fairly well. he was the deputy attorney general when i was deputy director at cia. it sounds right to me he would be uncomfortable in that situation. i don't think he would pledge loyalty because, frankly, all of us who serve at that level pledge loyalty to the constitution and to defend the interest of the united states. that's a moot point. the president, oddly, seems not to learn anything. i've been trying about the broader implications of this whole mess. one of them is the president seems unable to connect one thing to the other. the controversy we're seeing is

a direct result of the rather foolish tweet he made some weeks ago alleging that president obama was bugging trump tower. that oblige ed jim comey to saye have no information on that. now the firing has led to all of this including, of course, the reference to tapes and anyone who has been in washington for any period of time with their eyes open, has any history at all, knows history, the word tapes summons up a whole history. that's generally not good. the president just doesn't seem to have any capacity -- he's engaging and even his supporters perhaps not the hard core supporters but certainly people in the republican party at

leadership level must be rolling their eyes and saying this is self-destructive behavior and we're tired of apologizing and explaining it. >> when you say not good history obviously referring to watergate, not good. "the new york times" is reporting mr. trump is considering a broad shake-up of his team of surrogates. if these were miscommunications merely, where you do you think the blame lies ultimately? who is responsible for the mishandling of the rollout? >> that's a really interesting question and i think he's wrong to be thinking of his communications people. the problem begins with the president himself and having been in and out of white houses, many of them, worked for several presidents over the course of my career, i would put in a normal white house which this perhaps is not, i'd put it on the chief of staff. the chief of staff is supposed to be the person in the white house who has 360 degrees situational awareness, knows

what's going on in washington, in the congress, knows the implications of things. i suspect he's not consulting his chief of saf. ranging from h.r. mcmaster to others in the white house who have some sense of how the world works in a room and said anything about tapes they would have said, mr. president, be careful what you say in public on that score. they probably would have cautioned him to roll this out in a very different way to allow time, to do some effort, to speak personally with mr. comey before he did it. i think what's going on here is not centered in the communication staff. in a way i feel sorry for them because clearly they've been cut out of them. it's either in the president's

management of the white house or in the chief of staff's orchestration of all of this. >> may i ask you one more question, sir, that being all that's been made about the russian photographer who was let into the oval office, the american press was not allowed in and this was -- it was described to the white house as the official photographer. unbeknownst to the white house, so they say, he was also serving as an official photographer for the russian state news agency on which photos, these photos appeared on russian television. does that concern you? >> it does. it concerns me on several levels. first, of course, the imagery was very bad for the president to be smoking and joking seemingly with these officials. at a time all of this is swirling about russia's role. leave aside the issue of

complicity or from the trump campaign the more important question is how did the russians get away with interfering with our election at all. secondly one of the things the russians do well is intelligence collection and so you want to be alert to the possibility that that's part of what they're doing. i say that as someone who finds many russian officials to be quite congenial and of course the russian people are a wonderful people with a rich culture and happen to be suffering from not very good governance. you want to approach a meeting like that with caution and i would also say, again, having been in and out of the oval

office a number of times over the course of my career i always found that someone was very careful about who was going in there. the chief of staff or the immediate aides outside. it's not the most -- it's not a place that many people enter casually. they should have thought about that more deeply. >> and as i wrap this up i'll add that the white house says the equipment that was carried by the photographer was screened but then there are those in the intelligence community who would say anything of a surveillance nature would not be brought in and the kind of screening that would be offered at the white house may not pick up on something. all big ifs but to add to the concern. >> i would add i'm confident someone in the white house, the term we use is swept the room. they do that all the time.

i'm confident that material would have been examined. i'm also aware of the history. if you look back at the time this goes back decades now to around the cuban missile crisis when the russians planted in the office of the or the home of the ambassador to russia a wooden great seal of the united states which also passed inspection, by the way, but which turned out to be a monitoring device based on a technology we had not yet discovered. it's an area there cannot be an excess of caution. >> all right. john mclaughlin, a 32-year member of that organization. thank you for your insights. >> thank you, alex. happening you now, the president is back at the white house after making a commencement speech at liberty university. let's bring in ali vitali. yes, the stadium has emptied

