including the president's twitter storm today against the host of "morning joe." we will bring you that briefing live once the questions begin. republicans scrambling are mix their health care plan. new numbers reveal little support even money the president's supporters for the bill. >> of a slew of new polls show republicans are struggling. >> they hate the bill. 17%, 12%. >> all of the democrats hate it, half of the republicans hate it, that means about 20% or 25% like it. >> we have four polls showing that americans are absolutely not happy with the senate's trump care plan. >> with a self imposed deadline

of tomorrow, can they find a compromise they can all get behind? >> we have a compromised bill right now and we're trying to turn the dials to get to 50 votes. so we'll see. >> so far there has not been too much give because i'm not willing to go back home and say "this program is not going to work for you, but i'm going to vote for it anyway. >> we're not there, we will continue our conversations. there will be more meetings today. we'll see how they play out. >> let's debrief before that brief i briefing begins. we have kristen welker, aiesha is joining us as well. does it look likely that republicans will have a second draft by friday? >> no, some of that sound is from interviews that i did. i was there. dean heller, rob portman, some

of the modern lawmakers opposed to this bill in the last hour or two tell us they are still opposed to this bill. they have been meeting with mitch mcconnell off and on. there are ongoing conversations going on. we have mike pence meeting with rand paul. there is a lot of juggling here, a lot of deals being talked about and discussed. but the sense that i get from all of these is there is not a deal on anything until there is a deal on everything and they're just not there yet. this friday deadline is sort of an artificial thing, but they want to get as much of this bill as possible to the congressional budget office as soon as possible so once that get back from recess they will have something to start debating in july and get this thing done in the period they're here in july. >> there are so many factions, how does mitch mcconnell begin to thread the needle to make the

various sides happy with his bill. >> it is a monumental challenge. the moderates in particular have more specific asks for things they want to see. you know they have specific issues with the way medicaid is funded. many of them are from rural states and they would like to see protection for those in rural states. that might be ease your fer mitch mcconnell to do. also, keeping one of the obama care taxes that was originally repea repaealed in the bill. giving them more money to work with. rand paul today said why don't we do this in two bills, that's not on the table right now.

that is not an idea that mitch mcconnell is considering. bringing the republicans around is not going to be easy. >> the american public does not like this bill. most of them like obama care and they want to keep it. should i take vice president pence on capitol hill as a sign of them saying no, we're not waivering? >> it's a sign they're not waivering, that is absolutely right. not only was he on capitol hill last night, he informs ohio touting the benefits of the health care bill, but they know that there are going to be real challenges to getting this passed, i think the briefing is about to start. >> aiesha, and we will take this briefing once the question and answers period starts, we'll skip the intro period. during a photo op at the white

house, the president teased a surprise when it came to health care, any idea what that might be. >> no, and he is known for trying to build suspense. i don't know if that is really talking about something specific that he knows about, or is it just a way of kind of stay tuned, see what happens next, he is very good at working into the theatrics of this. >> steve manuchin is at the podium now, we'll go back when they start taking questions. the president met with skeptical republicans on tuesday. we saw him flanking himself with two of the biggest critics of the bill, what will he do beyond that meeting to now to make sure

some version of this bill gets to his desk? >> i think right now basically what he is going to do is continue to be a cheer leader, continue to say look, we have to get this done, and to say you know that this is a pledge you made and you have to follow through on it. the senate didn't really have at much leverage. maybe he had more in the house, he can't really do at measure arm twisting. many of the senators have a wider constituency. they don't have at much to oh the president as maybe some in the house. he can do some of the cheerleading and i think the hope would be that he would do some of the public messaging and not step on it with other issues as happened this morning. >> thank you very much, we're going to dip back into the press

bereaving because steve manuchin is talking about sanctions. let's take a listen. >> we almost be meeting with china and other countries to continue to try and cut off north korea's elicit activities. they're actions will not be tolerated. we will maximize economic pressure on the regime until it ceases it's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. with that i would be happy to answer any questions. >> thank you, do you have any that you like or -- >> i have no comments on that today, but i will say that we