there but you're going to talk about what the president said, what he said to the graduates and the reception he got. what was that like? >> reporter: empty stadium now but it was packed earlier. thousands of people here made trump happy especially when the liberty university president jerry falwell said that it was a record crowd. they hadn't had this many people in here. that was playing to one of trump's favorite things having massive crowds. the crowd was friendly to him. he did talk to the graduates about what they would need to succeed including a passion and never -- and a belief they should never be quitting on those things they should be passionate about but stand true to their convictions. the advice sounded like advice trump would have given himself on the campaign trail all of last year. take a look at that. >> relish the opportunity to be an outsider, embrace that label. being an outsider is fine. embrace the label because it's the outsiders who change the world and who make a real and

lasting difference. the more that a broken system tells you that you're wrong, the more certain you should be that you must keep pushing ahead. you must keep pushing forward. >> reporter: and that says a lot about the donald trump i've been following almost two years. he has been an outsider of the political system, that helped him in a very crowded gop primary and something he still is in washington despite having to work with the establishment. he is treating himself still as an outsider. it's something we want to continue watching for a controversial week ahead. >> ali, thank you for that. a new study on why trump voters picked him last november and how economics might have had nothing at all to do with it.

if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information

has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist about otezla today. otezla. show more of you. "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours. step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business.

nothing is easier or more pathetic than being a critic because they're people who can't get the job done. >> some sharp words there from the president while delivering the commencement address at liberty university in lynchburg, virginia. fierce reaction continues to pour in following the firing of james comey as fbi direct or. with me now "los angeles times" political reporter and head of content at roll call jonathan allen. with a welcome to you both, jonathan, the author of "shattered" inside hillary clinton's doomed campaign. but i'll start with you, jonathan, the president gave this to the firing of james c b comey. what's the latest you're hearing about the reasons behind the firing? is there any more clarity today?

>> it depends on who you're listening to. he wanted to fire comey all along and the rest of the administration's interpretation they set up this entire story that the deputy ag and the ag had come to him with the recommendations that he fire comey based on the poor treatment of hillary clinton which is at odds with what donald trump had said during the campaign. i think what's interesting about that is it gives more legitimacy to the firing of comey if the people of the justice department are recommending it and it makes it look more like personal animous if the president does that without recommendations of his subordinates. i think we can only take the president at his word on this. >> and the deputy attorney general was not too pleased with that perception there. seema, the president fired off

several tweets yesterday. there was one that threatened james comey indicating he should be careful what he's saying, there could be tapes of our conversations. what are you hearing? >> that tweet really caught people by surprise. >> that was the one. >> it really was. when you talk about recordings, about tapes, your mind goes to a certain period in our history. people wonder if he's recording world leaders, meetings that are taking place in the oval office and there is a history of him -- people believe when he was in business in new york that he recorded meetings during the campaign there were rumors he was recording even his own staff, so it does raise questions and people have said basically since watergate presidents have made a point of not recording things because that can be subpoenaed. >> exactly. and you wonder why he would bring that up to even question it and have people look for that were it to be the case. jonathan, the president signed

that executive order thursday that created a commission aimed at alleged voter fraud. considering the firestorm over james comey and the russia investigation, talk about the timing of this move. how do you interpret that? >> it's an attempt to distract from what's going on with the comey firing. widespread voter fraud or more than a handful of instances, some of which were people trying to vote for donald trump. he'll put together this commission. i'm sure he'll find something at some point. people who have far better expertise than the person appointed to head the commission, it's not credible but the hope is that he gets some headlines that are different from the comey firing headlines. >> okay. how about the new study published by the atlantic, seema, which talks about the fear of societal and cultural change, not of economic pressure as being the motivating factor for white working class voters to cast trump's votes for donald trump.

what do you think this says about trump's core base of supporters? >> we saw this on the campaign trail when we talked to voters during the campaign and this speaks to some bernie sanders' supporters. the fear of change, the idea the lifestyle people had that was possible is no longer possible for their children or grandchildren, that we would be the first generation in history to not see the next generation move forward this is something we saw on the campaign trail last year. we didn't realize how much it would manifest itself in the election results. >> we have to make it a wrap for this time in our conversation but we'll have you both again. thank you so much. more on president trump's white house meeting with russia's foreign minister and ambassador this week is raising more questions amid concerns about the president even care about the optics of that get-together at such a critical time? i'll talk with a importantlier u.s. ambassador to russia next.