will continue to look at a range of options as we're very serious about them stopping theirtivity. >> the activity that you're trying to stop today, and the access direct and indirect at this particular bank and the u.s. financial markets. >> this is very significant. and that we will continue to look at this actions. it is millions of dollars, but we're committed to cuttingoff all illegal funds. >> yes, so when we put sanctions -- >> but what you're doing now and trying to stop -- >> this bank will not be able to access the u.s. financial system directly or indirectly. >> you made clear this is not a punishment against china, but they want to put pressure on

beijing. >> i think's you know president trump and president xi have had very productive conversations, we appreciate their work and we hope they will continue to work with us. not with standing we are taking actions to show the seriousness that we will deal with this. >> can you talk more about the length between the bank and the government of north korea. we're trying to get a better picture of what they were funding. >> i won't go into the specifics of that, i can tell you we have very specific intelligence and again, we will follow the money and cut off the money. >> are you able to explain to us the actual economic impact this

will have on the north koreans and how that impact may negatively cause them a change in their position. >> the sanctions have been very effective and we will continue to speak with people at the g 20. we're firmly committed to cut off elicit financing. >> were they given an action, and to use a term, is china an enabler? >> u i'm not going to comment specifically on our behind the scenes conversations, we have had very productive conversations with them. this is not directed at china, and whether they are china or anywhere else, we will continue

with sanctions. >> moving assets from this particular bank to another bank in china, are they -- >> if we find other activity, we will sanction them, no one is off limits. >> that is steve manuchin talking about sanctions against north korea. the treasury department hoping to maximize pressure until they abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile programs. they want to cut off elicit financin financing. we want to go back and bring in our panel. elise jordan, msnbc political analyst, and former senior advisor for senior rand paul. also back with us, aiesha from reuter's. the republicans are not willing

to work on anything that will have the words repeal obama care nor it. >> you can't ask democrats to work with them to repeal one of their signature achievements that share most proud of. i think the common ground needs to be found with the american people. they are almost unanimous in their dislike of this big and they're not wanting to repeal the health care they currently enjoy. republicans really need to take a hard look and they will get to this week when they go home. major protests are happening. we're talking about protestors in senator gardener's office while they turn the heat up. they are in cheelchaiwheelchair children, elderly, and they're

staying there to get it done. they're going to get home and face really loud music on this. >> the senators are one thing, but whatever they do they will have to send it back to the house. a lot of them ran on appealing obama care and they are voting on districts that will vote them out of office so there are a lot of factions at play here. what is the magic bullet? >> i don't think you can forget the symbolism of a full repeal. if democrats can't concede in a name change for this, then i don't see why this so called bipartisanship, democrats say they want to work with president trump, but i just don't see it

happening and i don't see why they areincentivized to do that. keeping the ball with the republicans on health care and keeping the anger directed at the republicans. >> so the president himself ran on not cutting entitlements, making sure that everyone that had health care, everyone could have access to affordable health care. he also ran on his ability to make the deals. at what point will the white house say let's try to make a deal with democrats and are they going to do that at any point? >> at this point they have not shown any signs of wanting to work with democrats. president trump over and over again calls them obstructionists and says there is no point. we could give them the best bill and they would not go along with

it. if the republicans cannot get this gone, the idea is that they will have to work with democrats because there are issues in the obama care markets that are going to have to be addressed. so it is a hot potato. >> if you're going to make a prediction, do you think it is going to happen. it is just pure chaos. there is so many different opinions in the republican caucus about what health care should be -- >> they're going to hear from their twenties at july 4th parades. they do not want to lose their

health care option. >> are democrats and republicans closest to the center going to like that. >> i don't think you can find a consensus. >> the fact that they will not repeal obama care makes it a nonstarter with republicans and i don't see even moderate republicans necessarily going to want to be able to triumph in repealing. >> stay with us, thank you very much. the other big story of the day, the president is facing bipartisan backlash over, surprise, his tweets today. we're not going to show you those tweets, but they have his republican colleagues begging him to stop.

several are sending their own today. not the greatness of american. >> this is not normal, it is beneath the dignity of your office. susan collins saying we must show respect and civility. here is house speaker paul ryan today. >> what we're trying to do is improve the tone and civility of the debate and this does not help do that. >> sarah huckabee sanders is minutes away from taking questions, sheer what she said earlier today. >> the president fights fire with fire and will not be allowed to be bullied by liberal media, hollywood, or anywhere else. >> i get that, but is that necessary? >> i think what is necessary to

push back against unnecessary attacks on the president. >> melania trump's press secretary echoed that statement with this statement. as the first lady has stated publicly, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back ten times harder. msnbc issued a statement saying it is a sad day for america when the president spends him time believing, lying, and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job. let's take a look beyond those tweets. there are real implications for this country and his presidency, a recent piece in the washington post points out how trump's tweets are giving foreign intelligence agencies invaluable access into how he works. information that could be used

to manipulate him. nayta, you said his twitter feed a s a gold mine for foreign agencies. what does it give world leaders they could use against president trump. >> also, other personalities including larger news organizations. they see this as an attack on a democratic institution, and in some situations, our adversaries would say this is great. it is selling discontent. when you look at trump's tweets in total, intelligence agencies are looking for classified information, insights into his permit, wh

personality. what is top of mind and what isn't on that day. >> how can they use that information? >> they can use it in a variety of ways. they can use it in a covert action, and also to manipulate him. flattery would work. in saudi arabia, they had billboards placed along the way to see the king. >> they're able to use that to manipulate him in terms of flattery. what can this white house do, if any, to shield themselves from this. is there anything? >> that is a good question. the ka the is a little out of the bag here. it is p a more formal way that we are used to seeing the president, i think that would deprive foreign intelligence

agencies from an open source line of intelligence they could use against the united states. i think it would be useful to only have the president communicating in a more formal style. >> it is normal for what gets him going and what angers him? >> it's not, when we're watching north korea, think of how little we hear from kim jong un, his statements,ing letters, we're offering them a world that normally they would have to come into the united states for. >> is it effective in a sense that people just don't know how he will react, that he is a loose canyon, so foreign

governments might want to be careful with him. could he use it to his advantage? >> there is an argument for that, sure. but that is not really a great policy strategy to keep everyone off footing, especially when working with allies and nato. this is not a useful tactic. >> i have an idea about how you feel about these tweets, it is not normal. >> no, and i would be more worried about the country being so inundated that we just become desensitized. he seems to escalate the cruelty, pettiness and bizarreness that we're shocked every time it happens and it's good, we should be shocked. i was shocked this morning.

this is one of many attacks on smart, female journalists. that seems to really get them going and now foreign intelligence agencies know that about him. for a guy that really likes surprise, he was mad at obama for telegraphing things he is going to do, he telegraphs his deepest incurresecurities. >> what about those that say ignore him? >> i don't think you can ignore the leader of the free world. i think it is very scary theest kalati -- escalation of the president's threats. perhaps they should be paying more taxes. conservatives should be up in arms about that. in the realm of the constitution to harness that power against his political enemies.

they can say that they're disappointed, they are disappointed in the campaign, what can they do about it? >> i think there is somewhat of a thought that, you know, i said it before, times i thought the republicans just could not tolerate donald trump any more, but this health care bill has really brought to the surface a lot of tension. that story in the new york times that talks about senator mcconnell's displeasure, with the white house's strategy to attack a senator using their political action committee, and how it was beyond stupid, and it is, but the fact that it was aired so publicly in the new york times, a nusk that ewspape donald trump reads. >> i thought that so many times

though, and and i hopeful that you're right, i would love to see it happen over something policy related. they knew who this man was, and when they continuing to enable his agenda. he regularly makes attacks on women, and they have all condemned them before. at the end of the day, it is acceptable. >> it might be tolerated, complete, and competence -- >> and let's not forget the very salient points, in that a really great "washington post" piece, foreign governments, our allies and not our allies, are getting important and valuable inhave the right for how this president works and how they can use that to their advantage.