more people than ever are making the move to nissan. because of rogue, the best selling suv in america. titan, with america's best truck warranty. and the most advanced safety features on alitma and our best selling models. that's why we're america's fastest-growing auto brand. get 0% financing for up to 72 months on 11 models. ♪ oscar mawe went back toig the drawing board... and the cutting board. we removed the added nitrates and nitrites,

by-products, and artificial preservatives in all of our meat. every. single. one. why? for the love of hot dogs. so we know how to cover almost alanything.ything, even a coupe soup. [woman] so beautiful. [man] beautiful just like you. [woman] oh, why thank you. [burke] and we covered it, november sixth, two-thousand-nine. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ before fibromyalgia, i was a doer. i was active. then the chronic, widespread pain

drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. she also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. woman: for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica.

amid the furor over the republican health care plan comes one woman's simple letter about her son's battle against cancer and the insurance life line he could no longer afford. that story ahead. and then today at 3:00 eastern my colleague will have an ex clues ive interview with princess beatrice on raising awareness about another important health concern, and she'll talk about will and harry's decision to divulge their personal battles with mental health. do you play? ♪ ♪ use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever before. you got next? chase. helping you master what's now and what's next. "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours.

step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business.

welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt in new york. just a couple minutes past the half hour. here is what we're monitoring for you. happening now a nor'easter soaking the eastern seaboard. you see the radar there, and it's going to be more intense later on this afternoon as the east coast is expected to get 2 inches of rain with a look at a dreary looking times square. the system will clear out sunday morning, though, with a few showers expect ed off and on fo mother's day. so make the most of it when the sun is out tomorrow.

some new details are coming to light on how former fbi director james comey reacted to his public firing. joining me now nbc's ken delanean. you reported mr. comey was just furious how this all went down. what is he saying to those close to him? >> to be clear i haven't spoke tone jim comey and i don't know that any reporter has. i am speaking to people who are friends of his, associates, and they are saying he was upset with the manner in which he was fired. he found out about it while he was addressing fbi agents in los angeles and the news flashed on the tv screens. he's more concerned with the way president trump characterized the dinner in january. one, he said comey asked for the dinner and, two, the president said jim comey asked to be retained in his job as fbi director. comey associates are telling me those things just didn't happen that way, alex. >> ken, dilanian, we'll talk mao

about this more later. the fbi direct or's firing magnified for the first face-to-face meeting between president trump and top russian diplomats that took place just the day after the firing. the white house is now fighting back against criticism over the meeting photos released by the russian foreign ministry. the pictures were taken by a russian photographer given access to the oval office. american journalists were barred. let's bring in ambassador michael mcphail. he's at stanford and is an msnbc contributor. always good to see you, mr. ambassador. let's talk about the scenario i've described with the russian photographer. does that raise red flags for you? >> well, yes and no. the political piece is horrible. the diplomatic piece is horrible. i organized the first meeting

between minister lavrov and president obama in 2009 and of course we had the entire pool there. that was just a huge mistake. they caused this problem for themselves. and, by the way, it's a sign of weakness, also, to the russians, and to putin. can you imagine vladimir putin inviting in the american press and not have the russian press there? so on the diplomatic piece i think it's a horrible mistake. to the extent there's a security breach here, i'm not ready to jump to that conclusion. there are a lot of foreign journalists who come into the oval office over the decades. we're more worried about it now. i think the diplomatic screwup is much more important. >> so it's the optics of this rather friendly appearance seen in the photos? is that what you see as being significant? >> well, number one, president trump was afraid to talk to the american press or even have them in the room because of

sensitivities about russia. that looks really weak. number two, they created this protocol problem by not inviting the american press in and then number three, i think because the american press wasn't there president trump was incredibly jovial talking to minister lavrov. it didn't look like they were talking about the schaap shan investigation in the 2016 elections or annexation of crimea in ukraine a couple of years ago. and that was a mistake as well. you look at the photo of obama and lavrov, they have a serious look on their face because they were talking serious stuff. >> big picture here, though, sir, what do you make of the events surrounding james comey's firing? do you think we have learned anything significant in the meddling or gotten any answers to any questions?