and also with the face on buildings, projected on buildings, and newspaper articles touting how wonderful he was. that happened already. certainly not happening when we go see our european allies. saudi arabia is taking a different tactic. we appreciate all of your insight on this. the president, many say, should be focused on health care and the travel ban that takes effect later today. this was the scene at airports across the country on january 28th hours after he signed the first travel ban, first the focus will be on airports once again when his revised executive order will take effect. that is because they agreed on monday to place a 90 day ban on foreign travelers at these six

countries. >> that relationship status has been listed as "it's complicated because of that language until now. the state department issuing these guidelines about who will be allowed into the u.s. and who won't. parents are allowed, but not grandparents, spouses by not fiances. children, sons, daughter-in-law, sons-in-law okay. joining me now, pete williams. talk to me about why those, why certain groups are allowed and or others are not, like grandmothers. >> they based this distinction that went out on a cable today to all of the concentraoffices

to carry it out. the supreme court orders among themselves, saying you may want to get your mother-in-laws in. and the other part comes from existing federal law, immigration law, that defines who in the u.s. can sponsor people toz come in here. >> will there be complications at airports? >> they say there should not be. if you have a valid visa as of tonight at 8:00 when the new rules go into effect, anyone that has visa will be allowed to board an airplane and allowed when they land to enter the u.s. the scene you see now is a result of confusion from several things on the first executive order that was truck down in

cou court. people that had visa that were valid when they got on the plane but are not when they got off, they say it should not happen. >> is the department of homeland security taking a moment to make sure they talk to those agencies to walk them through the new guidelines? >> i think the biggest burden here is not on the us customs people in the u.s. anyone that gets on a plane in one of these six countries will be able to enter the country. there is not any difficulty or confusion when they get here, unlike anyone that has someone that shows up in their background that the government doesn't like. the burden is on the people that work for the state department

that issue visas in the six countries to determine is this your grandmother, mother-in-law, which side of this line do you fall on. >> pete williams, thank you very much. let's go in that briefing to sarah huckabee sanders talking about sanctuary cities right now and she is about to take questions. >> they are going to fulfill their promise to the american people and come around for a plan to fix this broken system. for the schedule today, the president will make a salespeople on the american energy dominance. but with new invasions in liquid and nationural gas, we are not y energy independent but to use our resources as an important tool in advancing our criminal

interested. the president will have more on that this afternoon. we said we would get back to you on some of the questions this week. on monday sean was asked how we knew the supreme court ruling on the travel ban was the 9-0 when it was not announced. all affected individuals without a person or entity was unanimous on the point that the state should grant at least to that extent. three justices would have gone further to enstate them in full. jennifer jacobs from bloomberg asked about the imf projection about u.s. growth. they revised first quarter gdp

upward, but the figures show we fill have much more work to do. the president spoke out about the need for faster and more sustainable economic growth that create jobs and raise incomes for americans. they have expressed support for a lot of policies including infrastructure spending, boosting outcomes. he is also working to end job killing relations and trade policies that help workers. they asked what deal breaker existing. the president is going to negotiate in public, but he has priorities to repeal and replace obama care with a system -- from our on-going negotiations, we're confident that any amendments

will make the bill stronger. the other bill throughout getting a support of house majority democrats is the bernie sanders single payer plan that would cost trillions of dollars. 113 house democrats have signed on to this approach. the president beliefs that it is completely unaffordable and creates a one size fits all approach to health care. that bill and others like it are clearly deal breakers. now to answer a couple questions from earlier this week, happy to take a few now. >> you said earlier that the president has a right to defend himself. however the nature of the tweets is drawing condemnation