>> well, i would say a couple of things. one, the president looks scared. that's what it looks like to me. if there is nothing here and it's all a big conspiracy people like you and i have invented, why is he firing the fbi director? number two i think it has animated the fbi to do the most thorough job that they can do. i think they would have done that anyway. but they seem more motivated than ever and, therefore, number three, i think this investigation is going to be with us for a lot longer. the exact opposite of what president trump said he wanted. he just made it long er by this action. >> to answer the question surrounding president trump's possible financial ties to russia one of his lawyers issued a letter yesterday which described a review of his tax returns from from the last ten years and the letter claims that the tax returns not include any financial transactions beyond two exceptions, those being, by

the way, that nbc news has not been able to verify that information, but he sold to millions of dollars and the other one the money that he received for having put the miss universe pageant and broadcasting it there from moscow. is there anything that stands out to you about this letter and does it resolve any questions? >> what stands out about the letter is how strange it is. again, if the president is sincere in wanting to wrap up this investigation, as he said to lester holt earlier this week, the fastest and best way to it accelerate the investigation is to release his taxes. i'm sorry but this it letter, you know, this is by his lawyer selectively giving us information. we need to know all the different transactions and in particular he noted the things he did in russia. what i would like to know is what russian investments are in trump assets and trump companies here in the united states and

around the world. and that was conspicuously absent from that letter. >> i want to get to another headline. "newsweek" reporting russian hacking attempts date back to at least 2007 and one of the targets was the 2008 obama campaign. is this something you were aware of during your time serving as ambassador? >> i also worked on the obama campaign, worked three years at the white house before becoming ambassador. my answer, no, it is not something that was known. it depends on how you talk about it. are the russians working on gathering intelligence through fishing exercise? that i know about and, you know, used to be one of their primary targets and i still deal with that on a daily basis. >> not only you but members of your sfaf, glg staff but others. >> and it happens in an

aggressive way and we have to remain vigilant. >> so are they fishing for information? are they hoping that you would be not accepts tiff enough sens enough that you could fill in the blax or what? >> let me be clear. this is something they do every day 24/7 all across the kcountr, all across the world. i'm one of many targets. there can be multiple reasons they might want to do that. one is to gather sensitive information. with me that's less likely because i don't have access to it now. but, two, to gather compromised information about people like me because i speak out against the russian government. i'm a critic of the things mr. putin does. so they have an interest in compromising people like me and that most certainly is part of the motivation. >> all right. ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you for speaking out on this

broadcast. i appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> voter fraud. president trump hopes his commission will uncover it but does it exist to any great extent? the painful legacy a young man leaves behind in the battle over health care. mom, i have to tell you something. dad, one second i was driving and then the next... they just didn't stop and then... i'm really sorry. i wrecked the subaru. i wrecked it.

you're ok. that's all that matters. (vo) a lifetime commitment to getting them home safely. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo is specifically designed to open up airways to improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse.

ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. learn more about better breathing at mybreo.com. gave us the power to turn this enemy into an ally? microsoft and its partners are using smart traps to capture mosquitoes and sequence their dna to fight disease. there are over 100 million pieces of dna in every sample. with the microsoft cloud, we can analyze the data faster than ever before. if we can detect new viruses before they spread, we may someday prevent outbreaks before they begin. known by beauty editors olay who know best. cosmopolitan best daily treatment... regenerist spf 30. marie claire, 10 best editor-approved night creams... regenerist night cream. refinery29, best beauty products under $25... regenerist serum.

beauty editors know what you've always known... allure reader's choice award winning brand, 12 years running... olay regenerist. ageless. let's go now to a mother's story about her late son's battle with cancer and health insurance. joy schmidt wrote a letter to the tribune about how her son battled the disease once and then beat it, but because of the pre-existing conditions he was unable to afford rising premiums. when he relapsed he did not have insurance. joining me now is joyce schmidt. thank you for being here and sharing your family's story, painful as it is. i spoke to you in the commercial break and said let's hope people sit up and listen. tell me what happened to your son, why he didn't have insurance. >> oh, thank you so much, alex. well, my amazing son was a healthy, happy 26-year-old when

he first beat testicular cancer. he found a lump. he went to the doctor. went and had surgery and chemo. five years later was declared cured. but at about the ten-year mark i got that middle of the night phone call that every parent dreads, mom, my cancer is back. my lungs are full of it and i'm sorry to tell you this but i let my insurance lapse. i knew neither of these could be true. testicular cancer doesn't come back after five years. i knew there was no way steve would drop his insurance. he's so understood. he always cared about his health, went to the doctor, kept his insurance. i later found that as his insurance premiums soared because he had a pre-existing condition, because he had had cancer, he couldn't pay it. i don't know why he didn't ask me for help. i don't know why he didn't tell me. i think he probably thought he would get back to it and he didn't. as he got sicker and sicker as the cancer filled his lungs, he

just said it must be a bug. i'm going to be okay tomorrow until one night he was in the emergency room and then a month of intensive care followed by a valiant battle always with a smile on his face, always optimistic, 15 months and he died in it june of 2009. >> it has been a very painful eight years for you, i'm sure. >> yes, it has. >> it has shown and i assume you will concur here people without health insurance, they are going to, when battling illnesses, die sooner. that if you don't get access to health care, if you feel you can't afford it, you don't seek it. so when you describe your son's mentality when he was thinking it's just a cold, i will get bett better, he felt he couldn't go and perhaps bring his family into a level of financial ruin. do you think that was part of his mentality as he approached his illness?

>> that is so true. my son was a very intelligent young man. he knew better. i think you fool yourself when you get to that position. he wasn't pleased with himself that he didn't have insurance. he could not afford his insurance. i believe he died because he didn't have insurance. if the affordable care act had been in place he would have had it. he would have gone to the doctor at the first symptom. they would have found cancer in his lungs long before it was too late. he may or may not have lived but he would have had a fighting chance. by the time he wound up in the emergency room he didn't have a chance. >> it was not in place so that article about pre-existing conditions being covered was not applicable for your son. >> just a few months later. >> joyce, if you could talk to the president, politicians in general, say something to them to encourage them to make progress in health care for all, what would you say? >> i want to say this can happen

to anybody. you cannot punish people for having been sick. you cannot throw people into a separate pool and when it runs out of money, which it will, those people will not want to go to the doctor. they don't want to find out they have hundreds of thousands of dollars if they want to stay alive so they pretend they're going to be okay, and many of them will die. and congressmen who say things like you can't die by not having life insurance, are people who live a good life don't have a pre-existing condition. >> that is a statement you're attributed to the talk about people don't die as a result of not having health insurance. >> right. >> joyce, our condolences to you. eight long years. you said your son was valiant. i can also say he was very handsome. >> oh, my goodness, he was a wonderful, wonderful man, and i so appreciate you listening to our story. it means a lot to all of us. >> glad to do that for you.

best of luck. >> thank you. >> president trump and conservatives, how does the comey firing and allegations of obstruction of justice sit with that vocal base of support? we'll look at that next. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia ♪ (flourish spray noise) (flourish spray noise) (flourish spray noise) (flourish spray noise) the joy of real cream in 15 calories per serving. enough said. reddi-wip. (flourish spray noise) share the joy.

i'm leaving you, wesley. but why? you haven't noticed me in two years. i was in a coma. well, i still deserve appreciation. who was there for you when you had amnesia? you know i can't remember that. stop this madness. if it's appreciation you want you should both get snapshot from progressive. it rewards good drivers with big discounts on car insurance. i have also awoken from my coma. ♪ it's called a nap, susan lucci. ♪

we're back now with new reaction to the firestorm s surrounding james comey's firing. >> we're in the midst of a constitutional crisis the likes of which we have not seen in this country since the days of watergate and richard nixon. he himself, for instance, led to the possibility of drawing the parallels again of richard nixon when he invoke the possibility that he could be taping conversations of james comey and others. >> joining me now charlie side. charlie, good to have you on. quickly to get to it, do we agree? are we favoring a constitutional

crisis? do you see parallels with watergate? >> not yet. we're not into a full-blown crisis. obviously, there are a lot of echoes, irresistible and inevitable, people that draw those connections. at this point, we want to be able to recognize as owe opposed to the hyperbole. the problem if in fact the president of the united states is engaging openly in the obstruction of justice and that becomes apparent. and congress refuses to stand up to him, that's when you get to a constitutional crisis. when you have a president of the united states with impunity, basically, undermining the rule of law, that is a constitutional crisis. it's certainly -- i mean, it's troubling but i don't think we're quite there yet. >> all right. i would like to have you describe the events of last week. also put it in terms of your listeners with the radio broadcast. how are the president's red