including senator graham. did they goo too far in the tweet? >> i think the president has been attack several times by people on those programs. they elected someone who is stuff, smart, and a fighter. i don't think it is a surprise to anyone that he fights fire with fire. the things this show called him, not just him but numerous members of his staff, are very deeply personal, so to turn and pretend like this approach is, you know, i guess it is kind of like living in the twilight zone. they do it day after day after day and the president responds and defends himself and every is

blown away. if it happened in the previous administration, the type of attacks launched on this program, the things they say. utterly stupid, personality disorder, mentally ill, constant personality attacks. calling people liars to their faces on programs. they would have said no way, hold on. the president will not step back, he showed that, and that is exactly what it is. >> if i could just follow up on that, a couple krit sismss from supporters of the president is that this particular tweet is beneath the dignity of the office, where does the president draw that line on the dignity of the office? >> i think he shows that every day in the decisions that he is making. the focus and priorities he lay off of his agenda. when they hit him, he will hit back. >> i have a health care

question, someone suggested in their tweet response in their response today that the president misconstrued one of the messages that should have been gathered from the shooting that involved steve scalise. i'm not saying that, but members of congress have said that, i know that the episode -- do you have any reaction to that senate that conversations like this create atmosphere is that is dangerous or one that we need to avoid? >> the president in no way form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence of anything. he was pushing back and defending himself.

>> so you talk about the president's overall plan, the health savings accounts can be used to pay premiums in the future, does he support those initiativetives and why does he believe they make the bill better, is it because he believes that allocation will be superintendent? >> i'm not going to negotiate the details, the back and forth in public, but i can tell you that the president has obviously made fighting the opioid crisis a priority. >> i think we are always looking for ways to add additional flexibilities and it is something to be considered. >> i want to go back to the

shooting and remember what president trump said then. he said our country will perhaps become closer, more unified, so important. does his tweet this morning, his series of tweets, help to unify the country? >> again, i think i have had this question asked and answered several times. >> would it help to unify the kouchb try in the wake of what he wants to see happening. >> i think the president is pushing back against people that attack him day after day after day. where is the outrage on that. you are constantly coming and asking like is this okay? he does it -- this is day after day after day and it's not just the president. the only person that i see awar on is this president and everyone that works for him. >> two questions to follow up on that. i understand that he is the president of the united states, they are cable news anchors. he had to stand to a higher standard, one, and two you talk

about criticism. he said that former president obama was not born in this country. he was clearly part of criticizing the past president who was not immune to criticism himself. how do you make that argument? >> i think i have been pretty clear when the president gets hit he hits back hard cher is what he did today. >> there isn't a higher standard? >> look, i don't think you can expect someone to be personally attacked day after day, minute after minute. the american people elected a fighter, not someone who sits back to do nothing. they knew what they were getting when they voted for trump and he won overwhelmingly. >> how is insulting a woman being a fighter. >> what about an impact from statements like this. there was a poll this week that said 68% of registered voters said president's tweets are reckless and distracting. only 22% their effect i have and

informative. half of republicans say they're reckless and distracting. >> i think any time the president has a chance to speak directly to the american people it's a good thing. >> how do you feel about the president attacking another woman specifically for her looks and what does it show for an example on how men should be treating every women. >> everyone wants to make this an attack on a woman. what about the constant attacks that he receives. i'm a woman and i have been attacked by a show multiple times but i don't cry foul because of it. you want to create a false narrative, one hand hst like let's traek everyone equally, and then they attack and attack.