state supporters viewing all of this? >> well, i don't have a conservative talk show anymore. but i would say this, so far, what we've seen the president's base is almost impervious to these sorts of stories. now, mainstream republican-elected officials are axis described as dumbfounded. we have several things happening in american politics. the polarization of american politician. essenti essentially, if you don't want to defend what trump is doing which is very hard to do nowadays, it's anti-anti-trumpism. in other words, just change the subject. attack the media, attack the hypocritical democrats or engage in what about obama? what about clinton?

so what we're seeing the conservative media is still supporting him. and many of them, again, the easiest thing for conservative media to do is simply attack the critics of the president, change the subject gist slightly. >> okay. looking at this "the new york times" op s-ed where you discus the conservative action. if there is one principle that used to unite conservatives it was respect for the rule of law. not long ago, conservatives would have been horrified at wholesale violations of the norms and traditions of our political system. and appalled at the attempt for separation of powers. what are you saying, charlie, republicans no longer respect the rule of law? >> i'm saying conservatism, as i have understood it has been eclipsed by this anti--anti-trumpism. by this cult of personality by the tribal politics.

it's more important that we score a win, what that win is and we make liberal heads explode, whatever that involves than it is to stand up for a principle. conservatism used to be about ideas. one of the most fundamental ideas is respect for rule of law and constitution. but if you listen to conservative media right now, particularly those who are applauding what donald trump is doing and saying, you really have to wonder whether it's about those principles or something completely different now. >> to take this one step farther, to james comey's firing you say it hardly bodes well. what do you mean by that? and what kind of impact does that have moving forward? >> i think partly, it's because if in fact this turns out to be the president of the united states firing the head of the fbi in part because he was investigating the president's own campaign, this should not break down on right/left lines. republican/conservative lines.

how much political kaepgts are the conservatives going to spend in standing for president trump? there is, you know, a cut in the marginal tax rate really worth all of this? i'm just watching now in fact they are willing to accept more and more and more in order not to break with president trump. >> i just want to ask if you agree with john mclaughlin a member of the cia and acting director there, spent 32 years in his position there. he said it appears that donald trump is not learning anything from previous mistakes or being on the job. he's just not learning. would you agree with that? >> oh, i would very much agree. in fact, i would go beyond that, his ignorance is on display. his contempts for the norms of constitutional government and separation of powers is on display. his uncontrollable narcissism. it makes you wonder whether or not he fully understands or capable of understanding how

corrupt these moves appear and may be. he just -- there's something wrong here. and i think that's what's really alarming a lot of republicans in congress. even the ones who are publicly defending him. this recognition, wow, he's not learning and he's not changing. >> charlie sykes, good to talk to you. the satire, "saturday night live" what might be in store tonight with melissa mccarthy guest-hosting. that's going to be rich. that's ahead in the next hour. ♪ ♪ use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever before. you got next? chase. helping you master what's now and what's next. i just want to find a used car start at the new carfax.com show me used trucks with one owner. pretty cool.

[laughs] ah... ahem... show me the carfax. start your used car search at the all-new carfax.com. are making the move to nissan. because of rogue, the best selling suv in america. titan, with america's best truck warranty. and the most advanced safety features on alitma and our best selling models. that's why we're america's fastest-growing auto brand. get 0% financing for up to 72 months on 11 models. ♪ the uncertainties of hep c. wondering, what if? i let go of all those feelings. because i am cured with harvoni. harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. it's been prescribed to more than a quarter million people. and is proven to cure up to 99% of patients who have had no

prior treatment with 12 weeks. certain patients can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. before starting harvoni, your doctor will test to see if you've ever had hepatitis b, which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after harvoni treatment. tell your doctor if you've ever had hepatitis b, a liver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv or any other medical conditions and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. taking amiodarone with harvoni can cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. common side effects of harvoni include tiredness, headache and weakness. ready to let go of hep c? ask your hep c specialist about harvoni. "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours. step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job,