>> yes, the point is made, i don't know why we continue to talk about it. >> you talk about being a fighter, personally affected by all of this as well. and that nothing is wrong with the president fighting fire with fire which is the argument you're making. i ask this to you from a personal level. you have talked about your family, are going to tell your kids the behavior is okay. >> i have been asked before as role models, as a perm of faith but have one perfect role model. when i am asked that i point to god and faith. that's where i tell my kids to look. none of us are perfect, there is only one that is. >> let me ask you my follow up question on policy points. >> that would be a change in tone, policy. >> i agree with that. i want to ask about his meeting with president putin coming up

next week, just being confirmed. and a definitive answer for you on whether or not the president will bring up election interferences. it is the biggest topic between u.s. and russia right now. is the president going to press putin on that? >> obviously i'm not going to get ahead of the president's conversation. i imagine we'll have a readout after that conversation takes place. >> john? >> i'll come to you next. >> thank you, sarah, the president's tweet, does it help his legislative agenda, does it help him win the votes of the nine senators that have come out against that senate bill, what is your view on that? >> again, we're just looking for new ways to rephrase this question. he was attacked, he responded, nothing more to add. >> john? >> legislative agenda, but asking about the speech -- asking about whether or not this

helps his legislative agenda. >> i think the president would love for us all to focus on the legislative agenda more. over -- you look at the coverage over the last month of the extended period between may and june. if you look at their coverage and what they're talking about. they spent one minute talking about tax reform, three minutes on infrastructure, five minutes on the economy and jobs, 17 minutes on health care, and 353 minutes, attacking the president and pushing a false narrative on russia. if you want to talk about legislative agenda and focus on policy, and priorities, you get to help set that table, and 353 minutes of attacks against the president and driving a fast

narrative and one minute on we have our economy growing, stock moerkt is up, isis is on the run, america is winning and that's what we like to talk about. you constantly ignore that na narrative. >> the developments of the president's agenda are certainly true. all of those things are true, but the president today put out this tweet that takes away from all of them and you expect us near this room to simply ignore that. i think that is the valid question that should be asked. can we ignore this entirely? >> i think he put out a number of tweets on health care with immigration bills in the house today, but that is not being talked about. not being asked about, but the disscri

discrepancy again, 353 minutes, you can't say you want to talk about policy and you look at the numbers and they don't lie. you can't expect for that amount of attack and intensity for our president to never respond. >> i said i was going to john next. >> two questions for you, sarah. first, in the u.s. administration, they send a representative to the funeral mass for chancellor kohl or will they send anyone to the funeral service on july 1st? >> i believe there is an official delegation,ly have to get back to you on that. >> you have people turned down nominations to be deputy secretary of the treasury. president on his third appointee, and the ambassador to ireland has declined the nomination. there is no candidates for

ambassador to germany or france. both major allies. greece for that matter, important country. is the president having trouble recruiting people to fill some of the key slots that remain unfilled after six months. >> the trouble is not in the recruitment, it is in the vetting and the process. like i mentioned yesterday, they are over, i believe 100 candidates in the queue waiting to be pushed through. due to the historic obstruction, it's taking much longer than normal to get those nominees through and a lot of the people that are part of that process, one of the number one reasons we had people take a step back, is because that process is so lengthy. hold on, i have a skype question we'll go toe that. >> thank you so much. i don't want to i want to talk

about making america great again. during the pipeline protest, there was scary times. just a couple weeks ago it was suggested that -- issued and it creates more, my question is this. what specifically will the administration do to give the companies more certainty as they make these multibillion dollar infrastructure efforts to move our energy. at the same time, their tribal leaders, feeling honored and respect respected. >> it was a little difficult to hear, i believe the question was focused on energy production specific to dakota access. i think we have been talking

consistently about this, the president is dedicated to increasing energy production in the united states. we're doing a review of the dakota access pipeline. working with the leaders throughout that process to make it as successful as possible. a lot of the travel leaders want to expand energy production and development in their area and we're going to work continuously with them to try to make that as successful as possible. >> i want to ask again about if, as treasury secretary said, they want to go to the upper limits of the law, and the sanctions on russia, then why not support the legislation that basically keeps what has been slapped down in place. >> again, we're continuing to review that process until there is final legislation there. i have another skype gre greg meriweather in louisiana. >> our question is on health

care. our governor put out hundreds of thousands of people that will lose their health care through -- if you had other states, is there an acceptable number of people losing coverage? to get the greater bill through? >> i'm having a little difficulty hearing, but i as best as i can understand, you're looking at how obama care repeal and replace would affect the state of louisiana, and frankly, louisiana has been one of the hardest hit states in the country by obama care. the insurance premiums have gone up over 25%. the goal here is to give people in the country choices. no one that currently has medicaid will have their benefits cut. we're looking across the board at health care plans that will lower taxes, reduce premiums, and off more choices for people

across the country. >> margaret? >> yes, the president has let us know that he planned on having an isis news conference to update people on the situation next couple weeks which is now-ish. but we're coming up -- >> is now-ish an official word? >> do you expect we'll get that update or remarks before the upcoming foreign trip or whether we need to wait? and i wanted to ask you, it looked like there might be some coverage over the fund-raiser yesterday. it didn't work out. but are you doing that for a fund-raisers of a certain size, to have some transparency? >> yesterday it was a logistical issue, trying on accommodate that at the last minute. it was going to be a little complicated. certainly on the table for future events. as for the first question, we'll keep you posted.

as you know, the president is getting ready to depart for the department of energy and we'll be speaking on that. thanks so much. >> sarah huckabee sanders, i wonder if she knows when she says some of the things she says. donald trump has never advocated violence. he has advocated violence. i saw him do it a number of times on the campaign trail. back at a rally in las vegas when he said he would like the punch a protester. he said he would faye legal bills of a supporter who sucker punched a protester in north carolina. another protester who was kicked and punched, donald trump responded by saying, maybe he deserved to be roughed up a little. and that doesn't include all the times where he talked about getting protesters out and admonishing law enforcement for not being tough enough with those protesters. so that's not entirely true. we're trying work up that sound for you of donald trump doing all that as we speak.

kristinweller is in the white house press briefing. the bulk of the press briefing was about that tweet and sarah huckabee sanders was not going on back down in any way, shape or form. we just had lisa murkowski tweet, stop it. the presidential platform should be used for something other than bringing people down. the white house doesn't agree with that. >> reporter: this is one of those moments where there has been such a sharp back lash from all quarters. and as you point out, these tweets have really overtaken press briefing. dominated the majority of it. and it is an agenda the president set himself to break down the tweets. she was pressed over and over again on the tone of the president's tweets. the fact that he was calling for unity several weeks ago in the wake of that tragic and devastating shooting that left majority whip steve scalise hospitalized.

the president called for unity then. do these tweets not undermine that very important message? she went back to her key argument. that the president would fight fire with fire. as you pointed out, a number of inconsistencies in her statements. not only did president trump talk about this on the campaign fwral this notion that he is being criticized in a way past presidents haven't been criticized isn't trooflt i tried to say that he argued that president obama wasn't born in this country so he engaged in the very sharp criticism before he took office. you heard our reporter ask a very personal question. look, sarah huckabee sanders has three kids. she talks about them from the podium. what will she tell her children? what should parents tell the their gharn the president's tweets today? sarah saying only god is

perfect. this is a press briefing so striking for a number of reasons and so many of them have been. it is clear she wanted to come out and talk about the president's agenda. but that agenda has been overshadowed by his own actions. >> and she claimed you never ask about policy. i watch the press briefings. i watch them every day. you ask about policy all the time and very infrequently does the white house have answers about that policy. they are just unhappy with the coverage that they're getting even though we're covering the stories in the news that day. kristin is being very diplomatic, ladies. for sarah huckabee sanders to go out there and to stay president hasn't advocated violence. that is demonstrably not true. the president of the united states has advocated violence. when he was a candidate. and there was the shooting a couple weeks ago of steve scalise. everybody came together and said

let's tone down the rhetoric. the president came out and said let's tone down rhetoric. this is not toning down the rhetoric and it is afueling hear somebody from the podium say he hasn't done the very thing he has done, especially when it comes the something as serious as advocating violence. >> it is a shockingly blatant lie. to have that coming consistently from the white house podium is very chilling. when the entire country cares very much about toning down heat, it is not okay for her to lie to the american public and to disrespect the american public and to disrespect the press the way that she does consistently. and i wish there was a means of recourse. you can't vote out the press secretary. >> it's not the press secretary. >> she's doing it for him on behalf of him. if there was no one willing food on behalf of him, he would be stuck alone. >> there are very few willing to

do it on behalf of him. that's why they haven't been able to hire anyone else. >> the same republican that's we talked about tweeting out their outrage at what he did this morning are continue enabling his agenda. they have decide that had the hating is okay as long as they get what they want. >> can we get lisa murkowski tweet up again? stop it. the presidential platform should be used for more than bringing people down. isn't that what it is? >> this is someone president trump needs to support a health care bill. he needs her. instead, he is just repelling people who should be his natural allies. it the should not be this hard. the republicans control the house and the senate. everything that trump is doing is a self-inflicted wound. he is doing this to himself. the reason sarah huckabee sanders is complaining about press coverage is because they have cede it. >> many presidents before donald

trump have not enjoyed positive press coverage. that's a fact of that office. you get criticized and some people call you names and some people make fun of the way you look. they will say horrible things about you. that's what people do in america on, television, off television, on social media. have we ever had a president come back and attack a private citizen? whether they are on television or not before? >> absolutely not. and i was just about to say from my vantage point of having worked in the bush white house during height of the iraq war, during hurricane katrina, during really tough times. >> they were calling for his resignation every day. behind closed doors, we complained the coverage was very tough but that was not the public posture. the obama administration as a former bush administration person, to their obama administration talk about how hard the climate was. you did not hear the complaints

like the one coming from this administration. it is such victim hood and so perverted. the idea of political correctness. i'm not going to call it conservatism. i'm not going to call it republicanism. it is this cultish following that's not rooted in reality. >> let's watch sarah sanders again. >> the criticism from supporters of the president, this particular tweet was beneath the dignity of the office. where does the president draw that line on the dignity of the office? >> look, i think that he shows that every day in the decisions that he's making, the focus and the priorities he's laid out in his agenda. but he won't sit back and be attacked by the liberal media hollywood elites. when they hit him, he will hit back. >> liberal media, hollywood elites. >> they have, i do think, contributed to hillary clinton's loss and i think that's part of

what happened in georgia 6 with all the hollywood detention descending. it is really grasping at straws. >> doesn't that just speak to that victim hood? some actors don't like me so i am going to use the podium of the president of the united states to have a nervous breakdown? >> do you know who has been nice to him? vladimir putin. do you know who he's nice to? vladimir putin. >> he has said worse things about cable news hosts than vladimir putin. >> or the leader of north korea who he called the smart cookie. the leader of north korea who sent back an american citizen in a coma. >> that will wrap things up for me this hour. ladies, thank you for sticking around. ali velshi, it is all yours. >> i'm running out of words to describe weird. >> it's sad. >> thank you. very good coverage.

pointing out that the president are talking about violence. the press briefing just wrapped up on a day with so much news on health care, on the travel ban, most of the briefing was spent on a tweet the president sent out this morning about an nbc host. >> personally being affected by all of this as well. nothing is wrong with the president fighting fire with fire is the argument you're making. i would ask you this on a personal level. you have sat here and talked about your family from this podium. are you going to tell them this is okay? >> i've been asked to before, when it comes to role models as a person of faith, we all have one person question, i point to god. i point to my faith. none of us are perfect and there is only one that is. i would point that directio